If you swaddled your baby, at what age did you quit?

[maylips]

Our 7-week old daughter has been swaddled when she sleeps at night since birth and while she used to love it, she now regularly kicks out of it. I think the swaddle we have (made for a newborn) may be too short for her now and I'm wondering if I should buy a bigger one or just keep her in her pj's.

She's still in that jerking of her arms/legs stage so I'm afraid if we quit swaddling her, she'll wake up more often at night.

Should I get another swaddle, or that Amazing Miracle Blanket, or just let her stay free?

[jniter]

I used the Ultimate Swaddling Blanket. We swaddled I think until DS was about 3.5 months. We tried the AMB when DS kept kicking out of his swaddle, but he hated it. I heard it's easier to use it if you start with using it from the beginning.

It took DS about a week to get used to sleeping without the swaddle. Since then, he has been fine. Then again, he didn't get weaned off of it until he was older.

The USB is pretty big, much bigger than the ones you get in those packs. Do any mommies near you use them or the AMB? Maybe you could borrow one to try out?

[inmypjs]

We used the miracle blanket with both kids until about 4 to 4 1/2 months. Both were big and strong enough at that time that they would often get out of it. My daughter is almost 5 months now, we stopped with her at 4. She had one rough night when she woke every 1-2 hours. It was hard, but the next night she slept just fine. Soon after that she began rolling all over, so I think she was ready. They're all different though! My advice would be to keep swaddling til 3 or 4 months, then try it without to see how it goes.

[Tammy]

We swaddled our baby girl until sometime around 7-8 weeks if I remember right. She kept kicking off the blankets and I was nervous about them getting around her face. My sister-in-law gave me a Sleepsak and we started using that and worked great. It was so easy to get off/on during the night too when she needed changed. I think the first few nights when she jerked her arms/legs around she did wake up more, but she got used to it. Good luck!

[BrigidMary]

Our son was swaddled in the NICU for the first eight days of his life, and of course we continued that when we got home. Well, by the time he was two weeks old, he could get his arms out consistently, and once that loosened up the swaddle blanket, he got his legs out. I just started swaddling him under his arms, leaving them loose, and he's been fine ever since. (He's eight weeks old now, and still sleeps with the swaddling from his armpits down.)

[ajrivers]

Scarily enough we swaddled his arms using a Miracle Blanket until 7 or 8 months...

I'm trying to think back to those sleep deprived days and I think we did it because he would sleep a couple hours straight if he was swaddled, but only 30-60 minutes unswaddled. Neither my doc or I were for CIO until about that age so we just kept swaddling.

Once they can break out of a blanket you definitely need to go with the Miracle Blanket. You feel a bit cruel the first time you pin their arms down, but he liked it so no harm done.

Good luck.

[CameronsMom]

We swaddled my son until he was about 12 weeks old. He started to do the same thing your daughter does... pulling out his arms and kicking his feet out. It got to the point that he would get upset if we tried to wrap him up. We gave up the swaddle and he did startle at first, but it got better quickly:)

[downwarddog]

My DD had colic bad, so we swaddled her for naps & nighttime sleep. She gave it up herself at 12 weeks when we put her down for the night, and she just kept screaming! Frustrated, I finally just yanked the blanket off of her, she threw her arms up by her head and immediately fell asleep! She slept through the night (7pm-7pm) for the next 3 nights! :-) Needless to say, she was sick of it & told us about it. We then Ferbered her for the next week to get rid of the night nursing and she's been sleeping through the night (12 hrs) ever since -- she's now almost 3.

Our DS is 7 weeks and we swaddle him with the Swaddle Me. I tuck his elbows in but leave his hands free up by his face & that pleases him, otherwise he has a fit. HTH!

~Lenore

[missym]

Umm, about 18 months. ;) Becca loved to be swaddled, and my mom made us larger versions of the miracle blanket when she outgrew the originals. At some point we started swaddling her with her arms out, but we only gave it up when she started rolling out of her toddler bed.

Missy, mom to Gwen 03/03 and Rebecca 09/05

http://bf.lilypie.com/r2Qhm4.png

[nfowife]

DS was swaddled until about 4.5 months old for all sleep- naps and night (night was in the bassinett w/sleep positioner, naps were in the swing). When we moved DS to the crib for night sleep he started breaking out of the miracle blanket so we stopped using it for that. Just in the last 2 weeks we've transitioned to the crib for naps too, so now we are 100% swaddle free!
p.s. the Miracle Blanket REALLY is a miracle!! Try it!

[SAHMIL]

LOL! our DS earned the nickname Superman by the age of 6 weeks because he kept breaking out of his swaddle. I'd say that when the weather got hot here around mid-May, I put him in just a cotton sleeper and he sleeps fine. They do move around a lot in their sleep anyway and they do wake themselves up and the one thing they do have to learn is getting themselves back to sleep.