https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Mon, 06 Apr 2026 09:27:03 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-your-lo-constantly-fight-the-swaddle#post-2340954 Sat, 31 Oct 2015 12:20:57 +0000 tofuwad 2340954@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I am totally in this same situation. My DD's naps went to crap at that age. She needed the swaddle but also would struggle after one sleep cycle. My solution was just to keep the swaddle until she could reliably get to her hands to soothe and go with the crap naps. If she wakes up happy then I just get her up from the nap. But if she wakes up screaming then I soothe back down (and usually have to hold her because for some reason she can't transfer after the first wake up). For her that usually means if she sleeps less than 30minutes I can soothe her back down but if she sleeps for 30 minutes or more she's awake. And 90% of the time she takes 5-6 31 minute naps a day. </p> <p>And now DD is 14 weeks and can get to her hand pretty well so we started swaddle weaning this week and her sleep is the same as it was with the swaddle except now she takes anywhere from 10-35 minutes to soothe herself to sleep. So go figure. I just am hoping when she gets older she'll consolidate her naps herself. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-your-lo-constantly-fight-the-swaddle#post-2340920 Sat, 31 Oct 2015 10:48:16 +0000 buttermilk 2340920@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My 11 week old fights the swaddle unless she is in the perfect not too tired mood. But she literally cannot seem to sleep without it. I keep trying to leave her arms out but she flails around and doesn't fall asleep. So I'm sticking without for now. Could you try different things like leaving legs out? I also tried the love to dream swaddle and quickly abandoned it. I think in a month or two when she is better at self soothing I will try leaving her arms out again or switch to a magic Merlin suit. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-your-lo-constantly-fight-the-swaddle#post-2340891 Sat, 31 Oct 2015 09:47:34 +0000 FaithFertility 2340891@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DD wasn't a fan of the swaddle when we came home we left her hands out, that was on for a few more weeks but I finally ditched it and never looked back! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-your-lo-constantly-fight-the-swaddle#post-2340882 Sat, 31 Oct 2015 09:33:32 +0000 elljay 2340882@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DS is 5.5 weeks old, and for the last week or so, I've been swaddling him in Halo sleep sack swaddles before putting him down for naps and night sleep. We had only swaddled intermittently before that because he seemed to really hate not having his hands by his face. We tried swaddles that let him have his hands closer to his face (the Love to Dream and Munchkin Angel), but they ended up driving him to distraction - his hands were so close that he wanted to suck on them but he's not quite coordinated enough to do so yet, so he would just get pissed. We almost gave it up, but since he sleeps so much better swaddled, we decided to just go all in and hope he would get used to it. Since then, his sleep has improved overall - he's doing longer stretches at night and some (though not all) of his naps have been better/longer. </p> <p>He doesn't usually fight me when I'm putting the swaddle on, but once it's on, he'll fuss and cry and strain to pull his arms out while I'm rocking him. I can usually calm him down and then he'll be out within 5 or 10 minutes. The problem I'm having is that he seems to wake up during his nap, realize he's swaddled, and then get pissed instead of going back to sleep. I'll hear him start to stir from a nap, then I can hear him straining against the swaddle and pretty soon it escalates to full on crying. I know he's still tired because I can usually soothe him back down - which is fine if he's already been asleep for 30-45 mins or so - but the last two days it's like every 10 minutes it seems. I got so frustrated yesterday that I let him sleep unswaddled when he passed out after a bottle, but he startled himself awake within 15 minutes and then couldn't be soothed!</p> <p>Did anyone else have this experience? Did your LO eventually get used to the swaddle? For what it's worth, he was a week late and was never a super sleepy newborn - I struggle to get him to sleep 14 hours a day which is supposed to be the minimum for this age. I'm also wondering if he's just entering the 6-week fussy period...or at least I'm hoping it's just a phase! </p>