Anyone else deal with this?
E is a face shredder so we have used sleep suits with built in mitts - up until now. I decided to ditch the mitts in the hope that she would learn to self soothe or at least put her own dummy back in but she will not settle with her hands out!! She is awake half the night when they're out, STTN last night with them covered. Agh!
Any ideas?!
cantaloupe / 6885 posts
No advice...this makes me nervous though, my LO has sttn since 4weeks old. Now she is 4 months and I want to swaddle wean but I am SO scared to mess with her sleep !
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
C woke up a bunch of times when she first had her hads out, but that was when we took away the swaddle, so I think it was her arms, not hands. But it was only bad that first night, after that it went back to her usual, still pretty bad at the time, sleep.
pomelo / 5326 posts
@char54: ahhhh LO is 4.5 months and I was going to ditch the swaddle to start off the new year tonight.
I'm so scared she's going to be up all night!
cantaloupe / 6885 posts
@delight: lol let me know how it goes!! I think I will try tomorrow night...I'm still tired from NYE so want one more guaranteed nights sleep!
pomelo / 5326 posts
@char54: well it did not go great! She was up four times, but I let her CIO once so I was only up three times. I imagine it'll take her a few nights to get used to all this freedom. She just woke up for the day and she is laughing and cling and rolling around in her crib. I'm hoping I can report back in a few days that she's back to her once a night wake-up routine!
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
@delight: C had a very rough first night with her arms out, but she really did get much better once she got used to it and it was a quick learning curve. She started scooting all over her crib at that time-- like kicking her legs up, rotating her whole body in a circle like the hand on a clock. It seems to help her settle herself. Hopefully your babe will learn quickly too!
pomelo / 5326 posts
@Foodnerd81: haha LO does the full circle shimmy in the crib too! Too funny! I'm glad to hear your LO learned to adapt quickly to the hands out! That gives me hope!
papaya / 10570 posts
@char54: @delight: It took about a week for DD to get used to sleeping without her swaddle but she did get there in the end.
Last night was terrible. She wouldn't settle at all so we put socks on her hands - but she still struggled to sleep. From the time we went to bed (11pm) until I got up at 7.15am, she had me up fifteen times. It was only when I got her out of her sleep sack that I realised she had kicked her socks off - so her feet were probably cold. I wonder if it's the same deal with her hands? She has outgrown her 3-6 sleep suits and I only bought pjs in 6-9! I'm now scouring the internet for sleepers with built in scratch mitts. Sigh.
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
@Cherrybee: C's hands often feel really cold when I feed her in the MOTN but it never seems to bother her at all. She sleeps in footie pajamas, otherwise I'm sure she would kick the socks off.
persimmon / 1085 posts
My son wouldn't sleep without the swaddle blanket until 7 1/2 months. We tried to wean him of it, but he wouldn't sleep. With it on, he slept 11 hours through the night. Finally he discovered how to roll over on his tummy with it on, so as of that night we removed it and he slept fine since then. He just couldn't sleep without it (hands would be flailing around, etc.). I think some just need to be swaddled longer.
cantaloupe / 6885 posts
@Cherrybee: @delight: oh no!! Hope your nights go better tonight. I'm extra nervous now to swaddle wean, lol! I might try swaddling her really loose tonight and see what happens.
pomegranate / 3791 posts
We did it gradually - first we had one hand securely in the swaddle and the other hand loose so that he was able to pull it out but didn't have totally free range of motion without trying hard since his upper arm and shoulder were still pretty securely wrapped. Once that was going well I left that hand out at night. Next step was one hand out completely at night and the other slightly out/not swaddled securely, then both hands out completely. Took a couple of weeks and there were some face scratches, but he has slept SO MUCH better since we did that. Sucks his thumb now but hey, it's easier than waking up to replace the pacifier.
pomelo / 5326 posts
@Cherrybee: did you have a better night? I found LOs hands really cold out of the swaddle last night. It's hard to find bigger pjs with mitts!
@char54: did you try without the swaddle?!
@wonderstruck: my initial plan was was going to be to do it gradually but I bit the bullet and went straight to sleep sack.
Night two went great! I put her to bed at 7 and she didn't wake up til 330, ate, then went back to sleep until 8am! At 3:30 and at 8, she had rolled to tummy and seemed to be upset that she couldn't get back to her back. One wake-up is awesome though! For some reason now that she can roll from back to tummy she forgets how to get back the other way!
papaya / 10570 posts
@delight: Last night was better in that she only woke me up eight times as opposed to the fifteen the night before... but, yeah..... not really! I think she's teething now, though. I went shopping today for bigger sleep suits with integrated mitts but they don't add the mitts after 3-6 months in every shop.
cantaloupe / 6885 posts
@delight: I swaddled very loosely the past 2 nights. The first night was a success, she continued to STTN. Last night was a 4am wakeup fail. I don't know if it was the loose swaddle , gas, or the fact she went to bed earlier than usual , but this mama was SO not used to it. I don't know what to do tonight now!
pomelo / 5326 posts
@char54: was it hard to get her back to sleep at 4? Maybe just take the plunge and try no swaddle? Sounds like she is doing well in the sleep department overall. My LO used to STTN but since she hit 4 months it hasn't happened again. Are you moving from swaddle to sleep sack?
@Cherrybee: it's such a shame they don't add mitts to bigger pjs 
sorry she's having trouble sleeping. I know you say that up 8 times is better than 15, but holy crap! I don't know how you do it. I hope tonight is better. I know I have been an absolute grouch lately when LO has been up 4 or 5 times. I can't imagine being woken up any more than that!
cantaloupe / 6885 posts
@delight: yes it took until 5:15 to get her back to sleep. Each time she'd close her eyes, fall asleep, and Id put her down, she'd wake up. She slept from 5am-10am though afterwards so I know she was still sleepy. Hopefully tonight is back to normal! I might go cold turkey and switch right to the sleepsack. My biggest fear is that she stops STTN (I'm spoiled now) since so many people have said their LOs stopped around 4 months!
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