Between 4-6 months is the optimal time to unswaddle, but it’s important to know you MUST make the transition as soon as your little one rolls from BACK to TUMMY (even if this means between 3-4 months) hello keen roller.
With a roller on your hands, it’s now a safety concern to stay swaddled. The reason for this is should your little one roll onto their tummy, they will need access to their hands to push up and clear their airways/move into a safer position. This can often coincide with new development and the first sleep regression – hello 4 month sleep regression (we have a helpful blog for the 4 month sleep regression too). Read it here
It should also be noted that regardless of rolling, we need to unswaddle no later than 6 months of age.
Unswaddling is key to our little one’s having access to their hands so they can learn the process of self-soothing. (Something that can be achieved with gentle guidance and supported from around 4-6 months of age).
They will begin to use their hands to self-soothe by playing with their hair/touching their face, picking up a comforter or to eventually learn to find and replace their dummy independently.
Here are two options that can work for you and your little one.
Cold Turkey
Cold Turkey means you simply stop using your current swaddle and move straight to an arms free sleeping bag. My personal favourite is Ergopouch. They come in a variety of TOG ratings depending on your current room season. I recommend a minimum of 2.5 TOG for most of the year around.
To implement the “cold turkey” method, begin with bedtime/overnight and roll the method into your baby’s naps the next day. This works best when bub is already rolling (and you are short on time to make the transition for safety reasons) or closer to 5/6 months of age (when they need to transition shortly after).
I always recommend starting this process at bedtime. This works with our body’s strongest physiological drive of melatonin which is from 6:00pm to midnight making sleep easier to achieve with longer and deeper stretches of sleep.
Expert Tip: At this time, I also recommend transitioning from bassinet to cot (if you haven’t already). It’s important for babies to have extra room to move and settle without banging into the sides. You can continue to room share as desired noting that Red Nose Guidelines recommend room sharing for the reduction of SIDS to between 6-12 months.
Slow and Steady
The Slow and Steady approach focuses on going arms free one arm at a time and allows you to transition gradually over a short period of time. This being said, it’s recommended the transition be completed within 5-7 days regardless of using the Cold Turkey Method or Slow and Steady approach as otherwise you can just be delaying the inevitable few days of unsettledness.
How does the Slow and Steady unswaddling approach work?
Like the Cold Turkey approach, you begin the process at bedtime but leave only one arm out. After a feed during the night you can swap arms or if they are particularly unsettled you can pop both arms back in for the remainder of the night and try again the following night for a little longer.
On day 2 stick with one arm out for nap 1 and for nap 2 swap to the other arm. This gives your little one an opportunity to become familiar with having one arm out at a time without favouring one arm. This process takes a little longer but is a great method for babies who are continuing to startle with their moro reflex and need a slower approach to learn to relax through the motions of their parasympathetic nervous system.
You can continue this process until both arms are out overnight, then both arms out for all naps over the 5-7 day timeframe. If you are still having troubles after 7 days, use the Cold Turkey method regardless of where you are at as you are often prolonging the inevitable (speaking from personal experience with my first daughter, I think it took two weeks and I still wasn’t “happy” with the transition!)
Expert Tip: If your little one is used to sucking on the material of the swaddle, use the hand cover from their onesie for a few days to cover their little hand. This means they will have the comfort of material as they get used to the extra arm freedom.
If you don’t already have one, you might want to take a look at purchasing a transitional swaddle. There are a number of transitional swaddles available on the market and brands like Ergopouch have swaddles with arm-poppers so that you can convert to arms-free without needing to purchase a new sleeping bag. Love to Dream also have a transitional swaddle allowing you to take off one “wing” at a time.
Always expect 3-5 days of extra unsettledness as your baby’s little body learns to relax through their parasympathetic nervous system. (It can be a little overwhelming for babies when they first experience their limbs moving around unexpectedly). This reflex will naturally integrate and relax around 4-5 months of age, so although your little one may startle from time to time, they will learn to relax through this motion.
You can absolutely offer a little extra hands-on assistance as needed during this transition time. Even if your little one was previously self-settling, they may be extra unsettled or even playful initially when they go into the cot and then become frustrated/overtired from the excitement.
If this happens, hang in there! Don’t rush or be tempted to “speed up” the process by overplaying the role of settling and taking over with extra external assistance as this can make the process harder/longer in duration.
That’s a wrap on unswaddling your baby and I hope you feel informed and educated on the how, when and why we need to transition from swaddle to arms-free.
Transition from swaddle to sleep sack and won't sleep
So we are trying to transition from a swaddle to sleep sack.... It's going less than ideal.... She woke up every 1-2 hours last night... Not even to eat just for soothing to get back to sleep.... So exhausting... Prior to this she had been sleeping anywhere between 4 and 7 hours straight at night always being up for the day at 7 am. Well the past couple of days she has been breaking free from the swaddle or ending up with her arms pinned in an awkward position. Not only that but somehow she'd pin herself to the side of the bassinet... Swaddling is just becoming something I don't feel comfortable doing for her own safety... Anyone having difficulty with this or advice to make the transition easier. We haven't changed anything else with our nighttime routine besides sleep sack instead of swaddle.
How to Transition Out of the Swaddle + When to Transition
If you’ve been here for a while, you know just how much I love swaddles. And I mean, I LOVE swaddles. They are indeed the key to getting great newborn sleep!
If you’re here because it seems like your newborn just absolutely hates the swaddle, my advice is to keep trying! Swaddling is only one of Dr. Harvey Karp’s 5 S’s for soothing babies, so you may need to stack on the other calming tricks to really help soothe your baby.
As much as I love a good, snug swaddle, there comes a time when it’s no longer safe for babies to sleep while swaddled.
In this blog, I’ll go over…
When should we transition out of the swaddle?
How to Transition Out of the Swaddle
Tools That Can Help Make the Transition Easier
Now let’s dive in!
When to transition out of the swaddle?
While you can try making the transition gradually, go full-on cold-turkey, or somewhere in between, there are three different mini transitions I like to do:
Switching to a Velcro Swaddle
At around 2-3 months, I like switching to a velcro swaddle so they don’t get any loose fabric around their face. This is because at this age, they start to become SO much squirmier, and they seem to bust out of their original swaddle more easily! Learn more about velcro swaddles here.
Swaddle With One Arm Out
When it’s time for sleep learning at 4 months, try swaddling while leaving one arm out. This gives them a tool they can use for self-soothing!
Dropping the Swaddle
Regardless of your baby’s age, it’s time to stop swaddling once they start *showing signs of rolling!
*The AAP recommends dropping the swaddle once your baby is starting to roll. They say to drop around 8 weeks because of the potential risk of the blanket becoming more loose the stronger/squirmier they get OR because of early rolling. If you are covering these bases, then it is safe to continue using the swaddle!
Figuring out when and how to transition out of the swaddle for our early rollers can be tricky. They may still have the Moro reflex, which causes their arms to jerk while they’re sleeping (a good snug swaddle would mitigate this if it was safe to use).
My recommendation? Do lots of rolling practice with them during the day to help them master their new skill! A *weighted sleep sack or the Merlin Suit can also help them relax or mitigate these startle reflexes.
*Disclaimer about using weighted products: According to the 2022 AAP updated recommendations, “It is recommended that weighted blankets, weighted sleepers, or other weights not be placed on or near the sleeping infant. A single crossover randomized nonblinded trial of 16 infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome found no adverse events when a 1-pound weighted blanket was placed on each infant for 30 minute observed episodes. However, no studies have documented the safety of weights for infants in an unobserved, nonclinical sleep environment.”
How to Transition Out of the Swaddle
Know that if you want to and it works for your baby, going cold turkey is totally an option here! Some babies do just fine ditching the swaddle all at once.
For a more gradual transition, start with taking one arm out of the swaddle (just like I mentioned I like to do when it’s time for sleep learning). You may notice their sleep is disturbed, but that shouldn’t last long.
After about a week or so, take their other arm out of the swaddle as well. At this point, the swaddle is basically just wrapped around their chest. In another week(ish) drop the swaddle altogether!
Know that this is just another stage babies and mamas need to get through. You can do it!
Tools That Can Help Make the Swaddle Transition Easier
Good news! There are SO many products out there designed to make the transition a little easier.
Swaddelini
This swaddle can be used both arms in OR out. It’s compression knit, so it allows for quite a bit of movement while also still mitigating that Moro reflex. It also has an open bottom…whoop whoop for easy diaper access!
Love to Dream
This is an arms-up swaddle and is slightly compressed around the midsection with a two-way zipper for easy diaper access. It doesn’t restrict movement much, so babies can still bring their hands to their mouths. BUT, it still helps reduce startle movements. Some babies who really fight the restriction of a traditional swaddle do SO well with this option!
Swaddle Me
This is a velcro swaddle that can be used as a full swaddle, one arm, OR both arms out, and you have to take it off to access the diaper. This can be a great solution for babies who are strong enough to bust out of a traditional swaddle but still need that restriction.
Watch this Instagram reel to see each of these swaddles in action!
I’ve got a long list of other swaddle options and alternatives in the troubleshooting guides in the 4-24 Months Content Library!
How to Transition Out of the Swaddle Recap
While the transition out of the swaddle can be tricky to navigate, remember there are SO many useful tools as well as this gradual transition approach that can help it all go smoothly!
If your baby is 4 months or older, the best thing you can do is start sleep learning! With sleep learning already under your belt, this transition and the sleep disruption that could come with shouldn’t last long at all.
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