The Great Unswaddling :)

[nikkiARNGwife]

I know Kresta and Laurie are going through this too right now lol..I think we need an Unswaddling Support Group I've got Ella in her crib right now unswaddled and she's screaming her head off, but she broke out of her miracle blanket 3 times last night so I guess I it's time to start training her to sleep without it. NOT EASY. lol

[wvasweetness]

Seems like just yesterday that we were going through this with Wesley! It's tough... good luck!!

[Emmy]

Have you tried swaddling her with her arms out? That's what we did.

[mnm_y2]

Good luck! I had not tried the swaddling blankets with my other 2 - but did with Diego. We only used it for like 2 months though. he's a great sleeper now Hopefully she doesn't cry too much!

[LibbysMommy]

Oh my goodness Nikki!! We SO need a support group, lol. Anytime I lay Claire in her crib not swaddled, she screams her head off and doesn't stop!! This is not going to be easy, lol!!

[KristinCB]

emmy thats what we did too for a couple months too

[nikkiARNGwife]

We just went cold turkey...that's what I did with DS and he was okay after a couple of days. Her arms are more the problem than her lower body b/c the MB is tighter up top..so she's just used to that tight secure feeling with her arms/upper body, so really swaddling her bottom half doesn't help and she just wiggles out of it anyway lol. She cried for about 30 minutes this morning (I'd go in every 5 minutes to soothe her) and finally went to sleep without the swaddle so I'm hoping we're on our way...I'm betting she doesn't sleep as long this morning without it though.

[robinforman]

We are working on this, too... and are trying Emmy's trick of only leaving arms out (right now we are one arm out, one in) and that seems to be working well. We did the same thing with our older daughter. That way they still get the comforting pressure of the blanket without the constriction of those little active arms. Good luck- it is frustrating, especially when they sleep so well WITH it!

[nikkiARNGwife]

Ella is such a little houdini with this blanket I don't think a half swaddle would even work..I mean, when she's ready to come out of it she's OUT of it..arms, legs the whole thing - and if you've ever seen a MB you realize what a feat that is lol. I'm not sure I could get out of one that fast lol. Three times last night I heard her wake up, leaned over to look in her crib and she was totally out of it, grinning at me and playing with her feet! lol

[lizzyfizzy]

eeeek. my lil neice is going through this too. no bueno.

[newfiemountiewife]

None of my kids ever really liked swaddling, I didn't realize some babies had to be "weaned" from it! LOL

[scrapperjade]

I had a fairly easy time with this, which is a huge relief! Avalynne started breaking out of her miracle blanket as well, but I would put it on her every night anyways, and let her work her way out of it. It wasn't that long and she was used to sleeping with it all loose and then I just stopped putting it on her altogether... it seemed to work for her .

[Sarah8914]

I never "weaned" my kids from it, they were done on their own. It's a good thing Sadie didn't LOVE it because it's WAY too hot here already. Now I just wrap her up with her arms and legs free and she loves that.

[emmasmommy]

We did a double whammy with Madelyn...at about 11 months...some of you probably remember that LOL We got rid of the swaddle blanket and I quit rocking her to sleep. We had a rough 2 days but now the kid sleeps better than she ever has!

[kresta]

Hey Nikki~ Didn't know you were doing this right now too! It's actually going okay here. She certainly doesn't go to sleep at naptime, as quickly, but last night she slept 'til 5 a.m. So it's going alright. I figure a few more days of it and she'll be back to sleeping totally normally again. Hope you guys do well with it!

[krystalhartley]

Totally what I was thinking! I had NO idea there were blankets and such. Must be my age (my baby is on his way to 9 now). Of course, both my kids were incredibly attached to pacifiers (no dental ramifications though), and my son couldn't go anywhere without a blankie. He had a huge stash of receiving blankets that he would use...usually more than one at a time...and sit and roll the corners between his thumb and finger to soothe himself to sleep.

Originally Posted by newfiemountiewife

None of my kids ever really liked swaddling, I didn't realize some babies had to be "weaned" from it! LOL

[nikkiARNGwife]

I discovered how great swaddling is with DS. He was 5 weeks premature and when we brought him home sleeping was a nightmare...he would NOT sleep laying down..I'm talking 1-2 hours stretches at the most b/c he would start wiggling after an hour or so and his little hands would get to his face and wake him up. then I found the miracle blanket and swaddled him for the first time at 4 weeks and he slept 6 hours straight that first night, so I was SOLD lol. After that sleeping was no problem and he actually used the MB until he was 8 mos old very contentedly lol So the night we came home with Ella she got wrapped up snug as a bug and has been the best sleeper since day one.

but the unswaddling part, when they get so big, just not fun.

[krystalhartley]

Sounds like something I could have used with my daughter (who is 13.5 now). She NEVER EVER slept. EVER. Fortunately, she was my only child at the time, and I had 3 months maternity leave. I just started napping during her short spurts.

Landon was nearly 4 weeks early and slept all the time. Totally different scenario. He can also fall asleep under almost any condition (in the car, at the movies, at church). Completely opposite from Avery...she hated the car and needed perfect conditions to fall asleep.

[lovely1m]

Nicholas was never very into being swaddled, he always prefered only a half swaddle with his arms out. Here's hoping it goes easy for you!

[rachaelsscraps]

My son was born in the middle of the summer, so we never really swaddled him. He was an easy baby and started sleeping thru the night in his crib (after his bassinett) at 3 months old!!! Right after he came home from the hospital (after 5 weeks, he was a 9-week early preemie and was in the NICU for a month), we just let him sleep in his bassinett with a blanket tucked under his arms instead of being swaddled. We lived in an upstairs apartment back then so it was really too hot to swaddle him anyways.
(Luckily this baby will be born during the same time of the year so I plan on doing the same thing again!)