How Do I Wean from a Swaddle?

hi M.. i had the same problem with my 4 month old daughter. my pediatrician was shocked i was still swaddling her but she slept SO well swaddled! my suggestion, and what worked really well for us, was to slowly reduce the swaddling. the first night, i left one arm out of the swaddle. 2 nights later, i left 2 arms out and kept her feet and body tucked in (we used the swaddle me swaddler so this was easy to do) A few nights later we took her out completely and put her on her side to fall asleep as this reduced the random jerky movements. for some reason, this worked and she is now swaddle free. good luck!

Try a sleepy sack. For some silly reason, the thin summer ones are hard to come by in sizes bigger than NB, but if you can find one, those are really good. try the grobag, or look on amason.
They will keep him cooler than a swaddle and still keep his body parts together, so he can't wave his legs too much to scare himself. It may take him a while to transition out of the swaddle, but just bear with him as he learns that his body parts are his and they are not scary :)
Good luck!

Hi,

I have 3 girls and my oldest (now 5) had to be swaddled until she was one. She wasn't ready to be let loose and like your son, would wake herself up One book I read said some more sensitive children can be swaddled up to a year. I would say, just keep swaddling. When I did stop swaddling her, I did put her in a sleeping-type bag (the gro-baby blankets). In the last days of her swaddling I was using a crib sheet. You can also make your own really easily. I just slept her naked with a 100% crib sheet as the swaddle to prevent over-heating. I remember worrying because I couldn't wean her but eventually it worked itself out. She just needed to be kept tight for longer than the average child. She's 5 and no longer needs to be swaddled :)

With my second daughter I weaned the swaddle by taking one arm out, waiting a bit, then the other out. At first, when I took 1 arm out, she wasn't ready, so I had to put it back in. Eventually I took both arms out (still swaddling the body) then fully removing it.

Hope this helps and good luck.

J.

p.s. my last baby doesn't like to be swaddled, so I don't have to worry about that!

My baby boy loved the swaddle too. But I bought a sleep sack and put him in that and swaddled him over that just on around the body so he would still feel secure. I did this about a week or two to transition him from swaddling. Then during his morning and afternoon nap I tried first to do it without swaddle leaving evening the last to go. It worked perfectly, give it time. Also there is nothing wrong with continuing to swaddle if he likes it.

best of luck.
J.

WHy do you want to wean him from being swaddled? I am old and I love to sleep snuggled up in a sheet AND blanket, even in the summer. Some people love to sleep with nothing on top of them. Its a matter of preference. Why do you think its too hot for him, if he sleeps all night? If he is outgrowing the receiving blankets buy bigger light weight crib blankets and use that.

My daughter slept in a swaddle until she was almost 6 months old as well. Once she started rolling over on her own, I tried putting her down without the swaddle. She rolled onto her belly and slept soundly. The doctor said it was fine for her to sleep on her belly once she could get onto her belly herself. She has slept like that ever since and now she's 15 months old.

My daughter also loved being swaddled. We didn't stop swaddling her until she could roll herself over. That's when she started sleeping on her belly and she didn't need the swaddle any more. We used the peke moe sleep sack. It looks like a pillow case with a hole for the head. If you look it up on google you should beke th able to find it. They make them out of lightweight fabric so it might be OK for summer sleeping. Good luck!

M.,
Not a cure, but a help possibly - there are blankets out there made of a gauze like material. A friend who lives in NYC has them, they come in a set of 3. I can only imagine the are online.

They would help you swaddle while working on the heat issues. I don't believe you can 'wean' from a swaddle. Need is need, and it's the baby's not yours. There is should, and there is IS.

I hope you can find a substitute for the blanket you have.

Good luck,
M.

My guess is he will grow out of it or perhaps try to wrap him loosely. If he were too hot he would fight being swaddled. Even though he is growing out of the blankets, you may want to try a toddler bed sheet instead of a receiving blanket. It is a little bigger but not that big.

Don't worry too much and it is alright for them to cry a little to work things out. Life isn't always happiness and joy besides it is one of the ways babies express themselves. Relax. Everything will be alright.

We did a gradual wean from the swaddle when my daughter was about your son's age. We took one arm out the first week, then when she was ok with that we eventually moved to 2 arms out-but kept the bottom half of her body swaddled. Then the feet came out after that. It probably took us a month because we were trying to be gentle and we also didn't let her cry it out so a gradual way was best. She wasn't probably wasn't fully out of the swaddle until 7 or 8 months and people would always laugh at that. But, it worked so we kept doing it until then. My other daughter never liked to be swaddled and always just put herself to sleep. Good luck.

Hi M.,
I would have thought that 6 months was a long time to swaddle, since most babys stop liking that within a month or so after they go home from the hospital.
I have 4, my first 3 were out of swaddling by the time they were a month old. My last, almost 3 now, liked being swaddled until she was about 4 months old.
At that time, I just made her blankets looser than normal, so she could use her arms, and wrapped her up from under her arms down to her legs.
When she was ok what that, and slept well, I just used the same blankets and tucked her in snug, around her legs, back and belly.
Try using light receiving blankets to tuck him in. They will be lighter/cooler during the night, and naps. And maybe leave his feet uncovered, or lightly covered, this will keep him cooler while he sleeps.

I completely understand you not wanting him to "cry it out", the only time I ever did that with my kids was when I had to teach my son to sleep all night in his crib, at 1 1/2 yo, now 8. He would wake during the night, I would take him out of his bed and put him into mine, nurse him to sleep, then fall asleep myself. I did this so he wouldn't wake up his older sisters 8 and 10, because they had school. I made the change during the summer.
My son only cried for about 3 night, but the first was the worst. I would go in after 10 minutes, talk to him, hold him for a minute (without nursing), then put him back into his crib and leave. I would add 5 minutes after every time I went to comfort him, until he finally went to sleep. It took about 1 1/2 hours the first night, then shorter the next, about 45 mintues.
It broke my heart every time I walked out of his room and left him crying. But in the end, it was worth it, and he never had sleeping problems.
Good luck

I swaddled my son (he just turned one!!) until he was about 6 months. It was around that time that he began sleeping on his belly (he'd roll over and stay that way and just loved it). Like your son, he was a horrible sleeper, unless swaddled...

What I did was I left one arm out but swaddled the other and let him get used to that feeling. Then after a while, I unswaddled his other arm but left his body swaddled. This seemed to work as he got used to the twitches from his arms while sleeping.

The last thing I did to provide him some comfort is that I put him to sleep on this little tiny sleep blanket which I slept with for a few days to get my scent on. That seemed to help as well and now that he's one, he loves cuddling up with the blanket at nighttime.

Hope this helps you out!

Hi M.. I don't know if I have any advice, because we are going through the same exact thing right now. My son is 5 months old, and I complain to my husband every night that we are in "swaddling hell"! Like your son, we can't even put him down to sleep without being swaddled. At night, we have a great bed time routine, and I swaddle my son, put him down and he falls asleep right away on his own. Then every few hours all night long he has managed to wriggle his arms out of the swaddling blanket and wakes up screaming. I have little meetings with him every night, and tell him that his arms and fingers are his friends, not his enemies, but he can't sleep with them out--no matter what! I just keep re-swaddling him every few hours and hope that he outgrows this need soon. One suggestion: another poster mentioned the light weight gauze blankets. They are made by Aden and Anais and they are fantastic! They are very large, and very light weight. (I put my son in just a diaper and the blanket at night when its really hot.) They are a bit pricey, but they work for everything: sun cover over the stroller, cleaning up messes like spit up, as a towel in a pinch. And they get softer and softer the more you wash them, so now my son loves to cuddle with them, too.

Good luck to you in this process. As another poster said, I think we just have to keep attending to this need of our babies' until they learn to sleep on their tummies or outgrow the need altogether! If you find a good solution, please let me know.

My son also loved to be swaddled when he was a baby, but he was a big baby (10lbs at birth) so he out grew the swaddling blankets by the time he was 4 months old, but he still needed to be swaddled to sleep! Anyway, I found success in weaning him off swaddling by gradually swaddling him just a little loose, then I progressed to leaving one arm out of the swaddle, then slowly, leaving both arms out of the swaddle. It was a gradual approach but eventually he did not need the swaddle to sleep. Hope this helps you.

Hi! My now 8 month old was a startler as well and we swaddled up until about 5.5 months bc he would wake himself up constantly - and wriggle out of it all the time to boot. He's a big boy and was outgrowing his swaddle blankets as well. I never thought we were going to get away from swaddling. I tried to just cold turkey take it away and that didn't work. So, I started weaning him by wrapping him a little looser and leaving one arm out. He would always unwrap himself a bit, but it seemed to keep him asleep a little longer anyway. After a few days, I left both of his arms unwrapped....then both arms and a leg...If your son is having trouble still with the one arm out at first - switch it to one of his legs...the point is to get him used to having his body parts exposed and roaming freely.
You can also try those lightweight swaddle blanket sleeper outfits that keep the body and legs inside but have armhole cutouts so the arms are free.

I remember there was a certain moment when he just seemed less jerky and hence, apt to startle himself by flinging an arm into his face - and you might just have to wait for that.

Good luck...you'll get there.

I allowed my baby to sleep skin to skin between my breast for a long time, probably until she got to heavy. She use to spit up alot at night and I was terrified she would choke. People are afraid to sleep with their babies but it was just the most natural thing to me and "Thank God" also to my husband. I slept upright against several pillows and backrest but it was the only way I slept without worrying. She is now 4years old, sleeps in her own bed alone and most of the time... all night. Good luck, I don't think anyone should let their infants "cry it out.. that is just cruel".

Hi M.,
I had the same situation with my son. He was swaddled until he was 6 months and too big for the blanket! A few people told me to swaddle with one arm out for a few nights, then with both arms out. That didn't work for us. He would would struggle to get the swaddled arm free and wake up. But he wouldn't even fall asleep if his arms weren't tied down. My husband and I finally got to a point where we had no choice but to let him cry himself to sleep. It was emotionally really hard on me, but it was the BEST thing we did. The first night he cried for about 30 min, the next about 20, and by the third night, he fussed for 5 min and went right to sleep and slept through the night for the first time! So I would suggest doing this, but only if you feel ready. As my pediatrician told me, if you're not convinced it will work, your son won't be either.
Good luck!

i agree with using the aden and anais swaddle blankets-best for summer. my baby is 4 months and i see no reason to stop if your baby needs it. i know of people who did it much longer. no big deal really.

Here are a couple of thoughts. Both of my boys couldn't stand being swaddled after about 4 months, so we just stopped. If he is active and rolling around on his own now, you could see if he likes sleeping on his belly (mine both did at this age on their own) because they feel more secure and snuggled in this position. It might be a good alternative. Does he sleep with anything? (Again, I also know you are not "supposed" to do this) but some babies feel secure clutching something (a SMALL silky blanket or something) because they can rub it on their cheek in their sleep or if they startle, their hands have something to grasp. At first, instead of holding him if he wakes up upset try stroking his cheek or his hands or something to reassure him and see if you can soothe him back to sleep without picking him up. This might help him learn to be comfortable without being swaddled--knowing mommy is nearby and attentive but not needing to be picked up and rocked back to sleep. Hope something helps. :)

Try the sleep sack. My son seems to like this like the swaddle.