From swaddle to grobag

[Moos]

I have swaddled Twosling from birth during his night sleeps, as he seemed to need the confinement and associated reassurance. However, as he got stronger and cannier he got better and better at escaping the swaddle. I tried different techniques and wraps until he was starting to look like Scarlett O'Hara ("lace me up more tightly, Mammy!") but he could get a little hand out within an hour and be thrashing like a demented eel shortly after.

Haven't tried the Miracle swaddle, as I believe it's only recommended up to 14 weeks, and he's now almost 13 weeks, though small for his age.

So last weekend I decided to bite the bullet and put him in a grobag, albeit still with a blanket tucked firmly over his legs. Of course I expected there to be a settling in period, but after 5 nights of waking once or twice an evening and every one or two hours at night, waving arms like a bingo winner, I could do with some guidance as to whether he's likely to get used to the new sleeping system reasonably soon, or whether I should get the duct tape out*..

For you ex-swaddlers, when did you move out of the swaddle and what happened next?

*not really, please don't call Social Services.

Many thanks!

Moos

[kemurf]

Like with all things baby related, just persevere! I think I put my daughter into a gro bag at about 3 months too, with a blanket tucked in over her chest and legs, and it worked. But if after another few days if your baby still seems restless, go back to swaddling for a while and then try with the gro bag another time.

Good luck.

[quickbrownfox]

Hi Moos - it's a tricky one. How old is your little guy? I run Quick Brown Fox of Dulwich (online babies bedding shop) and be I'd be happy to let you have one of our ErgoCocoon swaddles to try him in. It's a looser swaddle (and reasonably houdini-proof), so it may be a good solution for the transition period from 'proper' swaddle to sleeping bag (these ones also allow you to release one arm at a time). Anyway, PM me your address if interested and I can send you a sample...

[Knomester]

Hi Moos. We swaddled Baby Knomester too as he had a really strong moro reflex and woke himself up constantly. We swaddled night and day, but he shunned the daytime swaddle himself at around 9 weeks after we'd gone through the process of one arm out then both arms out (how a baby so small can 'tell' us things is beyond me, but he made it pretty clear he didn't want his daytime swaddle anymore!). For the nightime we kept it much longer than recommended because he still seemed to need the swaddle to help him sleep, but started leaving one arm out from around 15 weeks. We finaly took the plunge the 2nd night in his big cot because we couldn't keep him in place in the swaddle so had to rescue him several times from random parts of his cot that first night! So we had to go cold turkey - grobag with rolled up towel on each side and thin sheet tucked firmly in to keep him in place - and have never looked back. I think it's because we waited until his moro reflex had subsided that it worked - he was about 17-18 weeks. I guess it helps that he loves sucking his fingers so he likes having his hands free.

If you're really struggling could it perhaps be a touch too soon? If Twosling's moro reflex is anything like Baby Knomester's you might want to wait a little longer? We tried the miracle swaddle but it was too small (it doesn't account for longer babies in it's 14 week estimate) and next time I'd definitely try one of the cocoon swaddles quickdrownfox mentions, for ease of swaddle if nothing else because Baby Knomester was a nightmare to keep still long enough to swaddle!

[LeilahB]

We still swaddle our daughter (13 months) and I think with our first we carried on really rather late (think it was until about 4 months, but then I could be wrong as I can't seem to remember much from first time round!) Am planning on carrying on with the swaddle for a while longer as it seems to settle her and she is sleeping pretty well in the night.

[Moos]

I must say I'd have preferred to keep swaddling longer, and only gave up because swaddling in our case became unswaddling so fast! Nothing like having to reswaddle in the dark several times a night.

So perhaps the answer is to look again at types of swaddle and to take quickbrownfox up on his very kind offer. I'll send you a PM - Twosling is 13 weeks and I think longish but 25th centile, which puts him at the weight of an average (50th centile) 9 week old.

Many thanks all for your experience and advice-invaluable as always.

[LeilahB]

we're using the grobag 'miracle' swaddle which seems to keep her trussed up pretty well (also long but 25% weight)