wwyd - swaddling question, again...

[alison]

Ok gang, I've had dd go cold turkey on the swaddling, and it's just so hard to do this, because she's so darn pissed off and crabby when she has so little sleep. I lasted 2 naps and one night (woke up every hour screaming), and then I threw in the towel, and have swaddled her ever since. The past two nights, she's slept for 12 hours straight. So why am I trying to wean her off of swaddling then? She sleeps so great when she's swaddled - her naps are 1.5 hours long (2-3x/day), and she's so must more pleasant. So, do I just do what I was planning on doing, and cut leg holes in her swaddlers and fight this battle at another point in time?

[SuzySunshine]

Sounds like it to me - if she won't sleep without it and it doesn't seem to be bothering her motor development I would just leave it. When we went cold turkey with Robert he did fine, I think you'll know when she's ready.

[PrincessFiona]

Re: wwyd - swaddling question, again...

That's a tough one. On the one hand, it's disrupting her sleep to not be swaddled ... At the same time, will you just be fighting this battle again later where she is even more accustomed to swaddling? Is there a way to do it where you swaddle her more loosely and gradually wean her from this comfort?

Kris

[Urowife]

If she sleeps that well still swaddled, I would keep it up. When my DD was about 6 months, her sleep went down the drain swaddled or not, so we retired the swaddle. But, I wouldve kept it up as long as it helped her sleep.

[MrsK]

Have you tried a sleep sack? That's been our step down from the swaddle.

[Michele]

I have very little experience with swaddling specifically - so FWIW: I would just keep swaddling. I think when she's ready to give it up, she will. And if she continues to want a blanket snugged around her as she gets older, so be it. There was a several year period when I used to sleep in the crook between my waterbed and the frame. I have no idea why, but it was comforting.

If she has her arms out, you could try the sleep sack and tuck in the excess around her legs to snug her up.

[alison]

She doesn't mind if her feet are loosey goosey, it's her arms that she doesn't like to have flailing about. I really wanted to wean her off of swaddling before my parents come to watch her for a few days in May, so they don't have to deal with this, but I'm thinking for everyone's sake, it's best just to let her be. When I was doing the cold turkey thing with dd last week, the deal breaker for me was that she cried for a good hour, threw up, and then really cried. I went to her room to make sure she wasn't choking or that there wasn't a big puddle of throw up that she could drown in, and picked her up and swaddled her on the floor next to me while I cleaned the mess up. And... she fell asleep.

I'll just have to show my parents how to wrestle dd down for bedtime. It's really quite comical, because she's so big, and her swaddlers are definitely far too small for her.

And as far as her motor skills, I think she's ok... I honestly don't know why I even bothered to baby proof our apartment. She wants to be within 3" of me at all times, preferably in my arms. She's not going anywhere, even though she crawls...

She sleeps just fine in her stroller, because her arms are a bit restricted by the harnesses.

I'll leave her alone then.

[HouseofWool]

Alison - I would just keep swaddling her. I had a friend who's first (a premie) wanted to be swaddled until well after his first birthday. It just isn't worth the battle to me.

[alison]

I'm going to have to have a word with this Harvey Karp character. Look what he's done!
Alright, I'm not going to push it. Like Michele, my dh does a modified swaddle. He sleeps on his stomach with his arms folded across his chest. That can't be good for his circulation, but I'm not going to fight that battle with my kid AND my husband!

[PrincessFiona]

Re: wwyd - swaddling question, again...

LOL. Come to think of it, I wrap myself up every night and my blankets must have weight to them. I have a comforter from ikea for every temp! Another thing to blame my mom for (hehe. I'll have to call her right now. ).

[HouseofWool]

Alison - would a sleep sack work if you didn't put her arms in the sleeves? You could then wrap something around her on the outside so it is snug, her feet would be covered too.

[Vanquisher]

I would just swaddle her with a bigger blanket as opposed to specific swaddlers.

[alison]

I'll just let her be... Swaddle blankets don't work for her anymore, because she's able to fish her arms out. I bought Aden and Anais large muslin blankets. We pin her arms down with one of these blankets, and then put her in a swaddle sack. It seems cruel, because we really have to go after her sumo-style, but it's the only way she (and mom and dad) can sleep...