Babys First Year Blog
When Did You Stop Swaddling?
The sad, empty Woombie.
I’ve mentioned before that Fuzz is just about four months old. He’s technically out of the fourth trimester and therefore supposedly less needy of the swaddle, but I still think he responds well to having the Miracle Blanket wrapped around him at night. He still has a bit of that Moro reflex and if he’s not swaddled, he flails his arms and bonks himself in the face, which wakes him up. The problem is, he is getting a tad large for the Miracle Blanket. He can’t really stretch out his legs anymore, unless I swaddle just his arms, which is fine except then it’s really just a straight jacket.
A while back, Katie posted about a product that I thought looked AWESOME… It’s called the Woombie and it’s like a baby sack of potatoes with a head. It has a zipper and a velcro top so the baby simply cannot get the arms out. It has a little bit of stretch to it too, which I thought would be good. I purchased the “Big Baby” version and tested it out.
Fail.
Fuzz fell asleep in it fine. Then, he woke up and tried to get his arms out. He could not. Instead of this being a good thing, it turned out to be a bad thing and he became very very angry. Everyone always complains that their baby is a Houdini who can get out of the swaddle, but it turns out, if they can’t it doesn’t mean they will miraculously fall back asleep. Also, the fact that it’s stretchy makes it easier for him to get his arms to the top, only to be frustrated by the fact that he can’t go any farther. I came into the room to see him red faced and mad-crying with his little fat arms stuffed up as high as they would go.
I tried it a few times just to be sure it wasn’t a fluke, but yeah, no go on the Woombie. Sad, since I think it’s such a great idea.
The Woombie people do make a version that has arm holes, and even one with ‘legs’ but then you might ask, how is this swaddling? They also have one that has ‘less stretch’ but I really think my guy needs no stretch at all, and I’m not even sure that would help.
At this point, I may just continue with the Miracle Blanket until Fuzz’s Moro reflex settles down a bit and he can switch to a sleep sack. Unless of course, he still needs the swaddling. Some days, I’d like to be swaddled, too.
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14 Comments
Carrie commented on Dec 17 10 at 1:48 pmWhen my daughter reached the stage that she was breaking out of her swaddle (we used the muslin blankets), we switched to a sleep sac that had a wrap around swaddle attachment. This way, if her arms broke out she still had a warm blanket around her. Also, we could gradually allow her arms more feedom. Even using the swaddle wrap part around her body, with her arms out could give her that secure snug feeling. It was better than the blanket which would bunch up by her face when she started breaking out of it. You are in that inbetween stage and you can’t go backwards. Fuzz is moving toward sleeping without a swaddle, but he needs some transition time. He is using his arms and hands appropriately to comfort himself, so it’s time to swaddle with arms up (think: more mummy than straight jacket), so he can feel his hands by his face.
Heather commented on Dec 17 10 at 2:11 pmMy son would not sleep without the swaddle until 9 months. Kiddopotamus makes a L swaddle blanket (up to 22lbs) with velcro.
Danielle commented on Dec 17 10 at 3:05 pmMy feisty pumpkin was actually straining and fussing to get out of the swaddle from birth! We were able to keep her in the kiddopotamus for about two months, but I could only put her in it when she was totally asleep. Then, she would last for about 3-4 hours before waking up in a big fuss to try to get out of it. I invested in a miracle blanket (not a miracle for us), and she really didn’t like that. I also tried the Woombie, with limited success. We finally gave up, and, get ready for it, started putting her to sleep on her belly, where she seemed much more comfortable and slept well. She is in our room, so I feel more secure doing this. She also still has a bit of the startle reflex, and I’m sure would wake herself up even on her side.
Janette commented on Dec 17 10 at 3:16 pmMy second is five months old, and we still swaddle his arms with the miracle blanket (his feet are out because he is just too long). I want to stop swaddling him, but he 1) has a hard time getting to sleep without the swaddle, and 2) wakes up after 20 minutes without the swaddle (just…no.). Anyway, my first finally started sleeping on his tummy, allowing us to give up the swaddle, so I am waiting for this guy to start rolling around before letting go.
madfoot commented on Dec 17 10 at 3:25 pmI’ve been leaving one arm out of Abby’s swaddle for a couple weeks now. Somehow that calms the Moro reflex while still allowing her to self-soothe.
Marie commented on Dec 17 10 at 6:24 pmIt sounds like Fuzz is ready to start weaning from swaddling. Try one arm out for several days or weeks like Madfoot above suggested, and then try both out. We used the 123 Swaddle blankets with great success and they seem to have just the right amount of stretch. We swaddled our little guy for 4 months. They have fabric choices like flannel which we LOVE and marquisette which is like the muslin (personally I think the marquisette is softer) . Also, please, please… know that there is a 3x increase in SIDS when babies are put on their stomachs for sleep and that risk goes even higher when they baby is not used to it. Remember back to sleep is best!
Maggie commented on Dec 17 10 at 7:32 pmWe swaddled until 7 months. Only stopped because it was getting too hot. honestly she would still be swaddled if it were up to me :)
Good luck! Oh, I think they make a large Swaddleme, which isn’t as good as the Miracle blanket, but might be a good option.
PlumbLucky commented on Dec 20 10 at 3:38 pmHmmm…never? As in, from birth, Babe the Younger resisted the swaddle and would squall and scream if subjected to it…but if allowed to put her hands on her chin, she’d sleep 4-6 hours straight.
Naomi commented on Dec 21 10 at 1:07 amthanks everyone! All these comments are super useful for me right now! Transition time!!
Stacey commented on Dec 31 10 at 8:09 amHonestly – mine swaddled till almost 8 mos! We moved to a larger blankie and couldn’t use any of the “official” swaddlers but she loved it and will STILL curl up and ask me to “tuck her in” which means to almost swaddle her at almost 3 years old!
Carolina commented on Feb 14 11 at 4:31 pmWe did up to 4 months. The one arm out test will help you determine if he’s ready. If he’s not, Kiddopotamus has a bigger one. :)
NMZ commented on Sep 26 11 at 12:13 pmI am having this issue as well and am kind of going crazy about it. The monkey man likes being swaddled, but always would fight it. Most recently I’ve discovered him with his hands in his mouth and the swaddle (the muslin ones) wrapped around his neck like a cape, which has scared the shit out of me. To make matters worse, I’ve been working on him self soothing because he doesn’t last long during naps, even though he’s tired, but can sleep a pretty good 10 hrs at night. I feel like I’m going backwards now and I have NO idea what to do! HELP!
shannon commented on Sep 29 11 at 11:18 pmMy son who is now 18 months was swaddled with a swaddle me blanket till he was between 3 and 4 months it was then that he out grew the blanket. I would go in to check on him and he would have his arms out. So after a couple of nights of this I decided to try and see how he would do without it and he had no problems at all. To this day he loves to sleep on his back hands up by his head on a pillow with his legs all streched out. Now my daughter who is now 4 months was only swaddled for about a week and about 2 to 3 weeks she decided that she dosen’t like to sleep on her back at all. Ok so let me start by saying that she picked up her head while laying on her tummy while still in the hospital her first 24 hours, she was 10 lbs 3 oz. She now sleeps either on her side or her tummy not swaddled, but normally with her legs pulled as far under her as she can get then, but once she is in a deep sleep she streches out. The doc wasn’t to happy about the tummy sleeping before 6 months, but it was either that or she would only sleep in the swing laying on her side… But then there is my cousen’s son who just turned 3 who would still love to be swaddled at night if they would let him, he loved it so much.
Stephanie commented on Dec 29 11 at 9:26 amMy little girl is still being swaddled and she turns four months on the 1st of January. We just love the Summer Swaddleme. We had to order a large because she grew out of the S/M. I am a nervous wreck about when she’s too big to fit in the swaddle, because she ONLY sleeps if she’s swaddled tight. For naptime she is swaddled in two blankets, and she loves that too! I’m anxious to transition her yet, because she does not seem ready. She is getting big enough (and strong enough) to wiggle her hands to her mouth, and when she does this, she ends up waking herself up and talking until I go back in her to swaddle her. Ahhh! I wish she could be swaddled forever!
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