Some advice that may help
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Category: Have A Baby?
Forum Name: First baby? Second or more?
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URL: https://www.ohbaby.co.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=33806
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Topic: Some advice that may help
Posted By: kaybee
Subject: Some advice that may help
Date Posted: 02 June 2010 at 8:45am
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Hiya,
I thought I would share some advice I was given recently that worked for me re: my 6 month old sleeping at night. I stopped swaddling ds at about 4 months, it didn't seem to affect his sleeping and he liked to play with the blanket to get off to sleep so I didn't think anything more of it. From 4-6 months his night sleeping was very sporadic, sometimes it seemed like he was starting to sleep through the night and then he would quickly regress again. I had to do a bit of controlled crying at one point as he was waking up every 2 hours seeming starving and I was starting to not cope with the lack of sleep, it made a difference within a couple of days and he slept through the night a couple of times but then started to wake a bit again. I have never rocked or fed him to sleep so he has been able to self-settle for a while, and by this point I had broken the association of having to have a full tummy to get back to sleep, but he was still waking at about 11am, then 3am, then 5am and we were patting him back to sleep in his cot (or by 5am I had started getting him into bed with me as nothing else seemed to work). Some ladies in my coffee group had previously suggested swaddling him again but I wasn't too keen as I knew he liked to play with his blanket to get to sleep and I felt mean restricting him like that. A week ago I decided I may as well give it a try, and I have had a great little sleeper ever since! I put him down at 7pm, give him a dreamfeed at 10pm and then he will sleep through until at least 6am, when I give him a 4 minute feed and put him back to bed until 7am (I hope to be able to phase the 6am feed out soon but am not too worried about it). He also sleeps much better for his day sleeps when he is swaddled. I realise this may form an association with being swaddled to get to sleep but I think it is well worth it if it means he gets some good sleep for a while! And I figure as he gets bigger he'll probably just start breaking out of the swaddle himself. ds is a big boy, over 9kgs at 6 months, but my sister-in-law gave us some Aden & Anais wraps which are still plenty big enough, or just a square metre of fabric is good too. The Baby Whisperer Sharlene Poole has a trick to swaddling which I found makes it pretty secure (it's a bit hard to explain though). So I thought I would share in case this works for someone else, I was very reluctant to go back to swaddling but now I'm very glad I did! 
ETA ------------- 
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Replies:
Posted By: lisa85
Date Posted: 02 June 2010 at 9:42am
We swaddled untill around 6 or 7 months :) I found it great!  -------------  
TTC #3 since Jan 2010 - PCOS MC April 2010 |
Posted By: High9
Date Posted: 02 June 2010 at 9:56am
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Makes me feel alright about still swaddling Lily! People have told me I shouldn't but she won't sleep without it. My mum told me to swaddle until she crawls... ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: SpecialK
Date Posted: 02 June 2010 at 10:15am
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We still occasionally swaddled at around 9-10 months! DS has been a pretty good sleeper and I think a large part of it is due to swaddling and then sleeping bags. ------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: MamaT
Date Posted: 02 June 2010 at 10:35am
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I'm the same, I'm not ready to get rid of swaddling yet and recently bought a bigger one for my DS. I dread the time when I need to think about weaning him from it. Although he isn't a great sleeper by any stretch of the imagination. -------------  
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nkap9 wrote:Posted By: WestiesGirl
Date Posted: 02 June 2010 at 10:48am
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9.5 months here and were still wrapping too. I have no intention of stopping until he doesnt want it anymore
ETA Jackson is commando crawling everywhere now and I dont have any problems with him trying to crawl in his cot. ------------- Our Angel July 08  Gone but not forgotten
And to complete our family, our princess has arrived 
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Posted By: High9
Date Posted: 02 June 2010 at 10:48am
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Lily doesn't sleep, literally unless she is swaddled and this does worry me. She also isn't sleeping through but I wasn't expecting her to anyway! She goes down for sleeps without problem so I am grateful for that lol! ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: myonlineself
Date Posted: 02 June 2010 at 10:59am
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I just discovered the same thing! I stopped swaddling months ago - but started again a week ago and the difference is amazing! She calms as soon as swaddled, I pop dummy in and she goes to sleep - this from a baby who could only be rocked (for ages) or fed to sleep. sometimes still need to rock, but for maybe 2 minutes! ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: mamanee
Date Posted: 02 June 2010 at 11:00am
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I am still swaddling Jamie. He's a terrible sleeper, and would be even worse without it, so it definitely helps with my sanity!
I remember still wrapping Sam until at least 8-9 months and I'll be doing the same this time around. 
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Posted By: Kalimirella
Date Posted: 02 June 2010 at 1:39pm
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Hmmm must be something in the temperament, my daughter is totally the other way round, we were swaddling her and at first she didn't mind but then she started taking forever to put down and we knew she doesn't wake up to moro reflex when not swaddled so we left arms out and didn't improve, so we stopped altogether and now she drops off like if you flicked a light switch. Just pop her down eyes open leave and off she goes only time she screams is if theres some trapped wind.
Er just feeling talkative and sharing that it can go the other way too, some babies won't sleep well swaddled and vice versa. ------------- Kiara is 3 and Teagan is 2, now we're expecting our long awaited 3rd! http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: Helen1
Date Posted: 02 June 2010 at 10:15pm
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We swaddled until about 10 and a half months old.
I would just say that give it a go if you are having problems with sleep and see how it works. You can always stop it again if it doesnt work out. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: mummyofprinces
Date Posted: 03 June 2010 at 8:01am
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We ended up reswaddling Jake too and he was still being swaddled until 10 months...
Just do what works for you and ignore everything else! -------------   
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Posted By: rachelsea
Date Posted: 03 June 2010 at 11:29am
We were the same as you Kalimirella, Chelsea hated being swaddled from very early on. But then around 3months she started waking herself up with her arms so started swaddling her and she loved it! We stopped at 7months when she started fighting it and went into a pillow case (with a hole cut out for her head obviously  ) for a few months and then a sleeping bag, and now (15months) she's just in the sheets/blankets for sleeps.------------- DD 4yrs DS 2yrs http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: tiptoes
Date Posted: 03 June 2010 at 8:43pm
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Everytime I feel a bit silly for still swaddling Cooper still I hear stories like this and am glad I don't need to worry about weaning him off it yet . ------------- http://alterna-tickers.com">  
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