Picardy Project

building shit & raising girls

An Attempt to Wean from the Swaddle

Lately when we were putting Zoe in her swaddle she began to jerk all around get all red. She tends to not like to go to bed and protests a little bit with grunts, but this was definitely more than normal. We thought maybe she wasn’t really liking the swaddle too much anymore, so we were thinking it might be time to wean her off of it. Yeah right.

For Zoe her feet aren’t a problem at all, it’s those hands and arms. So our first attempt was to merely just cut off the bottom of one of her swaddles so she could get used to her feet swimming around, but her arms would still be strapped down

However, with the velcro swaddles when we cut the bottom off it resulted in not enough tension (that used to be against her feet) to hold the top part against her arms in place. Sometimes it wasn’t a big deal and this is what she looked like in the morning

It was actually kind of nice because her arms were slightly free so she could get used to them wiggling while she slept, but they were still strapped down enough so she didn’t whack herself in the face.

Most nights however, she dissolved into this

All her shimmying and wiggling got the swaddle so lose that it inched up to her face and her arms would be completely free from it. Not a happy Zoe.

Attempt #1 = fail.

Then we tried a sleep sack. The first night was okay and although she got one arm free (we tried to keep them inside the arm holes) she wasn’t too upset

But the next couple nights she got her arms out consistently and she was not happy about it.

Attempt #2 = fail.

Then I decided to sew some little straps to the arms holes so that we could tie it closed to keep her arms inside. But it usually resulted in this

Arms through the holes still, arms all up in her face, sleep sack twisted all around. Attempt #3 = fail.

We finally relented and realized she still needed the swaddle. But our 15 pound plus little one was definitely too big for the ones we had so I looked to see if they had bigger ones. Duh, of course they do. So we bought these

The large is designed for 14-20 pounds, and Zoe is almost 16 pounds (our guess). She’s swimming in it a little bit, but we figured having it big might be a little helpful because it doesn’t get strapped as tightly so she can slowly get used to her arms being a little more free.

So far she’s quiet happy with. Who can resist a happy little one when they wake up from a nap?

hello laundry day

When and how did you get your little one weaned from a swaddle? I’m super curious what will happen when the swaddle is finally gone. Those poor little arms can get a little out of control.

Comments

  3. My daughter would never sleep in a swaddle with her arms pinned, so we just swaddled her lower half until she was maybe six months old. After that she just wore sleepers or a onesie and/or pants to bed.

  4. Lol, G. – they are like baby straightjects, that's what I "affectionately" call them 🙂

    Thanks for the tips Jessica and Sarah. It's funny that some don't mind the arms, but mind the legs. So wiggles her legs around all the time when she's sleeping and it doesn't seem to bother her. It's those damn arms. She's a danger to herself 🙂

  5. I never swaddled my kids. Is that weird? They both slept through the night at 6 weeks though and were champion sleepers, so maybe they didn't need it? Wish I had some insight for you but I got nothin'. 🙁

  6. We swaddled at the hospital but gave it up after a week. Both of mine were happier with free limbs. Whatever works!

  8. Once our little one started rolling over, we decided it was time to get rid of the swaddle since we were worried he would roll onto his stomach and then get stuck. We first tried just leaving his arms out but it didn't seem to make a difference so we just quit it cold turkey and put him in a Carter's sleep sack instead. It took a couple days for him to adjust but he did get used to it. Good luck!

  9. Kate – she's rolling now, but still not very much and not in the swaddle at all. I agree, once it becomes much more common we'll probably have to take her out. Hopefully if we do it cold turkey we have the same luck as you!

  10. I swaddled all 3 of mine until they were 5 or 6 months old. They just didn't like having it any other way. With my gigantic son, we had to buy the biggest swaddlers they sell and he was really pushing it to fit in them near the end. I'm SO pro-swaddling. Also, as for weaning, all of mine transitioned to the sleepsack pretty easily by then.

    (PS, just discovered your blog and love it!)