4 Month Old and Sleeping

Hi there! You could try swaddling all of her except for her arms (or part of her arms). Haven't had this experience but I do remember reading that you can partially swaddle for up to 7 or 8 months, just depending on the baby and what they prefer (just have to leave their arms out when they are older like that so they can find their fingers/thumb, etc). I hope this helps. My son had napping troubles in the beginning so I know how frustrating this can be. Hope this works for you.

We swaddled until 9 months. It might help to go less cold turkey. Maybe try swaddling with one arm out at first, instead of whole hog.

I would put her in the sleeping bag type that zips up over the clothes. My granddaughter at 9 mo was still in that & the minute we put her in the bag she turned her head to sleep. I guess she felt snuggled but not confined.

For both of our children, we went from "full swaddle" to "partial swaddle" to ease them of the stage. We would swaddle just one arm, so they still had some freedom, but also had the other arm tucked for that "closeness" feeling. With our daughter, we had to first go to a "looser" swaddle before the partial. Both arms in, but a lot more wiggle room in the blanket than before.(I know God was testing my patience in preparation for her teen years . . .LOL . . .she's tested every phase she's been through so far.) Good Luck and I hope one of these ways works for you.

Have you tried swaddling her differently? My youngest would not stand to have his arms swaddled, but enjoyed having his torso & legs swaddled. You could also try swaddling with one arm out & one arm in.

God bless!

My daughter was the same, for a long time. She was our first and we had to put her to bed between us to slow her down. As she got old enough to stand we had a new problem, she would stretch her leg over the bed rail and flop herself out on the floor and run around in the middle of the night. The only thing we could do was keep her awake or run her down the street until she was so exhausted she couldn't help but sleep. As a toddler we NEVER let her sleep in the car.

This is entirely up to you since it is not recommended due to SIDS, but babies who struggle to sleep after swaddling usually sleep much better on their tummies. You have to be okay with it, though, yourself. I did it with my two boys and will do it with my third if it seems necessary. Good luck!

hi M.. i understand your dilemma. i have a 4 month old and she was swaddled up until about 3 weeks ago. she also suffered from colic so i had a lot of little quirks that she was used to before i was able to get her to sleep in her crib swaddle-free, wedge-free, etc. one thing that i had to do was create a "snuggle blanket" for her. some may argue that it is not wise to make your baby become attached to an object but i know that her health depends on her getting her sleep. she has a very soft and fuzzy blanket that i started keeping with her when she was sitting in her chair or swing and eventually her crib. she always had it next to her and i would just rub it on her face a bit and she has grown to love it and falls fast asleep when i place it next to her face in the crib. she spent the first few nights jerking and twisting and waking herself up constantly. but now she does not move when she has her blanket. also i started putting her to bed at 6pm rather than 9 or 10 and i found that she actually sleeps longer, better, and more sound. she still wakes up once around midnight bc she has to have small feedings all day bc of reflux so she still needs to eat to get all of her required daily allowance of milk. but she then goes on to sleep til 6 or 7 am. once she started sleeping more her jerking went away. as you know, every baby is different. the jerking will go away. but i recommend placing something with her in the crib that is obviously safe and can cause no harm. i keep a video monitor next to my bed to make sure she does not cover herself or anything. its hard for them to go from being snuggled to completely free. also at first she would wake up at the foot of her crib or at the top turned sideways. just like everything else they eventually learn. its just hard from us moms in the meantime. sometimes i wonder if i will regret the attachment she might have to a blanket but if she sleeps 12 or 13 hours who can argue against that. i know she wont be taking it to her first day at high school;) good luck!

I don't know how "big" she is but an alternative that would still give her some sense of security without the restrictive nature of swaddling is the wedges it looks like two cloth covered triangle that velcro that attach to a piece of cloth so they stay in place. I have seen this at Toys R Us...not sure if this would help or not, but safer than trying to roll a blanket.
Lots of luck
B.

There are "sleep positioners" that are wedges the cuddle the baby on both sides. (See http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3214472) I think I saw them at Target as well. I had a similar problem and bought one of these for $15 and it helped with the transition. She went back to sleeping through the night after a few days of using this; now she doesn't even need the wedge.

I still swaddle my 9 month old, sometimes. We swaddled her regularly until just about 2 weeks ago. I use a larger receiving blanket of course, because it won't work if the blanket is too small to get a good swaddle. She just knew that was the "cue" to go to sleep. I still go back to the trusty swaddle if she's fighing a nap. Just because your little one is 4 months old, doesn't mean she's ready to sleep hands free.

My son is 19 weeks (adjusted, he was born 10.5 weeks early) and we still swaddle him to sleep. He sleeps from about 7:30 PM to 5:30 AM with only a few binky replacements to keep him happy. Then after a feeding at 5:30 he goes back to sleep until about 7:30. I suggest continuing the swaddling. My doctor says it is perfectly safe and even though they fight it, they are ok. Unless he is hurting I think it's fine. If you are ready to wean him off it, my doc says it's best to start with 1 arm out and see how that goes, then both arms. The reason for the swaddling is to keep them from the "falling" feeling that we all get sometimes. This will wake her up for sure!! My son has recently started fighting the swaddle and bucking around and moving all over the crib ending up at the bottom. I have tried keeping 1 arm out and he won't even go to sleep. That's all I know, good luck!!

K.