[quinnsmom]

Hi, our little man is now over 5 months and we're still swaddling at night and using the woombie for naps during the day. It's getting warmer here and summer is upon us soon (I hope!) and I think it's time to de-swaddle. But he rubs his eyes and wakes himself up. Or wakes up 5 times or more a night when we use a sleep sack (we've only tried this one night and it was hell-ish).

Does anyone have any good success stories to share or tips or their experiences? I really want to get rid of the swaddle!

[CS]

I did it at 3 months....started with naps for one week. We basically just didn't swaddle her for the naps....and they were super short naps that week. I cracked one day and swaddled because I was cranky and wanted a longer nap for her. Then I just used a sleep sack and she slept fine. I have a friend who just did cold turkey and said it was two days of hell and then it was ok. I did occassionally have to stand next to the crib and hold her hands with one arm and rub her head with the other hand for the first few days because she would hit her soother out of her mouth and hit her face and get upset.

[twoboys]

I havent swaddled william in a long time, I just wanted to wish you luck with it, I hope it goes well!!

[gina!]

put baby to sleep on their tummy!
that is what we did......

[~Daniell~]

Originally Posted by ~Gina~

put baby to sleep on their tummy!
that is what we did......

He never liked sleeping on his back unless he was swaddled. Once he had good head control and could roll I felt more comfortable with him doing it at night.

[Nicole1110]

Originally Posted by ~Gina~

put baby to sleep on their tummy!
that is what we did......

Now it's the only way he sleeps comfortably

At 4 months I started putting Emma down for naps unswaddled. (I like to try sleep related things out on naptimes instead of at night).
The first week was rough. I had to rock her to sleep, lay her down, and did it multiple times before she stayed asleep. Her naps were also shorter, but that was to be expected.
I held a crocheted baby blanket between her and I, so she could hold on to it while I was rocking her and when I put her down in the crib. (I chose this blanket because I don't worry about it going over her face since it has tons of holes )

After about a month of no swaddling during naps, we started at bedtime also. You might be able to do it at night time sooner, but Emma just wasn't ready yet.

The first 3-4 nights were rough. She woke up more. It took us longer to get her to sleep.
But, the last few nights, she has actually slept better than ever.

Good luck! I hope it goes smoothly for you. The first few days are sucky.

[quinnsmom]

Thanks, I think we just have to do it and expect that the first few days may be crappy. We were not determined enough last time, but he's now breaking out of the miracle blanket and I think it's probably getting time anyway. We joke that we're going to have to have to drive up to his university one day and swaddle him every night before bed!