I stopped swaddling my first at four months because that’s what the books said. The next two I decided to throw caution to the wind and swaddled them until they were almost nine months old. They don’t seem any worse because of it (they are 3 and almost 1 now). If he is sleeping well, don’t change a thing!

My son is 14 weeks old and I stopped swaddling him when he was about 8 weeks old when we moved him from the bassinett to the crib. He never liked being swaddled as he likes to move around *a lot* in his sleep. Arms flapping, legs kicking. I don’t do blankets in the crib for safety and my own piece of mind, but I put him in a sleep-sack which keeps in nice and warm and cozy. I have heard things from other people that swaddling can stop some muscle growth or something like that, presumably from being so tightly bound. But I don’t know too much more.
More importantly, why do you always say “after the jump”? What does it mean?

I heard 6-12 weeks. But both my babies refused to be swaddled after a certain point. If Huck still likes it, who cares? Can it stop him from crawling or something???

My bubba would never be swaddled, she would wriggle out of even the tightest Nurse’s super swaddle in hospital. So be thankful you got 6 months of swaddling waddles, cos I got zip!

I actually asked for your opinion on swaddling a while back. My love is 6mo as well and not only do I swaddle, I swaddle-me him. It’s (now how do I explain this without sounding crazy/abusive) a sack with Velcro, so there is no escape (heeey Lauren!) I tried for a week with no swaddle me. I figured it was time, he’s like 20 pounds! Swaddle around his lower half. Swaddle with one arm out. Swaddle with a blanket so he could get out. I think I got about 2 hours of sleep that week. So when you do wean please give deets, because I have no idea how to stop the swaddle. In the name of summer swaddle-me’s, amen.

Didn’t you ask the doctor why that was necessary? I don’t understand…what a strange thing for him/her to say.
We “weaned” my daughter of the swaddle gradually…first we left out one arm, then two…then stopped tucking in the bottom of the blanket…and so on. (She was waking up with the tube in the middle as well.) We may have just graduated her to a sleep sack, and by then it was summer and she didn’t want any blankets (and still doesn’t, and I don’t know how I am going to transition her to a “big” bed.) But I never had a doctor say anything about swaddling or stopping doing it.

After about 4-ish months old it begins to hinder development. (My sources? Multiple PT, OT, and developmental specialists.). We had this problem, too…

Psh, I swaddled ’til baby girl was 9 months. That was a year ago, and it didn’t do one thing to her muscles. I mean, they’re asleep, how much muscle movement do they really use? I would keep doing it until he’s got the sleep training thing down. Why make it harder on him than it needs to be? No matter how you choose to parent, someone will say your way is the worst way. Ugh. You keep doing your thing, girlie!

We still swaddle our 10.5 month old (but she’s small for her age, like 0-3%-ile so she still fits in the swaddlers). We tried weaning her with just one arm out (like someone suggested above) and it was a total nightmare. But if she gets out of the swaddle she wakes up. Sounds like your baby already breaks free and keeps sleeping so I’d guess weaning him off it shouldn’t be a big deal.

The PA at my doctor’s office said it’s not a big deal. She swaddled her own daughter til like 12 or 15 months. So yeah…do whatever you want. Wean, don’t wean. I’m sure he’ll do fine

Man, I had no idea. I swaddled my first kid until she was over one. She loved it. I had to get my mum to make ginormous blankets so I could do it.

I say swaddle, what’s the big deal? If he likes then he likes it.

My sister uses a sleep sack for all her babies and if I had known about them I would have used them too. They are great. They aren’t tight but sort of like a swaddle with free arms. And baby stays covered all night long.

Stupid health nurses/doctors. They think they know everything and they think all babies are the same.

Funny, I’ve been reprimanded for NOT swaddling. But then, none of mine ever liked the restricted movement. In fact, most of them managed to wriggle out of the nurses’ swaddles before they were 24 hours old. Seriously, though, mama knows way more than any medical professional.

We swaddled our daughter for nearly a year and weaned her one limb at a time. She also could break a swaddle and the Miracle Blanket was recommened. It was truly, a miracle. She slept soundly from the day we started using it. Plan to use it on my little man when he joins us this summer, if he likes it as much as she did, of course. Be smart. Not everything the doctor says has medical implications. Sometimes Momma’s instincts are best :)

Psht, ignore her and go with your gut. Huck will unswaddle himself when he wants to. You’re not putting him in a straight jacket – if he can get out now, he’s fine. If he wants out, he will… but he likes the routine, so keep with what works! We only quit swaddling my son when he decided he didn’t want it anymore and wiggled right out.

We are still swaddling our 5 month old and he still wakes up in exactly the same position we left him in, no rolling yet and the Miracle Blanket is still working like a charm. My pediatrician said it was okay until he could roll over in it. I’m definitely worried about when that day comes, because we put him down for naps without the swaddle and he has a much harder time settling with his arms flailing/rubbing his eyes/pulling the binky out. I LOVE the Swaddle.

Sheesh- swaddle Huck’s waddle as long as you want! I swaddled #1 until she was 1ish (maybe 13-14 months?) and am still swaddling #2 at almost 1.

i was always told if they like the comfort of a swaddle and of course u dont want blankets in a babys crib switch to a sleep sack once they are old enough to roll over in their sleep

We stopped swaddling around 6 months as well. The doctor always checked our boys hip movement and warned us to not swaddle him as tight. You can always use a sleep sack or something like that though. It was rough for us to transition out of the swaddle, but the babe and us survived. He likes to roll to his stomach now to sleep anyway and I think it helps him sleep longer too.

Does anyone have suggestions on swaddling a baby’s arms but not legs? More specifically, one arm. Is there any info on swaddling being detrimental to babe’s arm strength/control development? I swaddle my son is 3mo1wk and has fantastically strong legs but seemingly poor upper body strength (in contrast to his leg strength). Sorry for the disjointed comment, said son is having a rough night.

I think if he’s already getting his arms and legs free by morning, that’s no longer actually being swaddled.. If it makes you feel better, just call it The Origami Tuck-in and carry on as is for as long as you like.

I swaddled my oldest till 7 months. That’s when he could flip himself over while all swaddled up tightly and I worried about him getting stuck on his tummy. So I started swaddling with one arm out and then I kept both arms out and just wrapped him really tightly with the blanket. Now, my three month old can currently escape the miracle blanket like nobody’s business, so I am thinking swaddling will end sooner with him :(. Good luck!

I still swaddle our 7½ month old with one arm out (I’ve been doing that since she was tiny – so long ago that I can’t even remember why) but only at night and because she sleeps all night long, I’m reluctant to mess with it. I always swore I would stop when she could roll from back to tummy, but even though she is rolling all over the pace during the day, she has never rolled at night, so I’m still swaddling. But she’s getting bigger and bigger and harder to swaddle, and has even broken out of the double swaddle by morning this past week. She takes naps in a sleep sack at the weekend (she goes to daycare during the week) and now she can put the paci in herself so our nap troubles are long gone. She might be that good a sleeper no matter what I do. I didn’t even think twice of making the switch when her big sister was 4 months old, so I don’t know why I’m having a hard time with this decision. I may have to wait until next weekend though – I’m not ready to combine possible sleepless nights with a full time job again.

My baby girl is my third…I still swaddle her, sleep her in her bassinet, and her sleep position thingy so she won’t roll over. She doesn’t mind, so i don’t mind. In fact, i think she sleeps better as a result. We plan to move her into a crib as soon as the bunky beds arrive for the other two squirts, but that day will always come too soon :( I say…swaddle away! Oh, and shop around for a new pediatrician ;)

Good grief, I think we swaddled our two youngest until they were nearly 10 mos. I saw no reason to stop when they obviously liked it! They just sort of outgrew it one day, on their own. It was OK. Both have been fabulous sleepers who then transitioned to toddler beds and then twin beds without a hiccup. I say do what your instinct tells you!!

You go, Nat! Swaddling is awesome. Remember, no one knows better than Mama. No. One.

I am VERY pro-swaddling and think it is crazy that your doctor told you to stop. The developmental problems referenced by someone, from what I understand, are only relevant if you swaddle during the waking hours. I am quite certain you are not doing that;) My DD was fully swaddled until at least 7 months and then was still swaddled from the chest down until 10 or 11 months. We tried to wean her around 6 months because we worried it would just get harder, but that was one of the longest weeks of my life and it was so not worth it! Then we just waited for her to be ready and she clearly told us when she was. She stopped waking up when she broke out of her swaddle around 7-8 months. After that, we tried again (first with naps) and it was easy. She learned very quickly, one arm at a time.

I say, swaddle till your heart’s content until your baby shows you HE is ready to sleep without the swaddle.

We started with a swaddle, then transitioned to a swaddle sleepsac. That worked for a while, but Tuck’s a fervent thumb sucker, so at about 4 months we transitioned to just the sleepsac, because he wanted his thumb to soothe himself back to sleep. So far, so good. I didn’t think it would keep him asleep, but it did! I would try a swaddle sleepsac first, if you have one and use it for daytime naps first… Then make the switch to just a sac.

I swaddled my son for the first 2 months or so. I would have done it longer, but he didn’t care for it that much. He grew out of it. I say do what you feel is best! If Huck likes it, I don’t see what the problem is. Best of luck to you!

I will try to not be too scathing about the swaddling advice from probably a perfectly fine doctor but… Seriously?! Why on this good green earth would she ever tell you that! If it’s working, and your little Huckster are happy then there is no reason to stop. It’s not like he’s six and still using a binky.
I am all about not changing the way one cares for their child because of arbitrary ages they have met. Know the general progress and stages the baby should make and go with the flow. Let things happen on their own, or gently nudge them in the direction you’d like them to go. There’s certainly no need to stop swaddling him suddenly just because someone told you he’s too old (that’s not what doctors are for anyway). Do what feels okay to you :) (Also, you don’t have to sleep train either ;-)

Wow. Say the word “swaddling” and the comments start to fly…..
I was going to post a response yesterday – but the emotion was just too high!
Everyone should take a breath and relax and please hear my comment with an open mind and heart.

Doctors are justifably worried about swaddling a six month old that can roll over. If baby can roll over on her own, then it is not good to swaddle baby with her arms pinned down and in the swaddle. If baby does rollover when swaddled, then baby could end-up face-down in the mattress with insufficent neck strenght to move her head to get sufficent airflow.

It is that simple. If you baby cannot rollover when swaddled – and you are confident that baby will sleep on her back – then, swaddling beyond 4 or 6 months is not a big deal. But, if baby can rollover – then, you are taking an unnecessary risk.

Weaning your baby off swaddling can definitely be tricky. Doctors recommend weaning babies off their swaddles because they want them to develop better use of their arms. The best solution I’ve found is TrueWomb’s Arms-Free Weaning Swaddle. TrueWomb’s uses a leg pouch that stretches, mimicking the womb and allowing your baby to kick out and then have their legs returned to the fetal position…which they love! The Arms-Free swaddle can be incorporated during nap time while you continue to use the regular one at night until your baby has adjusted and can make the full transition to the arms-free version. You can use this one as long as your baby wants to! Trust me; they’ll let you know when they’re unhappy with the sleeping arrangements! Hope this helps with transitioning your baby!

Well over a year, maybe 18 months by my memory. My daughter loved it. What was supposed to be the problem with it?