Swaddles/Wraps - time to come off?

Trisha - posted on 05/11/2009

Thank you all for the great advice! Just to update you all, Sophia is now sleeping with no wraps.. We loosely wrapped the 1 arm down on Friday, and by morning she had wriggled it free, but still stayed asleep, or she might of woken but re-settled herself.. So I didn't wrap her except around the middle during the day on Saturday, and no change to the sleep pattern, so we continued just to wrap over the weekend, but Sunday evening I found a sleeping bag, that I forgot I bought (strange that - Must be Mummy's Brain) anyway she's been sleeping in that ever since, and it's been great. I even got a seep in till 7.30am on Mothers Day!

Mel - posted on 05/11/2009

well mine is not the same age shes 13 months but i will say her last feed she has to be put to sleep being held as shes tube fed and she cries for a good 20 mins but we only stopped wrapping her about a month ago. during the day we prob stopped wrapping her when she was about 6 months. its hard at first because they are not used to it. i cant remember alot so i cant give you alot of advice just wanted to let you know what we did with our daughter and we did the one arm out thing for a while as well

Trisha - posted on 05/06/2009

It's interesting reading all the replies.. basically it boils down to the child, some were never swaddled, some needed it until they were a little older, but just remember what ever we are doing, we are doing it the right way, because every child is different, and we just have to try and try until we get it right, and they certainly let us know if we aren't! Just to update everyone - 1 one arm is still out, and she is sleeping really well, even going thru the night with just one wake up, but she is re-settling herself - she has found her thumb! We are just taking it one day at a time at the moment, and just enjoying each other.

Rabaab - posted on 05/05/2009

i never swaddled my children and they slept fine ..

Miranda - posted on 05/04/2009

I swaddled my daughter until she was about 6 1/2 or 7 months old because it was the only way she would sleep through the night. But I went away for a weekend and forgot to bring the swaddle so she had to sleep without it and at first she was restless but after a week without she was fine... and now she's almost 10 months old and sleeps all night w/out the swaddle

Ashleigh - posted on 05/04/2009

I swaddled my son until he was about 7 months old. ( he did have colic until then though). It was the only thing that worked for him to sleep for even an hour! I did sleep training with my son to stop the swaddling.

Emeline - posted on 05/04/2009

My son is 4 months old and we still swaddle him. I've been leaving onr arm out now for about a month now. I think that if bubs really loves being swaddled, just give him time to adjust to each change - one arm then two, etc. I don't think there's a rush to teach him how to sleep without being swaddled. Like another post said, maybe sew together some wraps so that it doesn't get tangled around bubs.

Kelly - posted on 05/04/2009

When my son was 5 months I started using those zip-up sleeping bags instead of his muslin wraps. They are sleeveless a restrict movement a little bit but give a lot more freedom than being swaddled. He was ok with that. I had to switch to something because he was always busting out too and he was outgrowing his wraps.

Marie - posted on 05/03/2009

Alexander didn't want to be swaddled after 3 months. He used to sleep with his hands over his head. Eventually he just kicked off the blanket. I read somewhere that you don't swaddle baby after a certain age, but I can't remember the cut off.



Once the swaddling was done, I put him in a zippered sleeping bag - the one we used had velcro over the shoulders so we didn't have to tuck his arm through after he was asleep.

Trisha - posted on 05/03/2009

Thanks for all the replies, I've started off with 1 arm out, and things seem to be going okay for now, I will try this for a week or two and then try 2 arms out, and lastly just with wraps around her body. Then free her completely... She's not rolling yet, so covers stay on, but won't be long, may have to look at getting one of those Go Go Sleeping Bags.

Erin - posted on 05/03/2009

My daughter is 3 months old and I'm starting to have the same concerns. She sleeps 11-12 hours overnight wrapped up tight. She also has 3-4 hour long naps during the day which I'm convinced is due to the wrapping and I was starting to stress out about how I would get her to sleep so well without it. She started to be able to get her arms free at about a month old, so I had two of the muslin wraps sewn together. This gives me enough width, even now, to wrap her snugly and she rarely gets out. I would highly recommend doing this if you want to keep wrapping her for as long as possible.
In saying that I'm assuming once she is rolling from back to belly wrapping may no longer be an option. This worries me because even if that startle reflex is gone by then, my daughter associates being wrapped with going to sleep, and I wonder if, like your daughter, she will become confused and upset at being put to bed without being wrapped. So I intend to gradually loosen the wrap over a few weeks, and have actually already started to since my daughter is rolling from belly to back and it's only a matter of time til she's rolling back to belly too. I'm hoping by making it a very gradual process she will not notice so much once it has to go. Because right now she is pretty reliant on it. As is her Mama :)

Sharon - posted on 05/02/2009

My son is 5 months old and I still swaddle him. However, when he was an infant he showed signs of not liking to be swaddled. So I didn't swaddle him but I found him to sleep very poorly. I decided to half swaddle him (arms down) and he loved it. I think he just preferred for his arms to be free. Sometimes I'll find him unswaddled but not usually. He likes it and I think that's what helps him sleep his long stretches. If I'm right next to him while he's sleeping and he happens to be unswaddled he does better than if I'm not next to him. Hope this helps!

Melissa - posted on 05/02/2009

i think once they start rolling over its a good idea to stop swaddling. I also stopped swaddling early because my son would get himself out of it- i just tuck him in nice and tight and he'll put himself to sleep. he is 10 weeks old.

Sarah - posted on 05/02/2009

I havent swaddled my daughter since she was 1 month old. She is now 3 months and sleeps great without it and is completly content.