Breaking the swaddle
It’s end of an era over here…
Two nights ago was Liv’s first night in her crib and also without her swaddle. We figured it was time to stop since she busts out of it every night anyway and she can roll over from back to tummy. She’s almost too big for the bassinet, so we decided to try out the crib to give her some extra room.
Even though she’s literally 20 feet away from the bed –the nursery is attached to the master- the first night, I missed having her next to me in the bassinet 🙁 On the other hand, I slept really well since I didn’t hear the funny noises she’ll make during the night, just the legit fusses. It took her a second to get used to the crib, but she only woke up twice for food and snuggles, then happily back to sleep. She looked so sweet with her hands overhead, comfy and crashed out.
Last night, on the other hand, was the polar opposite.
It’s mostly my fault because I put a sleep sack on her to keep her feet warm, which she ended up hating, and then was up every hour. Not hungry, just overtired and not stoked to be in the crib. Eventually I brought her into the bassinet, and when her arms kept smacking the sides of it, back into the swaddle. That was only thing that stopped the insanity, but by that time it was 6am and I stayed awake, afraid that she’d roll over.
I’ve heard of these Zippadee Zips from a few different websites, and while extremely goofy –like a star wizard jumpsuit- they’re supposed to be a good transition piece from swaddle to nothing. I ordered one for Liv, but am wondering if she’ll hate it since she didn’t like the sleep sack.
For naptime, I’m still swaddling her – she sleeps better and it’s easy to make sure she doesn’t roll over
but I have no idea how to break the swaddle at night.
Any ideas?
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My daughter is 5 weeks old – I still swaddle her, but the first thing she does is try to break her arms free. Normally, at least one arm – I kind of think the effort helps exhaust her. If she’s got them free when she wakes up with a wet diaper, I’ll change it and then just re-swaddle her legs. She turns over on her side sometimes, but she’s not old enough to turn to her tummy yet. I hope to break her of it in the next few weeks, because I’d rather she isn’t swaddled when she starts rolling over. But for now, at night she goes back to sleep so well with it, that I’m reluctant to try yet. My mom said she didn’t swaddle us. I think mine got used to it because the hospital does it. :/
that’s what my parents said too, that swaddling is a “new”
we finally went cold turkey last week, and she’s sleeping like a CHAMP without it! hope your little one does too!
The tip about swaddling for nap time was really helpful. I’ve noticed my little one (2 mos.) sleeps much more soundly during the day when she is swaddled. Other than that she only sleeps soundly on me (which I love, but can’t always do). My husband and I have been starting to work out a sleeping schedule this week and it has been going ok so far. She did sleep 6.5 hours straight through the night for the first time 2 days ago. However we were not so lucky last night. Hopefully it will get more consistent as the weeks go by. Do you give you daughter a bath each night as part of her bedtime routine?
Thanks for the sleep posts 🙂
i’m so glad it’s helped you!
here’s hoping for lots more sleep in the near future for you 🙂
Our 5-month old was successfully out of his swaddle for a month and sleeping in his own room, but would NOT under any circumstances transition from his Rock N Play to his crib. I was beginning to worry we’d have a 16-year old in a RNP. ha! This kid would be dead asleep and would wake up instantly as soon as you’d put him in the crib…until our Zippy arrived! Initially,he would wake up after an hour (which alone was a miracle to keep him asleep even THAT long in the crib), but when we put him back down he proceeded to sleep the ENTIRE night without even a peep but only if he wore his Zippy!. We are about a month into him using it and he doesn’t wake up even ONE time after putting him down, and he’s back to his usual 9-11 hour a night sleep. The Zippy has become his new “it’s time for my long sleep” signal that the swaddle used to provide, AND it gives him the of the cozy, cradled feeling of his Rock N Play.