A quick survey on swaddling

[moonprayer]

Just wondering, for those moms who use swaddle:

• when do you stop swaddling your LO?
  
• do you swaddle just for naps or also nighttime sleep?
  
• when you stop swaddling, does your LO naturally adjust to it and sleep as usual, or it takes efforts for you to wean him off swaddling?
  

I am not sure whether I should wean my DS off swaddling now, or probably just leave him swaddled and hopefully he will get out of it naturally all by himself, if possible... So just want to get some ideas... Thanks

[Hannah052012]

Hi there. How old is your DS?
We swaddled our DD for about 3 or 4 months, for nightime sleep (day naps were either on me or in the pram) I don't think she would've slept so well at night without it.
However, there came a time when I think it started to annoy her and she would wriggle free of it anyway, so we started experimenting with one or both hands free and found that she quickly started to suck/chew on her hands as a way of soothing herself to sleep. We kept the swaddle on standby for when she was particularly unsettled, but no longer use it at all now. She sleeps in sleepbags now - they're brilliant.
The only safety issues I am aware of regarding swaddling are:

1. making sure they don't overheat - the swaddle counts as an extra layer.
   2)not swaddling their hips tightly
   
2. always placing them on their backs and never swaddle a baby who can roll over.
   Hope that's useful.

[KatAndKit]

We stopped just before 4 months when he had lost the startle reflex and had gained proper control of his disco arms, and we thought he was close to rolling.
For a while he was swaddled for daytime sleeps too although that didn't work as well, he preferred to nap in a sling or in the car. Night time swaddling was the last thing to go, I think we stopped it in the day most of the time at 3 months.

[BotBotticelli]

We swaddled night and day for the first 10 weeks or so. Then put DS in a Grobag at night time. Shortly afterwards we started putting him in his crib for daytime sleep too, so used the Grobag then as well.

First time we put him in the Grobag I was convinced he wouldn't sleep but he did!

[lljkk]

Maybe up to 9-12 weeks. Can't remember how we stopped, didn't find grobags useful either, though.

[moonprayer]

Re Hannah052012, my DS is 4.5mo now. In the first two months I didn't swaddle him but he never got a proper nap during the day time. Then I started to swaddle him for naps and he became an angel having a proper daytime routine. Two weeks ago I tried to stop swaddling and he napped well for two days and then everything went wrong again, until yesterday when i swaddled him back, he became a good boy again. So I am a bit struggling whether I should continue swaddle him to make sure he has good naps and hopefully he would come out of it by himself.
Btw, he doesn't seem to learn to eat his hands for comfort yet, though he does that occasionally. If I don't swaddle him, he would play with his hand for a while and then cries. :(

[moonprayer]

And, thank you Hannah052012 for your long useful replies.

[moonprayer]

Hi KatAndKit, I find my DS's startle reflex increased when I didn't swaddle him, and he definitely hasn't lost that yet. He has better control of his arms but hasn't yet learned to eat his hands for comfort. Maybe I should just leave him crying for a bit to learn that?

[moonprayer]

Hi BotBotticelli, it sounds like your DS is a lovely boy. When I didn't swaddle my DS, he didn't want to sleep at all, and became super excited :( although i know for sure that he has already been overtired...

[CarlyRose80]

My LO is 5 months and is still swaddled for day naps but not swaddled at night. I don't why there is a difference but he will not sleep in the day with out a fight and endless screaming so I swaddle him as he's more content
Night time he has a Grobag and just goes to sleep (insane I know)
I don't know how long he can be swaddled for but while it works I won't be changing anything. His sleep makes a happy home.