Hi Moms -
I have a 4 month old baby girl who we will be moving from a cradle in our room to a crib in her own room. I plan to stop swaddling her before the move but am dreading it because she sleeps so soundly swaddled. I have a 2 year old who was also swaddled for night time sleep until she was four months and I remember it taking about a week for her to learn to sleep with her arms free.
I do not swaddle for nap time (I hold her while she sleeps) but she really loves beign swaddled for bedtime in her cradle. I was wondering - at what age did you stop swaddling your baby for bedtime?
Thanks Mamas! My biggest concern was that keeping her swaddled would be hurting her development and so I thought I had to stop by this point and worried that maybe I had swaddled for way too long. I asked the question cause I thought that maybe most moms stopped swaddling at 1 month or something like that - so I am so relieved to know that many of you are swaddling up to 4 months or longer! I think since it is working for us and she is happy with it we will keep her swaddled for now and enjoy a full nights sleep. Thanks again Mamas!
I usually let the child decide! Seriously, the baby will fuss when swaddled if she doesn't want or like it. & once she really starts moving around, she'll come undone anyway. If it helps her sleep, where's the harm?
why do you have to stop? One change is enough to get used to. She will let you know when she doesn't want to be swaddled anymore.
If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it! If you daughter is perfectly happy being swaddled keep her that way. It will help the transition to her crib too. My son was swaddled well into 6 months. They make bigger swaddle blankets with velcro and they worked really well for us.
If you have a baby who is sleeping well why would you change that? I'm a firm believe in 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it.' If your baby sleeps well in the swaddle, then I would say leave it alone. When she doesn't want/need to be swaddled anymore she will likely let you know by crying or breaking out of the blanket. Until then, just keep doing what you are doing.
I didn't stop swaddling until they didn't want it anymore. There is no harm in giving them that safe, secure feeling when they sleep. Many children (and adults) like to be "tucked in" to bed with their blankets tight around them. If she still likes it, continue.
My daughter(2 yrs old) LOVED to be swaddled. At 4-5 months, I started to worry swaddling her any longer would hurt her development but after some research, I found otherwise. I wanna say we cont'd to swaddle till around 7-8 months or until she could put her passy back in her mouth at night.
DON'T DO IT! Most children will let you know when they're ready to stop being swaddled! My son needed it desperately until he was about 5.5 or 6 months old, and then he wouldn't tolerate it anymore, just all of a sudden. It's hard enough to get babies to sleep, so if yours feels safe and happy swaddled, let her continue! If she is still happily swaddled at 8 or 9 months, then you might consider weaning her yourself, but at this age, she isn't doing any harm to herself. Enjoy!
Why do you need to stop? My daughter is 5 months and is still swaddled. She can get out of it, even the miracle blanket - little Houdini! At the point that she gets out, she starts fussing. If I go in and reswaddle, she goes right back out. During the day at daycare, they aren't allowed to swaddle, and she doesn't sleep as well as she does at home, but still manages. Naps at home, she sleeps with one arm out...I thought I was going to progress to unswaddled, but she doesn't seem ready for that yet.
I always tried to go by the rules too and thought there must be a reason they say to stop swaddling them, but my daughter had a strong jerk reflex as well, and it was hard to get her to stay asleep!! I should have just not listened and kept her swaddled....but I stopped when she was 3 months old because she was outgrowing all her little blankies...and I never bought bigger ones...we called her Little Houdini because she would always get one arm out - so I think I tried to stop swaddling her by just letting one arm out at a time...so I let one arm out, then I tried both arms and still wrapped her legs...and then when it got warmer she didn't get a blanket at all...but i would try the HTTJ methods for naptime and now she is doing much better at sleeping and not jerking (she is 8+ mos.). Also - I stopped swaddling her while she was still in her bassinet in my room and then transitioned her into her crib at 3 mos when she was too big for the bassinet - so that way it wasn't changing two things at the same time....occasionally she would jerk and hit the sides of the bassinet....she is so cute! Now she has all the room she wants to move around...and of course now in her crib she rolls all over the place and usually sleeps on her stomach, but I'm not worried about SIDS because she can roll over when she needs to since she is older now....
Good luck!
My son had extreme colic, and we swaddled until he was 4 1/2 mos, the transitioned to a sleep sack. My daughter is just six weeks, and we are swaddling strong. My advice is to try putting her down without a swaddle. If it doesn't go well, just swaddle her back up. We did this on a weekend night when my husband was around to share in the misery-lol. Good luck!
My son grew out of the swaddle--literally. He just didn't fit in a blanket anymore. If it's working for you there's no reason to stop, she'll let you know when she's done with it.
We stopped swaddling around 3-4 months old, mainly because our daughter showed signs of trying to roll over. We didn't want her to roll over in her sleep, be face down in the mattress, and not have her arms free to give her a way to prop up (or at least try to). She didn't have any problems with being unswaddled. We kept her in a sleep sack (mostly since it was winter time), so her legs were still a little confined, but she really did well having her arms free.
I stopped doing it when they would fall asleep without it.
My daughter liked to be swaddled till she was about 8 months old. Around 5 or 6 months she didn't like having her legs and feet swaddled so we left them out and just swaddled her on top. Let your little one decide. Screw the "rules". YOU are the best judge of what your child needs and when. Trust your own instincts.
I swaddled my daughter until she was about 6 months old. Her startle reflex was so strong, she couldn't sleep on her back without waking herself up. She really wanted to be a tummy sleeper, but with all the SIDS research out there at the time, there was no way I was going to let her do that until she could freely roll over. So that was how long we swaddled... until I was confident that my child could change position on her own, rolling from back to front and from front to back. Quite honestly, we used the Swaddle Me blankets, and when she got too big for them, I cut the seam out of the bottom so her legs were free, but her arms were down.
Good luck... you know your baby so go with your gut. There is no "right" or "wrong" time for much of this stuff. You just do what they need for as long as they need it.
M.
we swaddled until 9 months when she started going to sleep without it on her own. Our pediatrician said not to rush it if everyone was getting a full nights sleep.
We usually stop swaddling around the 4 month mark. Mostly because the blankets I use start to get too small around that time, and baby is moving around more. I remember it being about a week adjustment period too.
