It's what they did in the hospital and it worked so why change a good thing.
Right?
Well, now Shelby is 3 months and one week old, or 14-weeks.
However you want to refer to it, and we are still swaddling her.
We only do it at night as they don't swaddle at her school for naps(and we had stopped that too).
But guess what??
Not sure it's going to be an easy one!!
We put her in a loose swaddle last night and she broke free twice and woke herself up and we had to go back in there and feed her to get her back to sleep.
(below picture was when Shelby was only 2-weeks old)
So, today I'm asking for advice!
What is the best way to transition?
Should I wait until she's rolling over??
She's sleeping 12-hours a night right now while swaddled.
Will she ever be able to do that without swaddling?
HELP!!!!!
I have no idea! We swaddled until 6 months with the ok from our doctor :-). Every time I tried to transition, she'd hit herself in the face and wake up! Eventually she started rolling over and then would get mad about being in the swaddle and then we just went cold turkey.
ReplyDeleteWe stopped swaddling right around the 3-4month mark and of course his sleeping pattern got worse. He was up at least twice a night and it never really got better. Sorry I don't have better advice but hoping that your transition gets better!
ReplyDeleteI don't understand, if it works, then why stop???
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ReplyDeleteI can't remember when we stopped swaddling our twins, maybe 5 or 6 months? I know we waited a while (I think until they were able to break out of the swaddle) and then went cold turkey. It was hard the first two nights to get them to go to sleep but they slept through the night just fine. We made the switch to sleep sacks (with tank top like arms) and they still sleep in them at 9 months! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteLet me know when you figure it out. We are swaddling CAS and she just turned 5 months yesterday. I actually just bought bigger sized swaddles. I am too scared as she sleeps through the night with the swaddle and won't take more than a 20 min nap during day. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the other commenter, try a sleep sack.
ReplyDeleteI would keep her swaddled as long as she is happy. I've learned the hard way that baby usually knows best. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteWe swaddled Jane until she was five months old. I wanted to wait until after tax season before the scary thought of sleepless nights set in. The funny thing is, she started to break free from her swaddle around the time we were planning to stop using it. We switched to the sleepy bubble things. You know, the sacks that zip up. That seemed to help! I think she was actually ready before we were!
ReplyDeleteFor C....we kept him swaddled until he was constantly getting out of it and he would wake himself up and then we would re-swaddle again and by the time we walked back to our room he was already out of it...so I figured it was time to get rid of it. (I think L was swaddled until almost 6 months). We switched to the sleep sack. It did take a few nights for him to get used to so much freedom. And as he got older he didn't "startle" as easy. It might just take some time for her to get used to it. It is new to her if she's been swaddled her whole life...
ReplyDeletesince it was winter we did the long sleeve sleep slack but i am sure i'll switch soon to the short sleeve sacks. We used those until L was over one and was able to sleep with a blanket. plus the sleep sack keeps them from climbing out of the crib.
I would try the sleep sack. I never used one with either boy, but I have friends that swear by them! And it's probably a good transition since she'll still feel pretty secure?? Perhaps??
ReplyDeleteI'm not a good one to give advice about sleeping children though. It always seems to me like just when you think you've got it all figured out...they throw you for a loop. Whether it be a growth spurt or teething or a stuffy nose. I've just resigned myself to knowing that I won't sleep soundly for the next 18 years. :)
Why do you have to stop? My kids all eventually wiggled out and then we knew it was time to let them go without it. I say Shelby decides.
ReplyDeleteWow! 12+ hours...I'm jealous! Sloan was never swaddled so I guess I'm no help :( Maybe try using those Sleeping Bags??
ReplyDeleteLyla hated being swaddled, so we only swaddled her from the armpits down and let her arms be free because she liked to sleep with her arms up by her head (still does). So, the transition from us doing a half swaddle to a sleep sack was very smooth for us. Try doing a sleep sack on a Friday night (so you don't have to go to work the next day in case you have to be up in the night) and see how she does. I think I have read that the swaddling needs to stop because of hip development or something along those lines. I'm sure sweet Shelby will transition just fine. She's a little angel baby!
ReplyDeleteYou are one lucky momma. The most I get from Drew a night is 9 hours. He has been sleeping until about 5:00am but once I feed him, he goes back to sleep until around 8:00am. It's not horrible but I'm loving your sleep schedule more!
ReplyDeleteI've always heard you can swaddle until 6 months. In fact, most of my friends did this. We still swaddle Drew and he's 4.5 months.
I say, keep her swaddled as long as you can. Our first wasn't a big fan of being swaddled. We used sleep sacks, and he did great. Our second loved being swaddled and slept great. Until I quit the swaddle cold turkey. Then she became the worst sleeper ever. She just started consistently sleeping through the night again a couple of months ago. And she just turned three over the weekend. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteWe swaddled until 4/5 month mark, and started transitioning by removing it for naps - you're already headed in the right direction. Id continue for a while longer if it works for her, why stop so early? Also halo sleep sacks have removable swaddle options. We used them while transitioning so arms could be out and still a little snug around chest- baby steps (ha). Good luck. It's one of the first big changes. I remember feeling lots of conflict about it. A site I like is called hello bee and it gives lots of great tips from different moms, I read every post they had on this topic at this juncture.
ReplyDeletehmm, i wish i had advice. We swaddled untl she broke out of it. She was rolling early on and I think she was still in the swaddle at that point. ive never heard of a deadline on swadding. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteFor whatever irrational reason that I can't explain (but am spending plenty of money in therapy to discuss), I hate the swaddle. But my daughter (3 weeks younger than Shelby) NEEDS it. She slept for 12 hours last night cozied up in her swaddle. And as much as I don't like it, I'm not stopping it anytime soon. What we plan to do is (when we think she's ready...meaning she's not so twitchy) try 1 arm out. If she can sleep well w/ 1 arm out for a few nights, we'll try 2. If she wakes herself up, we'll swaddle her with both arms in again and try again a little later. I can't wait to be done with the swaddle, but I'd rather get sleep right now, haha!
ReplyDeleteAlso, my son (3 1/2) wasn't very dependent on the swaddle so we stopped it w/ him right at 3 months and transitioned to a Halo sleep sack. He slept in that until almost 2 and loved it. He knew that meant sleep. :)
ReplyDeleteI put this on Instagram, and I think you responded, but we moved to the sleep sack, and it worked for us.
ReplyDelete