My almost 6 month old daughter still needs to be swaddled to got to sleep, help! My other two kids never liked to be swaddled, but she needs it. We use one of those blankets with the velcro, and she an get her arms free. But she will not fall asleep unless she is swaddled. Any ideas on how to break her of this habit? We've tried keeping her arms out, but after an hour of crying, we gave up and put her arms in and she fell right to sleep. Thanks Mamas!
The reason I want to break it is the minute she breaks out of it she wakes up and then she is very hard to get back to sleep.
Use a "sleep sack."
Look on Amazon to see what it is and read the reviews of it.
But at some point, she will have to 'learn' to sleep openly.... and by now, her limbs are more agile and their motor skills are changing at this age... and rolling over etc.
So, it is a change.
Does she still have her 'startle reflex?"
I would try the Sleep Sack. It has sizes for older babies too.
good luck,
Susan
Is she staying asleep after she gets her arms free? I suppose that either way I would keep swaddling her for the time being. If she won't sleep without being swaddled and does fall asleep when you swaddle her why do you have to break the habit? It seems to be working, at least as far as falling asleep. If she is breaking free and waking up, you may want to try a different method of swaddling, maybe a sleep sack? We swaddled my son for as long as he needed it to sleep, and he let us know when he didn't anymore.
She feels secure tightly tucked, dont know what to tell ya cept for keep on swaddling for now. My kids always liked being "tucked" in at night, so I did it for years. They just feel safer when you tighten them in for some reason. They do grow out of it eventually.
our baby is 9 1/2 months and like you my 1st 2 never were swaddled. We use a true swaddle with the velcro, and at night and some naps, she wont go without it. but i try it without for naps unless shes really fussy, and she always gets her arms out at night, sometimes we have to reswaddle several times before shes out. once asleep, she wiggles out, but usually stays asleep. shes slowly weaning off of it on her own.
we used one of those swaddlers until my daughter was a bit over 9 months and one night just fell asleep without it and never needed it again.
I wouldn't force it. It helps her feel safe and secure, so why not just let her break the habit on her own? Swaddle her in a regular, bigger (light) blanket until she is ready to let go of it.
If it helps her sleep, keep doing it!! She'll let you know when she doesn't need it anymore.
try a miracle blanket for swaddleing will be harder to break if she still needs it ... there is nothing wrong with a good swaddle mommy. Heck, if I could get away with it I would still be swaddled.
If she is breaking out at night but not waking up, then I would let her sleep swaddled for now. There's no harm in it. If she is waking up every time she breaks out, though, then I understand your urgency. Try swaddling her with one arm out from the very beginning, and see if that helps. Something I did was stop swaddling at nap time but continue at night until my son got used to sleeping out of the swaddle. Sleep sacks are another good possibility. It may take another couple weeks. Good luck!
Hi L.,
I'm not sure why you feel you need to break her of this habit. It's not harming her and she prefers to sleep this way. They have swaddling wraps with velcro in bigger sizes at Babies R Us and other places. Let her enjoy her sleep by being swaddled, there's nothing wrong with it. She'll grow out of it when she's ready. It's comforting to her so let her enjoy it.
J.
I would swaddle her as long as she wants. Really, what gave you the idea that you should break her of a habit that helps her sleep?
Why do you need to break the habit? If it works for her, keep doing it until it doesn't work anymore.
just do what you can. i know you'll get better responses than this one, but ill let you know that its normal for her not to sleep well, this isnt a reflection of your parenting or anything, but always remember that your child is her own person, and that shes going to grow out of this eventually. :) shes apparently an increaser - she increases over time instead of soothing herself. this isnt bad, but just something to remember ; shes going to just need more help sleeping. the more you do now, the less you have to worry about later. :)
anyway. good luck!
this is going to be taboo but... put her down on her stomach. It keeps the arms from flailing and it's the only thing that worked for my son who was 9 months before we finally kicked the habit - I thought I'd be swaddling him forever. But the stomach did the trick for us. As soon as your daughter can roll over SIDS risk decreases dramatically. I know it's not PC but it's the only thing that worked for us.
Also, I'd encourage you to break it. #1 the longer the habit goes on the harder it will be to break. #2 I have read a couple articles (all online so take it with a grain of salt) that say that swaddling prevents key muscles from developing by tossing and turning at night and may contribute to delayed gross motor skill development. My son didn't start walking until 18 months.
He is now almost 3 and catching up to his peers although he still seems to be falling at the end of the "what's normal" curve. All that being said, if I had to do it all over again I would still swaddle my son. He is an AWESOME sleeper. I think it is because we set the groundwork early. My daughter resisted swaddling and she is still not a good sleeper.
So good luck with breaking the habit. Give the tummy a shot, it worked like a charm for my swaddle-aholic.
I agree with the others; why are you trying to break her of this? If it helps her sleep, and allows you to sleep, why disrupt things? I swaddled my kids for as long as they would let me. None of them have any developmental delays, and were swaddled well past the 6 month mark. Swaddle her, let her sleep, and count yourself blessed that getting her to sleep is as easy as wrapping her in a blanket!
Like other respondents, we had great luck with the Sleep Sack when our babies were pushing out of their swaddles. They even have a Sleep Sack Swaddle which has a detachable piece that holds in the arms. Also we made sure to have the babies in long sleeves inside the sleep sack so they were nice and warm. I am in the camp that you should not be in a hurry to wean her off this habit. I got a big kick out of the person below who said that if they could, they would like to be swaddled now!
Most of the babies I've known who loved the swaddle outgrew the need by themselves by a year or so, if not earlier.
