Swaddle - Cleveland,OH

Updated on January 27, 2010
J.L. asks from Cleveland, OH
18 answers

I have a 10 week old baby who loves to be swaddled. My older son hated it, so it took us a few weeks until we tried it with the second one. He sleeps so much better with it. My question is: how long can he be swaddled? Is it that the longer we wait, the harder it will be to break him of the dependence? We value sleep in our house and I am a firm believer in a good sleep and good naps are the cornerstone to a happy child.

Also does anyone have any suggestions on how to wean him from the swaddle? How did you do it?

I am not ready to do it now, but wondering for the future.

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J.P.

answers from Dallas on

I swaddled my daughter till she was between 9-10 months old when she weaned herself from it. We used the Miracle Blanket.

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R.R.

answers from Los Angeles on

My son loved being swaddled very tightly. Everyone thought we were such strange parents and some people would say things like "when is he going to learn to sleep without the swaddle?" well we didn't worry, we knew he liked sleeping that way and it calmed him immediately. When he was about 7 months old, he started getting out and resisting the swaddle. We kind of just quit doing it one day and he has slept fine without it ever since. Like the other moms, I think he'll let you know! :) good luck and don't worry if he keeps up with it for several months, he'll be just fine!

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C.R.

answers from Columbus on

Both of my kids loved to be swaddled. I kept them swaddled until they were able to roll over on their own. I didn't have the miracle blanket (don't even know what it is!) but we always used 2 blankets to swaddle. They were both thinner blankets (like from the hospital) but bigger and we would swaddle with the first and then swaddle with the second one. This seemed to really work with keeping their arms inside. At a certain point we were not able to keep the feet in but we continued swaddling until they were able to roll. We sometimes referred to them as our "tacos" or "burritos"!!

With each one I was worried that the transition would cause issues with sleeping but both simply went from being swaddled one night to not being swaddle the next and slept fine. I went straight to using the sleeveless sleep sacks. They have cotton ones and fleece ones depending on how much warmth you want. My 14 month old currently sleeps in a sack and my son did until he moved out of his crib just after his 2nd birthday.

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K.R.

answers from New York on

hello
My daughter also loved the swaddle (and she SLEPT SO WELL). I swaddled her until she was 5 months. When i started to wean her from the swaddle I started with taking one arm out then two arms. After a week or so with both arms out I transitioned her to a sleep sack. GOOD LUCK! Enjoy the sleep!

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A.K.

answers from Boston on

I was told that you should stop when the baby starts kicking out of the swaddling. In other words, I think he'll let you know! Enjoy your little bundle!

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D.T.

answers from Muncie on

I don't think you'll need to "wean" him from it at all. It's not like it's a bad dependence that will cause trouble as he grows older. Sometimes even older children still like to be tucked in tightly. He might grow up to be one of them. He'll grow and get stronger and likely just sorta wiggle out in his sleep.

Good luck.

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T.M.

answers from Chicago on

I think i swaddled my daughter until she was almost 6 months old! Every child is different, but if your baby likes it, do it!

As an aside, I used the "Miracle Blanket" swaddling blanket, and absolutely agree it was a miracle. I wish I'd had it for my son -- he probably would have slept better. For me, it was *totally* worth the money.

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J.F.

answers from Columbus on

So happy you asked this as I've been wondering the same thing with my little one. She is 7 months old now and still likes to be swaddled with just a swaddle blanket.... so here's my thoughts - she was in our room until 6 months, what worried me about the swaddle is her rolling over and getting stuck, but with just the regular blanket, I am able to keep it slightly loose at the top so she can get out if/when she wants. She goes to bed at night swaddled and in the morning, the blanket is normally on one side of the crib and she is on the other.

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J.G.

answers from Cleveland on

I swaddled all 4 of my little ones, to "wean" them I just didn't swaddle as tightly. Over time I lossened up the swaddle till they weren't swaddled anymore. I'm not sure what ages they were, but each of them were a little different. Bascily when they started wanting to move more whey were "weaned" from the swaddling.

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R.S.

answers from Indianapolis on

My son loved to be swaddled too! I unswaddled him at 5 months and put him in a sleepsack at that point. I figured we needed to break him free at that point, but he loved his sleepsacks til nearly 18 months!

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C.N.

answers from Cleveland on

I swaddled my older son until he was 11 months old and he broke himself of the habit. He slept great and we too believe that sleep is what makes a happy child and parents too! My younger son only would let us swaddle him until about 6 months but then did transistion to the Halo Sleep Sacks until about 11 months or so. And as for how long, I have a friend whose daughter liked to be swaddled until she was about 19 months. So do what makes your baby happy :)

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S.M.

answers from Cleveland on

I swaddled my daughter until she was four months. By that point she was wiggling her arms out of the swaddle so I decided to try laying her down without swaddling and she slept through the night. She basically weened herself out of it when she was ready.
PS. I was worried about the same thing but like I said she weened herself out of it. All of my friends that swaddled seem to have had the same experience. Their baby's just outgrew the need for it at some point and they stopped.

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E.H.

answers from Madison on

I don't see anything wrong with swaddling a baby as long as they want... Doesn't everyone enjoy being wrapped up in blankets? I don't care if it's 100 degrees outside, I have to sleep with a blanket... the sheets are just to light and I don't feel comfortable.

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R.S.

answers from Portland on

My boy loved to be swaddled. After a few months (around 16 weeks) he started moving so much that he was getting his arms out and got frustrated if he couldn't. I tried letting his arms out one at a time... didn't take long until I moved him over to the sleepbag. I feel there is no need to push him out of it though... he'll just outgrow it and will ask you to stop swaddling him.

I say when something works, just stick to it. Once it stops working, look then at how you can change the situation to make things go back to normal... sleeping!

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S.M.

answers from Indianapolis on

Neither of my girls were ever "dependent" on being swaddled. THey start to be able to move more and got themselves out on their own. It didn't seem to bother them, they just could move more. My girls loved being swaddled too, but didn't seem to mind not being swaddled when they were old enough to break free of it. Then I would find them in the morning with their arms free, still asleep. Then when they started to turn over it was just something that they didn't need anymore. THere wasn't weaning. I don't imagine that is something you will have to deal with. If you value sleep (as we REALLY do) I suggest the book, "12 hours sleep by 12 weeks old". I loved it and as promised both of my girls sleep 12 hours a night with a 2 hour nap during the day.

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A.C.

answers from Cincinnati on

My son loved to be swaddled, too. We swaddled him until he was old enough to roll over, because he would roll onto his tummy and not be able to use his arms to roll back over, which scared me! It took us about a week to wean him off swaddling, and there were a couple of sleepless nights in there, but it was okay.

I think he was about 5-months old when we weaned him. We pulled one arm out of the swaddle and kept the other in for a couple of nights. By the end, he was freeing his second army himself. I still use baby-in-a-bags for him to sleep in even now (I like them a lot better than blankets). Good luck.

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A.V.

answers from Indianapolis on

J., honestly, I would swaddle as long as your baby likes to be swaddled. Just pay attention to his sleeping habbits. Has he started to roll over? If so, it might be time to transition. You can do that my getting a swaddle blanket (such as the Halo blanket or kiddopadomus) and just swaddling him, all except his arms. But swaddling is such a soothing thing for most babies, its ok to do it!

Good luck!

A. V.

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E.C.

answers from Salt Lake City on

We swaddled my older daughter for 10 months using the Miracle Blanket. At 10 months, she was too big for the blanket, so we knew we had to "wean" her off it. I wish they came in larger sizes! That was THE best blanket. I just started to gradually swaddle her looser. And eventually I left an arm out, then both arms out, etc. It took a while, but she adjusted smoothly. My younger daughter hated to be swaddled. It was so sad to get rid of my Mircacle Blanket.

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