When to Stop Swaddling Baby

When Did You Stop Swaddling?

February 24, 2010

Snug as a bug in a rug. That's how many mamas describe their newborns once they are swaddled up tightly in a blanket. New moms work hard to perfect their swaddling technique, watching the maternity ward nurses like hawks and testing out various sizes and shapes of blankets before finding the perfect one.

While some lil Houdinis find a way to break out of any type of wrapping, many find comfort in the warmth and security the carefully wrapped blankets provide. But, there comes a point where the lil ones start moving around too much to remain in the swaddle, and their parents must make the transition to swaddle-free sleep. Doctors recommend weaning a baby from her wrappings around the four-month mark (or when she starts to roll over) for safety reasons, but many parents keep up the practice in order to maintain a restful night's sleep (for both the parents and the baby).

When did you give up the swaddle?

18 Comments

depeche3 3 years 10 weeks

Our baby is 14 weeks old.. and we still swaddle our baby. He just can't sleep without it, though the does break through during the night and we have to re-swaddle him.

3 years 12 weeks

I swaddled the first week and never again. I feel like it slows the process of my baby learning to control his arms and legs.

mkjunebug 3 years 12 weeks

Very timely - going through a swaddle nightmare right now. Our daughter is 9 months old and has had a love/hate relationship with the swaddle from the day we brought her home. She breaks out of it, but can't seem to fall asleep with out it. Today marks the first night of putting her to sleep without the swaddle...wish me luck!

o918o9 3 years 12 weeks

My son is 5 months old and I still swaddle him, I keep his arms out though because he doesn't like them being tucked in. If i try and move him to his crib when he's not wrapped up, he wakes up, but as soon as he's swaddled he's good.

Girl Jen 3 years 12 weeks

I stopped swaddling my daughter at about 4 months. By then, she had outgrown the newborn swaddling blankets, and she'd get too hot at night but wouldn't sleep unswaddled, so I ended up cutting sheets into squares about 1.5 times the size of the receiving blankets and using those.

jenni5 3 years 12 weeks

After about 2 weeks with my son (when he started breaking free) and about 2 days with my daughter (she hated it).

3 years 12 weeks

My daughter was swaddled until 5 months and she made a seamless transition to the sleepsack. The pediatrician suggested waiting until she seemed ready, rather than going by her age, and she wasn't rolling much at all so safety wasn't a concern. I had friends who stopped at 3 or 4 months, just to stop, and they had some hellish nights because their babies weren't ready.

HoneyBrown1976 3 years 12 weeks

Never did. My boys didn't like too many covers on them. They preferred snuggling against me.

MissSushi 3 years 12 weeks

I don't know the exact age we stopped but it was probably around 4 or 5 months. She never rolled over young, in fact, i couldn't tell you when she rolled for the first time because it was so far down the line and long past other developmental stages. She was content on her back and thats how she stayed. She slept on her back until close to 1 1/2 when she started side sleeping.

schnappycat 3 years 12 weeks

I should add that he wasn't a roller at ALL, so that is why I didn't push stopping early. He hated rollling, in fact, so I wasn't concerned. Otherwise, for safey sake, I would have stopped earlier.

schnappycat 3 years 12 weeks

My son LOVED the swaddle! We totally swaddled, first with a blanket, then a sleepsack, and finally the Miracle Blanket, for probably 6 months. Then for another month or two, we swaddled just his legs to sleep. He was 7-8 months when totally weaned if I remember correctly. I didn't think too much of it after birth, but when he was totally fussy and crying for hours at a time, I tried it again, and it was a miracle for us!

3 years 12 weeks

All 3 of my kids were different. My son hated swaddeling! Never really did it with him. My daughter was ok with it for about a couple weeks, and my second daughter was swaddled for the first few months and then hated it. I'm a babywearer too, and my daughters are the ones who have loved the snuggled in front carries, while my son wanted on my back right from the start. Guess he never liked being confined!

PRSugar 3 years 12 weeks

We are just weaning our 4 month old off the swaddle and into a sleep sack. The first week he didn't do too well, but for the past two nights, he has actually slept. Cross your fingers that the trend continues!

Zivanod 3 years 12 weeks

My daghter doesn't like her hands/arms confined. We swaddle her legs for nighttime. She is two months old.

amandachalynn 3 years 12 weeks

I never swaddled. My son hated it, and would scream the entire time. He was huge (9.5lbs, 22') so maybe he was a bit cramped in the womb and enjoyed his new freedom? I really don't know, but he hated it!

EvieJ 3 years 12 weeks

I stopped the full swaddle at about 1 day old! My daughter hated having her arms confined. I did swaddle her legs for about 4 months and then moved her into a sleeping bag, which she still uses at 17 months (a larger one, obviously!).

starbucks 3 years 12 weeks

I only occasionally did that, maybe 2 nights a week, or when I didn't have a clean sleeping bag. I think I did that the last time when she was about 5 months old.