Q&A: How long can the swaddling go on?

If you live in the US and can, please vote today!

I still don't know why it's happening, but I keep getting questions in clusters. I've gotten a few recently about how long you can swaddle a baby. A couple of the parents are wondering if they can still swaddle because there's nothing else that gets the babies to sleep, but the parents are worried that the babies are too old for swaddling at 4 months.

(Are we surprised that a big sleep dilemma is rearing it's ugly head at four months? How convenient that that's both the time kids are having sleep problems leading up to the 19-week leap, and also the time when popular culture tells us our kids are supposed to be sleeping perfectly after going down awake and if they're not it's our faults. Sheesh.)

There was also a note of confusion in two of the emails because the babies were still calmed by swaddling, but would then work their ways out of the swaddle in the middle of the night. Without the swaddle, the parents had a hard time getting the babies back to sleep, but the swaddle didn't take. It was a big conundrum wrapped in a Catch 22.

I don't really have much about swaddling. My older son was an anti-swaddler. I think he was just so happy to have room to stretch out finally (he was 9 1/2 pounds at birth) that there was no way he'd have submitted to a swaddle. And my second one was OK with the swaddle, but it just kind of faded away after a few weeks.

It's my gut feeling, though, that nothing bad is going to happen if you continue to swaddle your baby until s/he stops responding to it. Assuming your baby gets plenty of time on the floor with his or her arms and legs free during the day, swaddling isn't going to prevent them from developing physically. And if it gets the baby to sleep at night, hop on it.

One of the writers said "Right now I feel like he will need to be swaddled until he is 3 years old" and that made me laugh, because when kids have that three-year-old sleep refusal thing (we could call it a sleep regression, but that makes it sound all babylike and genteel, which it's not) wouldn't it be awesome to just swaddle them in a big blanket and have it actually work? Maybe I'll add that to the list of Kid Products That Would Sell In The Millions If Only They Worked.

Now, that doesn't help the parents whose kids are wiggling out of the swaddle. That, to me, seems like the signal that the swaddling days are over. But how to transition to something else. My suspicion is that it can take weeks or even a few months, like some kids waver between one nap and two for weeks or months and are miserable nappers during that time. But, again, I've never lived it.

So, swaddlers and former swaddlers of the internet, give us some data points. When did you stop? Did your child fade out of it? Did you make a deliberate decision to stop? What did you do instead?

Comments

[Helen]

We swaddled our girl until she was 7 or so months. Then shifted to sleep sack, which she's still in at almost two.

[&BabyMakes75]

Ah, I still remember the "aha" moment when our one? two? week old was so comforted by the perfect swaddle. (It had felt like years until we learned how, but obviously wasn't, just a week or so.) There was only one of the thousands (okay, dozen) of blankets that we had that actually worked well as a swaddle. Wow, it really calmed him. So I say, do it as long as it works! After a little while, when he started to work his way out of the swaddle, we switched to using one of those sleep-positioner thingees. Basically, the baby becomes the hot dog inside the sleep-positioner bun. (Sure, this could be accomplished with two blankets rolled-up, but why pass on the opportunity to spend 9.99, ha.) That sleep-positioner was awesome... or perhaps it was just coincidence.

[Blythe]

I worried about this too! I was especially freaked out that we would eventually have to take away the swaddle and go through a terrible and sleepless process similar to de-binkyfying (which I've heard stories about but we still haven't done yet at nine months).

At about four months, my son started resisting the swaddle, but he (and we) slept terribly without it. I tried leaving one arm out like the books told me, but he just burst out of the blanket and woke himself up.

We finally started swaddling his top half only, leaving his legs free. That worked well, especially as he got longer and seemed scrunched. I think he still didn't have enough motor control not to hit himself in the head and wake himself up.

At five months, he started rolling over and we found that he would kick himself onto his stomach even though his arms were bound (which was kind of comical but not so comfortable for him). So we started putting him down without the swaddle, on his side (all I've read tells me that, once they can flip over by themselves, it's OK to let them sleep on stomach/side), with a stuffed animal in his arms so that he had something to do with his hands. That worked like a charm, and to this day he immediately flips onto his side and grabs his stuffed giraffe when we put him in his crib.

I imagine the Great Unswaddling of Five Months was a result of getting through the 4-month stuff, increased motor control, and his preference not to sleep on his back.

In the bigger picture, this was one of the many things that taught me that he usually lets go of the things he doesn't need anymore on his own, and that I shouldn't worry too much about the "fights" ahead over things like weaning, the binky, etc. Or that's what I keep telling myself, anyway!

[Andromeda]

*lol* She liked it well enough, but grew out of all our receiving blankets by about two months. (She spent about weeks two through ten growing at, no joke, a pound a week. She outgrew a lot of things.)

[VHMPrincess]

still swaddling here at 7 months. We leave 1 arm out now as the blanket is a bit small. She gets out at night and is fine, we just use it for the put-down.

Also -we bought the kiddpotomus one in size large and she got her arms out of it, but because of the way the velcro is done, it didn't open and wrapped it around her neck (the blanket). That is why we are using the too-small boppy swaddle blanket.

[Lemon]

I swaddled both my first and second until they were about 6+ months old. They really needed it in order to sleep soundly, and I don't think that swaddling does anything to deprive them developmentally.

There are two really important parts - the size of the blanket and the swaddling technique you use. You need a blanket that is at least one square yard - otherwise it's just too small and the babe will break out like the incredible hulk. I've had a hard time finding this size to buy in stores - I've found homemade are the best. My "good" swaddling blankets are the #1 best baby item anyone EVER gave me, and they were made by a friend's mother. I'm in the process of making a bunch up for gifts and for my own #3.

When you are doing the swaddle, make sure that their little arms are straight down by their sides - otherwise it's easier for them to break out.

I have a question: I've recently heard that swaddling is no longer recommended b/c of SIDS and have had friends leaving the hospital with their first borns being told by nurses NOT to swaddle. My guys are only 1 & 2 - have the standards really changed, or is this just a rumor? I don't know what I will do if it is true... I believe in my bones that swaddling really and truly helped my babies learn how to sleep.

[Autumn]

It seems to me that babies are swaddled all over the world for way longer than 4 months, and turn out just fine physically / developmentally. I spent much of my life in Africa where babies are wrapped so tightly to their mothers for months and months (maybe years?) for most of every day and certainly it never seemed to hinder anyone's ability to walk / run / thrive as children. Just a thought... Another thought: does anyone feel like our generation of mothers is suffering from information/advice overload? We worry about every little thing because of all the "experts" telling us there is a right way and a wrong way. It seems enough to make me feel like I'm going mad! And detracts from our ability to just enjoy our little ones, and trust they know what they need (like needing to be wrapped up snuggly in order to feel safe at this age!).

[michele]

Worked for one but not the other.
Kid 1 was easily overstimulated, and needed to be swaddled, in a swing, with white noise (I recorded a running vacuum cleaner and played it on a walkman)in order to sleep the first few months. Didn't like to be held, so he spent a lot of time in a swing or car seat or bouncy. Not surprisingly, he developed plagiocephaly (flat head).

I stopped swaddling when he got the helmet, which was 6 mos. I would have kept swaddling him, for sure.

Kid 2, didn't love the swaddle, but slept better because of it. I stopped swaddling him at 3 mos.

I used the miracle blanket, because it was easy for hubby. I can swaddle with a reg. blanket, but the MB made it easier.

my 2 cents

[Tara]

We are still swaddling, using the Miracle Blanket, at 5+ months. Our daughter won't fall asleep without it, even though we've tried sleep sacks, swaddling with a receiving blanket, and other sleep positions. She needs the swaddle to fall asleep and stay asleep. She almost always breaks out of it by morning, but that doesn't appear to bother her.

I'd like to stop swaddling her, but we will do it as long as it's helping her.

[Dani]

We swaddled the first kid til she was 11 months old and no longer responded to it. She was a terrible sleeper. I used a stretchy, jersey material twin sheet cut in half to swaddle her.

She turned out OK. :)

The second never liked it, not even from birth.

[Sara]

My son is 4.5 months and I still swaddle. I simply reswaddle when he wakes up at night (if I don't bring him to bed with me). I can only think of two times when he has gone to sleep unswaddled! I read yesterday in a sleep book that you shouldn't swaddle if the baby's room is hot because it could cause the babe to get overheated, which is a SIDS risk. I plan to swaddle for as long as possible, which will probably be a long time since he is only 11 lbs, and I just might make a few blankets that are a square yard.

[Lorraine]

Lemon, we had our son in May, and the nurses were adamant that we learn to swaddle - they wrapped the kid up like a burrito every chance they got! He never really seemed to like it, though - we stopped soon after getting home.

[Kara]

Swaddling was the "aha" moment for me too. My son went from taking short 15 minute naps to 2-3 hours naps with the swaddle. And he slept for much longer stretches at night too. So you can imagine my dread when he started to break free around 3 months. I tried everything to keep him in the swaddle but he was so strong that nothing worked. I finally gave it up when I would find him entangled in his own swaddle and thought it might be a suffocation hazard. It took him three weeks to get used to being free. It was torture. But with a little patience we got through it. And now he sleeps great!

[Shanna]

We transitioned our daughter out of the swaddle by first swaddling with her arms out, then starting it at her waist...but we didn't do that until she seemed ready for that, and the only reason she was ready at...five-ish months? (I wish I could remember)...was because she was becoming a hard-core sleep-time thumb-sucker.

If blanket size is an issue, check out the Old Navy receiving blankets. They are very large (about 42 inches square), inexpensive enough to buy two or three, and if your child becomes attached to it early enough, you can easily cut one into quarters to make four almost-identical reasonably-sized loveys. (We tried this with our daughter, but she doesn't seem to carry about the blankie now. Our shoulders are sooooo much better.)

[Mom in France]

I received (that's why they call them that?) tons of receiving blankets and tried to give it a try. We stopped after a couple of weeks. Living on the Mediterranean in summer without air conditioning meant no blankets needed at all from May through September.

Now we've graduated to the sleep sack which works great!

[sue]

Our first was anti-swaddle, with our second, we were just lazy (we're cosleepers because we're lazy with this one) and it never seemed necessary (hooray for the easy-tempered child!)

So someone tell me about this 3 year sleep refusal! Is this where my 3 year old gets put to bed between 8 and 830 but manages to keep herself awak (despite being exhausted) until 1030-11, with a couple of potty breaks in the beginning but really just muttering to herself for the last hour of it? And then wakes up at 6? Because if it's universal, and we can't do anything about it, I'll tell my husband to stop the yelling (for some reason yelling "Gotosleep!" makes him feel better at least). When does it end?! Does it ever end? Is there a period of good lseep between now and when we have to drag her out of bed at noon when she's 15?
Give me hope, please!

[Maria]

I am still swaddling my 3 month old; he whacks himself in the face with his fists otherwise. He is huge (around 16 lbs), and it took me a while to figure out that a twin sheet works really well for wrapping him tightly.

I have heard from a mom with twins who have hip problems that swaddling is bad for babies' hips because it forces them into an unnatural (ie, straight) position. I'd never heard this before, so I'm wondering if anyone else has?

[ImpostorMom]

We swaddled our son until he was about 4.5 months old. He developed a love-hate relationship with the swaddle. He didn't want it on him but he was unable to remain asleep without it. For a while we would wrap the swaddle loosely and then rock him until he was drowsy then wrap him up and put him down. He almost always broke out of it during the night though and flailed around until he woke him self up.

When we started doing CIO at 4.5 months we took away all sleep props and went cold turkey. No swaddle, no pacifier, no car seat (yes he slept in his car seat in the crib), no nothing. Gave him a lovey and put him down awake. There was crying but that broke the swaddle habit. (as well as all the others.)

[ImpostorMom]

We swaddled our son until he was about 4.5 months old. He developed a love-hate relationship with the swaddle. He didn't want it on him but he was unable to remain asleep without it. For a while we would wrap the swaddle loosely and then rock him until he was drowsy then wrap him up and put him down. He almost always broke out of it during the night though and flailed around until he woke him self up.

When we started doing CIO at 4.5 months we took away all sleep props and went cold turkey. No swaddle, no pacifier, no car seat (yes he slept in his car seat in the crib), no nothing. Gave him a lovey and put him down awake. There was crying but that broke the swaddle habit. (as well as all the others.)

[jennyc]

1st baby would not tolerate swaddle from birth. 2d - loved it. We swaddled her until about 8. 5months old for sleeping. She would settle right away in the swaddle, but seemed unable to settle without it. Usually, she would work her way out of it in the middle of the night, but it seemed necessary for her to fall asleep. She's a multiple-times-a-night waker and sometimes we'd need to re-swaddle, but others we would not. Around 8.5 or 9 months old, she started resisting the swaddle when we tried to swaddle her, and wiggled so much, so we dropped it. She's now 11 months and I nurse her to sleep, no swaddle. (sadly for me, she's still waking several time per night.)

I used to joke that I'd have to go to her dorm room to swaddle her in college! But, it was just what she needed.

[Courtney]

The cozy cocoon is a good product:
http://tinyurl.com/ywncqb
By the way, that's my daughter in the photo. I am not related to the company, just a satisfied customer.

[pam]

I've been wondering about something similar...but back to the original question. Swaddling was fantastic until she wiggled out of it, probably around 2 months. Switched to the sleep sac and it worked like a charm (my thought is the extra warmth of the sleep sac was so cuddly it helped with middle of the night wake ups). Then summer, no sleep sac, we were doing fine. But now, it's cold again, my little monkey is 12 months, too big for our sleep sac - anyone have a brand they love for toddlers? She won't stay under a blanket because she sleeps on her stomach with her butt up in the air!

[Elisabeth]

We switched from swaddling to a sleep sack at abut three months. She kept kicking her way out of the swaddle.

[robin]

We have been going through this with our son who is 5 months. At about 4 months he would consistently break free of the swaddle and I felt it was time to make the switch to sleeping sans swaddle. When swaddled, he knew it was sleepy time. We could swaddle him and place him in his cosleeper still awake and within a couple of minutes he'd be out like a light. I think having his body still helped him to focus or something. Now, he needs to be nursed/rocked/held to sleep and is incredibly sensitive to any movement on my part. If I make a move to put him down, he cries. If I am snuggling him on the bed, and try to get up once I think he has nodded off, he cries. It is so hard! I know he will learn eventually to fall asleep without the swaddle, but it has only been about a week and me and my husband are zombies!

[Maria]

Ah, this is lost in the hazy memories of sleep deprivation. I *think* we swaddled until about 5 months or so. I remember he was getting out of his swaddles while sleeping (trashing about). We always had him in a sleeping bag after that, so still some confinement, of the legs at least. Also, by that time he fell asleep being rocked (whole different story there), so he didn't need the swaddles so much anymore to fall asleep.

I mostly remember worrying about it in advance, and then it sort of worked itself out in the end. Mmm... think I should learn from that?

[Michelle]

My daughter needed to be swaddled until 6 months. We tried many times from four months on to break her of it, but there was no sleeping unless she was. That said, around four months I decided to start to wean her a bit by leaving her legs loose (we used one of those swaddle me contraptions) and she slept like that for two months. finally, at six months, we tried to put her to sleep without it and it worked. She clearly wasn't ready til then. I felt the same way, I felt like she'd be swaddled forever but she just had such an active and vibrant personality (and was a sleep fighter) that she needed a straight jacket to sleep. While most babes don't need to be swaddled that long, if you have one, you need to do what it takes for them to sleep. I promise they will grow out of it. I thought my kid was a freak because of it and then met so many people who had to do the same.

As I said earlier, we used those Swaddle Me things and I don't think I'll use them for the next kid. I feel like since they are secured with velcro they can't break out of them when they are ready so maybe we pinned her in longer than she really needed. who knows. swaddle the babe and get some sleep and don't fret one more minute over it!

p.s. the four month mark was hell for us, it does get better!

[mary]

We swaddled for like 7 months. That same thought "Do they make swaddles for adults???" went through our heads. We were pinning them shut with a big ol' diaper pin so he wouldn't escape.

Finally that got to be too much and we switched to sleep sacks. At first, we stuffed his hands inside (didn't use the arm-holes) and that was enough to satisfy him until he fell asleep. That sort of drifted off (the arm confinement) and he's still in a sleep sack at 15 months.

We found out the hard way that he was using his sleepsack as his comfort item when we tried to take it off of him.

Luckily those come in giant sizes so we're set for a long time. :)

[Melissa]

We swaddled our first starting at 4 months until around 7 months. Our second is still going strong at 4 1/2 months. For both we've had to use the Miracle Blanket because they were both over 9 lbs at birth and nothing else would contain them. We just asked our ped how long we could do it and she said she swaddled her son until 11 months, so there you go!

For Pam above: my daughter sleeps that way too! We call it the frog pose. Anyway, you can get sleep sacks up to toddler sizes. I think the larger ones are more of a European thing, but we have some that someone gave us. If you Google "sleep sacks" or "quilted sleep sacks" you should find plenty of options.

[tricia]

we swaddled until 10 or 11 mos. seriously. it was about the only thing that worked for him, as he was never a great sleeper. a couple of key points--we used the Miracle Blankets early on, loved those. When he outgrew those (4mos?), we switched to a soft jersey stretch blanket and swaddled his upper torso/arms only. And, we only swaddled to get him down for the first time (generally his longest stretch) at night. Any night wakings after that I nursed him back to sleep and he didn't seem to need the swaddle.

and he was definitely the sort of baby that resisted the swaddle as we were wrapping him, but then quickly relaxed into it--it did really seem to help calm him and soothe him to sleep.

[Emme Bea]

My son needed to be swaddled until about 5.5 monhts. It wasn't that he couldn't fall asleep without it, it was that he would swing his arms wildly in his sleep and wack himself in the head and then wake up hollering at the horrible injustice of being smacked out of a dead sleep. Poor thing. When he began to break out of his swaddle at aroung 3 monhts, we put a sleep sack OVER the swaddle and that kept him contained until right around 5 months. At that point, he slowly worked his own way out and learned to either stop the Baby Fight Club that was going on in his crib or sleep through it.

I haven't read all the comments, but am sure there are a few that say do what keeps your baby sleeping the soundest and you the sanest, and if there are none that say that, well, that's what I say!!

Oh, and we used the hospital blankets that you either "steal" when you have the baby or are gifted by the staff. My LC gave me two, and I could NOT have gotten through the first few months without them. Everything else store bought was either too small or too stretchy or not stretchy enough or easy to break out of.

[Trope]

Mary--> BRILLIANT idea, using sleep sacks and not putting the arms in. (smacks self on forehead) Being sleep deprived, I really needed someone to point that out. Thanks.

We're at 5 mo now, and the Bug had a BIG stage of breaking through the swaddle at just about 4 months--I was not ready for CIO yet, he couldn't sleep without smacking himself in the face, we were all miserable. We did a couple days of just swaddling his arms with one of those velcro contraptions, and now we're back to full swaddle every night and he doesn't break out. It works for us for now. Glad to read with all the other swaddlers out there; my family thinks a miracle blanket is some kind of baby torture device.

[pnuts mama]

wow, y'all have already left my comments...swaddled for many many months til we transfered to sleep sack (which coincided nicely with winter).

she loved the swaddle, and we found when she finally grew out of the hospital receiving blankets (we stuffed them around her in the car seat to get home and ended up with a bunch) we used a big receiving blanket from BRU made by w*ndy b*llisimo (a gift! a gift!), that was at least a square yard...you could make one by buying a few yards of flannel, if you were crafty and bored.

here's a question: is it inherently wrong for me to be dwelling in resentment over the fact that a friends 2 month old is sleeping through the night? i can't let this go, and i have no idea why. i should be happy for them, but i'm just too much of a jerk i guess.

[caramama]

My story is very similar to Blythe's response. At 4.5 months, the Pumpkin started rolling over in her sleep, even with her arms pinned to her sides in the Miracle Blanket. (I LOVE the MB! It was the only thing that worked to get any of us sleep.) This might not have been a huge deal, except we co-sleep in the second part of the night, so I freaked out about her face being in the mattress without her arms to help her move her head if she needed.

We had a very rough transition, and the only thing that helped us was putting her down on her side/stomach. It was still many rough nights, but our sleep regression lasted until 7 months, so I'm not sure how much the "de-swaddling" contributed. And we continue to have sleep issues at almost 8 months.

If I could, I'd be swaddling her now! Urg, this mobile, fidgety baby just is too busy to sleep and stay asleep!! We've been considering trying a lovey or a stuffed animal, so maybe we'll start that tonight.

About the safety of swaddling, I researched all into it a few months ago. I didn't find anything about SIDS that seemed applicable, but the hip displacement did seem to be an issue. This is why the MB and the SwaddleMe have big pouches for the legs to go in, to allow the hips room to hang in whichevery way is natural for the baby. I *highly* recommend the MB to everyone, and I always give it as a baby shower gift.

[J]

A very familiar dilemma for us too. We swaddled until about 7 months, then we stopped not because she was able to get out, but because it was no longer necessary. However, we AGONIZED over such a seemingly extended swaddle time especially since our ped told us to stop swaddling around 4 months. We tried it one night and she could not sleep, so we went right back to it for another 3 months.

[Nutmeg]

We swaddled until 5-6 months I think. I don't think we used a transition, really. I think he was waking himself up trying to get his hands out, so we decided to stop. A bigger blanket will definitely help. Little ordinary receiving blankets are virtually useless.

@Pam.. we have a halo sleep sack that is 12-18 months. Is she really too big for that size? It's so huge! Our 10month old will definitely fit in it all winter.

[caramama]

pnuts mama: I think it's perfectly natural to be resentful of those with babies that sleep through the night. In fact, I'm jealous and resentful of them all, and I used to be one.

If it makes you feel any better, it can all change very quickly. From week 3 to about 4 months, the Pumpkin slept through the night, thanks to swaddling and the swing by my bed (for a long time). I kept my mouth shut around all the other mom's whose babies weren't sleeping. And then, POOF! the Pumpkin went through the 4-7 month sleep regression, and our nights have never been the same!

[j]

Oh, and just like another reader commented: we also "weaned" her from the swaddle by firt letting the legs free, then one arm free and so on. Then we moved on to the sleep sacks which were nice and cozy!

[Jan]

Our first was a swaddle-junkie. We used something from Kiddapotomus with Velcro that she couldn't get out of.

I asked her pediatrician about swaddling, and he said that in lots of cultures they wrap the baby up tight until they're a year or more, so not to worry about it.

We used the sleep sack thing as long as we could, then switched to a big, slightly stretchy thin fleece that went around her better. I think we finally stopped wrapping her up in it at 10 months? 11? Long after she was staying in it; it just became part of her comforting sleep ritual.

She's 3 and we're still rocking with that blanket today, though now she usually scrunches it up in a ball.

I learned a double swaddle when she was tiny that had one small blanket that went underneath and basically pinned the arms to the body, then a second blanket to wrap around. I don't know that I'd be comfortable putting a baby to bed where I could see it in this, but it was great for my girl who was only comforted by that tightly bundled feeling.

[rudyinparis]

I have very boring stats for both girls--both swaddled til about 2-3 mos. As they became more mobile we swaddled looser and looser. Reading these posts has brought back so many cute memories! We always called it "rolling the burrito" when we swaddled. DH was a master of the technique. I just associate it now with their being tiny tiny babies, so it's part of that hazy brand-new baby period. Waah! We don't want a third, but I am sad those days are over for good, I must say.

[jenn]

We used the swaddleme blanket until my daughter was almost six months. she would work her arms out during the night and sometimes flip herself out and over; gradually we transitioned out of swaddling and into (ssh) putting her to sleep on her belly. I never asked the doctor about that but he had no problem with swaddling her as long as it helped -- and it did help her stay asleep for the first part of the night.

[Shauna]

We swaddled FOREVER -- past a year, I think. By the time we stopped it was a modified thing and her arms were loose. She had some major sleep issues, and it really seemed to help.

[Dee]

My first was a big lover of the swaddle, so much so that we kept it up until she was about 7 months old. At that point, it was getting harder to keep her swaddled through the night and she'd wake up all pissed off when the swaddle loosened. Plus, it was getting harder to find blankets big enough to swaddle a 7-month old! Eventually, we opted to go swaddle-less and the transition was rough for a few weeks but we made it through.

My second liked the swaddle but she certainly didn't love it. We swaddled her until she was about 4 or 5 months. She was a good deal bigger than her big sister was at that age so it was tough keeping her wrapped up overnight. Ultimately, we stopped doing it and her transition was basically nonexistent.

So two totally different experiences with each kid...but man, for our firstborn, it was a lifesaver, especially since we had no clue about so much and it took the guesswork out of the whole sleep equation. The swaddle, at least, was able to help us get, and keep, her asleep.

[Dee]

Oh, and I forgot to second the Miracle Blanket--truly miraculous in keeping those "swaddle escapers" wrapped up tight!

[NC]

When baby-strongman started consistently breaking free of all swaddling, we bit the bullet in phases.

We started not swaddling during naps, when I could address his comfort needs otherwise.

When we moved away from swaddling at night, there were tears. Sleep continued to be elusive until he became used to the new rules/procedures.

We simply opted to work through swaddle abandonment issues instead of reswaddling every 30 minutes.

With my kid, he kept ratcheting up the number of things required to sleep. First, just swaddle. Then swaddle+holding. Then swaddle+holding+pacifier. Then swaddle+holding+pacifier+bouncing...

Eventually, we said enough. The pattern was apparent: we were going to end up with a large multi-tiered wedding cake of sleep necessities.

Good luck. I don't think it matters if you keep swaddling. I would try getting rid of nap swaddling first -- that was the easiest.

[hedra]

No advice on this from my experience - My kids swaddled for a few weeks at most before freaking out about it. The last one swaddled was the middle child, and he only tolerated it whe was colicy, and that ended when he was about 8 weeks old (when I stopped consuming dairy at all).

But I did think I remembered something from Soranus on this (2nd C AD Greek OB/GYN), for your amusement (and hey, maybe it will help someone? Granted, half of his advice is brilliant, and the other half freakish and/or very scary, so take it for what it's worth!):

"... Since in our opinion ... the swaddling clothes serve to give firmness and an undistorted figure, we deem it right to loosen them when the body has already become reasonably firm and when there is no longer fear of any of its parts being distorted. ... But one should neither remove the swaddling clothes suddenly (*apparently meaning stopping the swaddling process, not just removing them on any given morning*), nor all of them at once, for any sudden change to the opposite brings about discomfort. ... One should first free one hand, and after some days the other, and then the feet. And one should liberate the right hand first. For if it is restrained according to the practice of those who free the left hand first, it becomes comparatively weak, because it gets exercise later than the other, so that also for this reason some people become left-handed."

Heh. Left handedness explained! Worth noting that he also says that the timing of firming up of the body is about when solids should be introduced, and that this being about six months old (when the core muscles are strong enough to hold it sitting, at minimum), noting that this will happen younger in some and older in others. Translating to modern terms, swaddle to the age when solid foods are accepted by the child (a range of 4-9 months in his general experience), and release the child from the swaddling gradually, starting with the dominant hand, then the non-dominant (if you can even tell which at this age!), and then abdomen and lower body last, giving a few days to adjust to the new freedom of movement before freeing the next body part.

Worth a shot for those who are struggling through the transition from swaddled to not, maybe. Of course, it may just piss off the baby, instead.

[Kathy B.]

Never swaddled. My daughter was born 27 years ago when babies were still kept in the nursery except for feeding times. (Sounds archaic, I know -- but I'm not so sure it was all bad -- we bonded just fine!) Anyway, even in the newborn nursery, she refused to be swaddled. It was funny to look into the nursery -- 15 babies all wrapped tightly, and mine with just a light blanket on top of her.

Of course, they were all sleeping on their tummies too -- it was considered safer that way (back in them thar dark ages.) The rationale being that if they spit up, they wouldn't aspirate into their lungs.

I agree with Autumn's comment above "Another thought: does anyone feel like our generation of mothers is suffering from information/advice overload? We worry about every little thing because of all the "experts" telling us there is a right way and a wrong way. It seems enough to make me feel like I'm going mad! And detracts from our ability to just enjoy our little ones, and trust they know what they need (like needing to be wrapped up snuggly in order to feel safe at this age!)." I give one piece of advice to new moms -- that advice is : We old ladies will all give you well-meaning, unsolicited, advice. My advice to you is don't listen to a word we say! Trust your instincts.

[hedra]

Double-checked on the age of solids, and it is 'rarely before six months'. So, swaddling until that point is still on his list. And if anyone gives you guff about it, you can say 'the doctor says' (and just decline to mention that said doctor has been deceased for almost 2000 years). ;)

[hayley]

we started at 7 weeks and stopped at 5 months. we used the miracle blanket religiously, otherwise she could houdini herself out of a regular blanket. she's 7 months now and i actually wish she would still let me do it, she slept MUCH better with it. when i transitioned her out of it, her naps dropped to half an hour and she wakes more frequently between early sleep cycles at night.
what helped me transition was introducing a lovey. those once-bound hands need something to hold onto.

anyone have any info on older babies being swaddled even though they can roll/crawl etc? that was my main reason for swaddle weaning, i was worried about her arms being trapped and her getting into a position she couldn't get out of.

[Jessica]

I swaddled from day 1 and stopped (sadly) around 4 months or a little after. Definitely stopped by 5 months.

If the child benefits from swaddling (say, only at night after 4 months) then get some duct tape and tape the blanket shut.

[Jen]

I swaddled my son til about five months, and it worked wonders for him. We went through a few weeks, when he was about 3-6 weeks old, when we didn't swaddle, because my MIL wasn't used to swaddling, and there was a HUGE improvement in his sleep when we went back to it.

When he started being able to bust out of the swaddle, but still needed it to sleep well, we started to use a large size kiddopotamus over the swaddle blanket, which held him for a while. (It was winter, so he needed all those layers for warmth, anyway!) We stopped when he was able to roll over even in the swaddle, and we went cold turkey, although at that time, we started using a sleep sack, so there was still some amount of restriction. But once he was able to roll over, he slept much better on his side/stomach, unswaddled, than he did on his back and swaddled, so eliminating it wasn't a big deal.

I haven't gotten to this 3 year old sleep refusal thing yet (my son just turned one), but my sister's girlfriend is a L&D nurse, and she demonstrated a swaddle on my sister using their quilt. My sister said it was just wonderful, and she now thinks everyone should be swaddled. :)