At what age do you stop swaddling to sleep?

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Forum -> Parenting our children -> Infants

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amother

Tue, Apr 05 2011, 5:37 am

My Ds is 5 months. I still swaddle him, though I'm not sure I should be. When he wakes up, he usually jiggles himself out of the swaddle unless I make it really tight. He doesn't like it. But I do it so that his jerky movements don't wake him. Is it still necessary to swaddle him to sleep?

MrsMortgage

Tue, Apr 05 2011, 8:15 am

Not if he doesn't like it... But most people I know swaddle until 4-6 mos or until they can wiggle out. A loose swaddling cloth in the crib poses a risk for SIDS.

But his own movements should not be waking him up at 5 mos. You need to figure out if that's indeed what is waking him.

Tablepoetry

Tue, Apr 05 2011, 8:24 am

People still swaddle? I don't know anyone that does/did that. When my first was born many years ago, the savtot reminisced about the good old days when babies were swaddled.

But I haven't seen a swaddled baby in these parts. Maximum till they were a few weeks old.

sarachana

Tue, Apr 05 2011, 8:33 am

still swaddling at 6 1/2 months. Baby cannot get out. B"h she sleeps a lot!

Chippies

Tue, Apr 05 2011, 12:58 pm

I swaddled my first baby until he started sucking his fingers which was around 4 months of age. He also use to wake himself up regularly with his jerky movements. My 8 week old never liked to be swaddled, but it does help her sleep. I still often swaddle her with a swaddling blanket, but I leave at least one arm out.

shabbatiscoming

Tue, Apr 05 2011, 1:29 pm

Tablepoetry wrote:

For sure babies are still swaddled (even here in Israel, table Smile

)
I swaddled my daughter, not right away, I did not know about swaddling until she was probably a month and a bit.
There is a book called "the happiest baby on the block" by Dr. Harvey Karp where he talks about the fact that really a baby should be inside the mother's womb for another whole trimester but then the head would be too big and vaginal deliveries would not be able to happen, so in essence, babies come out three months early and swaddling them really help them so that they can have that same feeling of comfort that they had in the uterus very confined to movement.
So, yes, table, people do still swaddle Smile

To the OP, I would say, swaddle until you see that your baby is not benefiting from it anymore.

1Life2Live

Tue, Apr 05 2011, 1:45 pm

I stopped swaddling DS1 when he started rolling over- while he was swaddled! he would just bob his head up and down because he couldn't do anything else. I felt so bad, so I stopped swaddling him. DS2 is now 5 months and I still swaddle him.

Chaviva

Tue, Apr 05 2011, 2:08 pm

I never swaddle except on rare occasions with newborns.

If your son can get out, it's dangerous to have that loose cloth there.

If he doesn't like it, then at this age he's probably strong enough to roll onto his tummy and would rather sleep like that, so why fight him. Sleeping on the tummy is not dangerous from the time they can get that way themselves, so you don't have to worry about it.

MrsMortgage

Tue, Apr 05 2011, 2:35 pm

Tablepoetry wrote:

It's not the same swaddling. Babies used to be wrapped up so tight they couldn't wiggle a finger

momaleh

Tue, Apr 05 2011, 3:05 pm

I swaddled my first 2 until 8 months. They couldn't sleep without it.

Gerbera

Tue, Apr 05 2011, 3:11 pm

I swaddled till 7 months and only stopped so my daughter could get herself back to sleep on her own by putting the pacifier in herself instead of me waking up several times a night to do it. If he's breaking free there are other ways of swaddling to that won't happen...worked for me!

llsl

Tue, Apr 05 2011, 3:38 pm

My baby is only a couple of weeks old and I have never swaddled her and she seems to be fine.
Never thought you needed to swaddle a baby...

shabbatiscoming

Tue, Apr 05 2011, 3:53 pm

llsl wrote:

My baby is only a couple of weeks old and I have never swaddled her and she seems to be fine.
Never thought you needed to swaddle a baby...

you dont HAVE TO swaddle. Its great for some babies and others not so much. Go with what your baby seems to like.

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