3 month old won't sleep on her back for more than 30 minutes without being swaddled

[kad32]

Just looking for any advice/suggestions from anyone who has encountered a similar situation.

If we swaddle her, assuming her arms don't come out, she'll sleep 5.5 to 7.5 hour stretches at night, which is wonderful of course. If we don't swaddle her, she wakes up 30 minutes after being placed on her back, whether we hold her for awhile, after she falls asleep, and then place her down or if we place her down right away. It's always 30 minutes. We laugh because it's like she has a little alarm.

Also, she hates being swaddled if she is awake, but won't sleep more than 30 minutes on her back (pack & play or crib) without it. We can only get her in the swaddle after she's fallen asleep. And then if she wakes up while we're doing it, we have to spend additional time rocking her or bouncing her until she falls back into her deep sleep, which of course adds additional time in the evening and middle of the night when putting her to/back to sleep.

Also, she'll sleep in her bouncy seat or swing for hours during the day. We do not swaddle her during those times. Only at night in the crib. So she can sleep long stretches without being swaddled, but she will only do it in the swing or bouncy seat.

Any suggestions on how to lengthen her 30 minutes of back sleeping when not swaddled?

Thanks!

[elektra]

I say just keep swaddling! I think I kept DD swaddled until at least 4 months. She would resist at first but would then calm down and relax after a few minutes.
OR
You could just keep her in the swing. A lot of people have their babies sleep in swings and if this works for you, I don't think it's a problem.

[csnoop]

Agree with PP. DD is 6 months old and we still swaddle her (though w/one arm out). Consider yourself lucky... We swaddle DD at night only as well and she sleeps great. When DD was younger, she would only nap in either the swing or bouncy for 30 minutes, usually after fussing for 10-15 minutes. She was also an alarm. A month ago, I panicked when I realize that I probably can't keep her in the bouncy for much longer. I started putting her in the crib for her naps - now she sleeps for 45 minutes on average.

CC