https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Mon, 15 Jun 2026 13:33:40 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/swaddle-weaning-swaddle-loving-baby#post-1834059 Mon, 25 Aug 2014 07:01:42 +0000 winniebee 1834059@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We quit cold turkey at 4 months when he started rolling. The biggest challenge was getting him to sleep in the first place. I would sort of swaddle him with my body (like pin his arms down and hug him tightly) to calm him. There were a few bad nights but we did it during the 4m sleep regression and sleep was bad anyways :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/swaddle-weaning-swaddle-loving-baby#post-1834016 Mon, 25 Aug 2014 03:11:29 +0000 ScarletBegonia 1834016@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We tried swaddle weaning at 3.5 mos, 4 mos, and 4.5 mos, with disastrous results every time. He wasn't rolling, but we were getting nervous so we wanted to try early. Finally, 2 nights ago at 5 mos 1 week, we tried him one night in a sleep sack and he slept great!! He was so much better at self soothing (he is notorious for waking up 45 mins into his sleeps and needing to be resettled) now that his arms are free. I now believe that some babies are ready earlier, and some are ready later, and you just have to wait. We're 2 nights in and last night he slept an 8 hour stretch for the first time since before the 4 month sleep regression. I'll take it! Good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/swaddle-weaning-swaddle-loving-baby#post-1832520 Sat, 23 Aug 2014 14:32:17 +0000 singingbee 1832520@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mae: we had to go cold turkey because she just rolled over one day when I had been thinking about trying to wean her. Her sleep sucked for a few days and then she was totally fine. I've heard people love the Merlin suit. We got a sleep sack and she NEEDS her sleep sacks now. It's a big cue for her. So, not too helpful but that's how we did it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/swaddle-weaning-swaddle-loving-baby#post-1832422 Sat, 23 Aug 2014 12:33:54 +0000 gilmoregirl 1832422@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>He was three months. At that point, I gave him one of those stuffed animal heads with a blanket attached. I put a hair tie around the blanket part. After he fell asleep, I usually moved it away from him. </p> <p>Now at 4.5 months he rolls all over and grabs things really well so he has an A&amp;A lovey and a giraffe head with a fleece and satin blanket bottom. He LOVES to feel the fleece/satin parts and it helps him calm down and fall asleep. </p> <p>He's a very tactile little guy though - super interested in feeling different textures so I suspected a lovey would be helpful for him. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/swaddle-weaning-swaddle-loving-baby#post-1832382 Sat, 23 Aug 2014 11:43:14 +0000 Mae 1832382@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@gilmoregirl: how old was your LO when you gave them a lovey? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/swaddle-weaning-swaddle-loving-baby#post-1832290 Sat, 23 Aug 2014 09:56:29 +0000 gilmoregirl 1832290@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We went cold turkey with the swaddle. First in the swing , where it kept his arms a little more snug like @fussygal mentioned and then moved him to the crib. He's been in a sleep sack since we ditched the swaddle and when moved to the crib I gave him a lovey. Actually several loveys bc I just keep throwing various things at him to see what works. </p> <p>The transition went pretty well overall but I think we were lucky and he was just ready. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/swaddle-weaning-swaddle-loving-baby#post-1832269 Sat, 23 Aug 2014 09:36:12 +0000 Weagle 1832269@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm a fan of cold turkey for transitions. We had good luck just getting rid of it and using a sleep sack with LO. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/swaddle-weaning-swaddle-loving-baby#post-1832259 Sat, 23 Aug 2014 09:26:55 +0000 fussygal 1832259@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We just went through this last month at around 3.5 mobths. She was rolling in her crib so the swaddle had to go. We didn't want to invest in anything else special that we wouldn't use that long (like the magic sleep suit) so we did a week of one arm out swaddling and then just went straight to the sleep sack. It was definitely rough the first few nights of each (one arm and sleep sack) but totally worth it. On nights it was particularly difficult, we put her in the RnP because it kind of "hugs" her so her arms couldn't flail as much. I think a swing or other type of seat might have the same effect for those really though nights. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/swaddle-weaning-swaddle-loving-baby#post-1832235 Sat, 23 Aug 2014 08:52:24 +0000 Anagram 1832235@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mae: my LO was in the Merlin until she was almost 8 months old!! True story. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/swaddle-weaning-swaddle-loving-baby#post-1832233 Sat, 23 Aug 2014 08:50:07 +0000 Sunshine710 1832233@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My 3 month old DD2 just fell asleep with no swaddling (we use the miracle blanket hard core over here). I did nurse her to sleep but the fact that she's sleeping without it right now is huge. This makes me want to get rid of the swaddle cold turkey in anticipation of the 4 month sleep regression. We had a tough time with DS1 getting him to self soothe because he was swaddled for so long. Am I crazy to try and ditch the swaddle cold turkey at this point? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/swaddle-weaning-swaddle-loving-baby#post-1831617 Fri, 22 Aug 2014 16:18:33 +0000 Mrs. Tiger 1831617@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We swaddled DS1 (the weird way where the feet stick out) until he was 8m! Then we just took it away cold turkey. I wouldn't rush! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/swaddle-weaning-swaddle-loving-baby#post-1831587 Fri, 22 Aug 2014 15:52:55 +0000 misstatas 1831587@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DD started rolling over consistently right before 4 months with no warning so we didn't have time to swaddle wean. We still use a swaddle me around her chest but will switch to a regular sleep sack soon (I don't want to have to buy two different materials since it will start getting cold here within the next month. She had a couple of rough nights but now rolls over on her tummy as soon as you lat her down so I don't think she misses it much. We didn't buy a sleepsuit or anything because we didn't want to switch her dependence to a new object. If she hadn't bounced back so quickly I would have considered it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/swaddle-weaning-swaddle-loving-baby#post-1831483 Fri, 22 Aug 2014 14:47:24 +0000 looch 1831483@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I began swaddling my son at 2 weeks of age and we swaddled all the way until he was 6 months of age. He was ready to be unswaddled at that point and we simply switched him to a sleepsack. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/swaddle-weaning-swaddle-loving-baby#post-1831478 Fri, 22 Aug 2014 14:45:53 +0000 BrandNewMom 1831478@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I put DD in a sleepsack with her arms in the sleepsack with her! When she gets them out at night, it doesn't bother her anymore </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/swaddle-weaning-swaddle-loving-baby#post-1831213 Fri, 22 Aug 2014 12:41:58 +0000 kakimochi 1831213@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>we did merlin magic suit on #1 after she broke out of swaddle, she slept and napped in that thing so well, but she wasn't much of a roller/mover, so she was in it until about 7 months. she transitioned fine to a sack. #2 used the sleep suit until 5 months, and the transition to a sack took a few days for her to adjust. we did move them out of the swaddle when we saw that they were rolling over, but used the sleep suit because the flailing arms woke themselves up. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/swaddle-weaning-swaddle-loving-baby#post-1830928 Fri, 22 Aug 2014 11:10:21 +0000 JoJoGirl 1830928@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We tried the Merlin's magic suit and A hated it. We eventually just went cold turkey and it sucked. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/swaddle-weaning-swaddle-loving-baby#post-1830827 Fri, 22 Aug 2014 10:43:05 +0000 abbydabbydoodlebug 1830827@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mae: Yep, just a regular sleep sack with no swaddle arms. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/swaddle-weaning-swaddle-loving-baby#post-1830789 Fri, 22 Aug 2014 10:32:44 +0000 abmamma 1830789@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My DD was pretty swaddle dependent for what seemed like a long time. As she got older she would bust out of the swaddle in the middle of the night and would be unable to go back to sleep until she was re-swaddled. Around the 4-5 month mark (around the time she started rolling to her side some) we started swaddling with one arm out and that helped with the transition (we used the halo swaddle blanket with the velcro wings). Eventually (around 6 months) she was able to get both hands out of the swaddle but was able to put herself back to sleep and that's when we started with regular sleep sacks. Fortuantely for us, though, she didn't really roll consistently at an early age so we could keep the swaddle in some form until she was ready to let it go. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/swaddle-weaning-swaddle-loving-baby#post-1830752 Fri, 22 Aug 2014 10:11:46 +0000 lawbee11 1830752@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Around 3 months we went from the SwaddleMe velcro blankets to a swaddle strap. Partly because she was busting out of the SwaddleMes and partly so that she could get used to having her legs totally free (the swaddle strap only goes around the arms/chest). </p> <p>About a week before 4 months we started doing naps in the zipadee zip (provides some resistance in the wingspan and is completely closed so they still feel confined/cozy, but allows free movement so they can roll over and all that jazz). We did naps in the ZZ and swaddle strap at night for a week or two, then moved exclusively to the ZZ around 4 months. </p> <p>LO was the same (would constantly flail and wake herself up), so I thought it was going to be way worse than it was. It was a seamless transition...I think we only had a night or two of more than usual wakeups. Good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/swaddle-weaning-swaddle-loving-baby#post-1830746 Fri, 22 Aug 2014 10:10:06 +0000 Mae 1830746@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@abbydabbydoodlebug: did you just do a sleep sack with her arms out? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/swaddle-weaning-swaddle-loving-baby#post-1830738 Fri, 22 Aug 2014 10:07:14 +0000 abbydabbydoodlebug 1830738@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm not sure how dependent my DD was on the swaddle, but we did use the Merlin suit on her for a while because she was breaking out of the miracle blanket. I used the Merlin until one day she just rolled over in it! Yikes! So we ditched it right then and went to a sleep sack. It was a rough couple of days/nights, but eventually it worked itself out. I think she was around 4-4.5 months when we ditched the sleep suit. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/swaddle-weaning-swaddle-loving-baby#post-1830725 Fri, 22 Aug 2014 10:02:24 +0000 Mae 1830725@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>So we're not quite ready to swaddle wean yet because LO hasn't started rolling yet. But she is 3 mo and working hard at it, so I feel like it could happen any time and I want to be ready with a game plan when it does!</p> <p>Fia is generally a really good sleeper but she DEFINITELY needs all her stuff. She gets double-swaddled, binkied, white noise and fan on, and will only sleep in her bassinet/crib. She used to put herself to sleep as soon as we put her down if she was tired, but with all of her feeding issues she's been eating more before naps rather than after and then I have to hold her upright for 20 min due to reflux and she almost always falls asleep while I'm holding/rocking her. So at this point she usually wants to be rocked to sleep. But I'm hoping once her feeding issues are totally sorted we can get back to laying down sleepy but awake. </p> <p>I've tried putting her down before swaddled with her arms out and she just flails around and hits herself and won't sleep. </p> <p>So when it is time to take her out of the swaddle I think we need some sort of other... device? Like a magic sleep suit? Or one of those zippadee-zip things? Or something else I don't know about? </p> <p>If you had a baby that was super dependent on swaddling, what worked for you when you had to stop? </p>