Adventures in UNSWADDLING

Over the past few weeks it has become clear to my husband and I that our 4 1/2 month LO needs to learn to sleep without her swaddle. Let me begin by saying I LOOOOOVE swaddling. Our LO has always slept well swaddled and it has helped curb her desire to look around and move around during nap/sleep time. However now that she can roll over we feel very unsafe with her arms pinned at her side when she rolls onto her tummy.


She has always been very aware and if she can see anything she will look at it and not sleep (so we removed the mobile from her crib) she also loves to grab at things (primarily her face and ears) so swaddling has been a dream. Currently we follow a 4-hour EASY routine and she sleeps about 2 hours each nap and has slept through the night since about 10 weeks. HOWEVER we knew when it was time to unswaddle her, everything would change.


I read recommendations from our favorite books, Happiest Baby on the Block, On Becoming Babywise and Secrets of a Baby Whisperer and each had different recommendations for weaning our LO from her swaddle. The suggestions ranged from swaddling her lightly to swaddling one arm out and then moving to both arms out.




LIGHT SWADDLING
First we tried swaddling her lightly. This was a mess. She was completely unswaddled in less than 2 minutes and rolling all around in her crib. Her arms were flying in the air as if she was doing back strokes or making snow angels in the sheets and her legs and butt kept lifting to the sky. It took her over a hour to calm down and then she only got about a 15 minutes nap. Well like anything I know how important consistency and perseverance is so we tried it for several days in a row. Nothing was getting better and the poor little girl was cranky and sleep deprived.


ONE ARM OUT SWADDLE
Next we tried using her swaddle and leaving one arm out. This also did not help. She would roll over and have one arm flopping around. Without the other arm out of the swaddle she had a hard time rolling back over or pushing her head up (which for safety reasons made me VERY uncomfortable). Again she took FOREVER to wind down and only slept due to pure exhaustion. We tried it for a few days just to give it a chance, and like the loose swaddle experiment, she was not getting used to it and her sleep was compromised.


Searching for a solution I called friends and read online blogs and articles. Nothing new seemed to be coming up BUT I was realizing that I was not alone in this search. So many moms were seeking a solution for their squirmy little sleeper who was getting too big to swaddle.


ZIPADEE-ZIP
On one blog site I read about a product called the Zipadee-Zip. It was sort of a "transition" sleep sack. It contained her arms but had room for them to move about and allowed her to push her head up if she rolled over (which she always did). It also contained her feet so that they would stay warm and it still gave her a bit of the safety feeling of being swaddled. The first time we used it, it too her about 30 minutes to wind down and fall asleep but once asleep she did not wake. A FLUKE? So we used it at her next nap and again she rolled around for a bit and giggled and wiggled but then fell asleep on her side. It took several days and a little crying here and there but by the third day she was sleeping like a dream and most importantly SAFE when she she rolled over one her tummy (since she could use her arms). We are back to soundly sleeping little baby which makes for a VERY happy mommy. I will let you know how it goes when she hits her next milestone and starts sitting up in her crib...:-)