Weaning from wrap - cold turkey?

[Clarrie]

So little Bonnie is now 9 months old and is still wrapped for sleeping. However, the nights in Sydney (and her room in particular) are really hot and she's having real trouble falling asleep. For ages now, she's been a champion self-settler but the past few nights have been a trial - it could be teething, it could be the 9-month sleep regression and it could be that she no longer wants to be wrapped.

I just spent an hour trying to put her down for her morning nap, and ended up unwrapping her and laying her on her tummy and patting her bum. She went to sleep after about 5 mins and has been down for an hour now, so that's great!

Now I'm nervous about trying her unwrapped this evening. After weeks of night-waking, the past few nights she's been sleeping through and I don't want to mess with things.

Most advice is to wean babies gradually off the wrap, but for some reason I have a preference to go cold turkey. Have any of you guys done this before? Did you have success?

[~clover~]

Neither of my girls were still wrapped at that age, but maybe you could keep the wrap for night only sleep for a little while, Give her a week or two to get used to it then try the night without it. If she doesn't like it you can always go back to it. But chances are she's hot & may feel better without it. She might not even notice.

[Evie76]

Clarrie, I'm still wrapping DS. But, I wrap him in a very light muslin with only a nappy on AND I bought him a little fan to keep the air flowing in his room. Since I bought the fan he has slept extraordinarily well. It's just amazing. The air flow seems to promote him sleeping.

PS. We always have a fan on in our room because DH is a hot bod. In winter he's swinging the blankets off and I freezing my bits off. We have the fan on, I can keep the blankets on (I have to burrow down) and DH is comfy. DS is VERY much like his dad.

[Snacks]

Hey Clarrie. Sounds like you know what you're doing. I reckon give it a go if you're feeling confident.
Does Bonnie get out of the wrap anyway? You could always try wrapping lightly so she can free her self, but the wrap can still be there as a sleep signal/comfort item. I now have Natty in a sleeping bag so she stays covered but wrap muslin lightly around her arms and she fiddles and fusses with it to settle herself these days. Good luck with whatever you decide, and hooray for Bonnie sleeping through!!!

[Clarrie]

Well, I tried the no wrap for her afternoon nap and it was a disaster! She protested and protested and started crawling around the cot screaming - I had no idea how to settle a sleep-fighting baby who isn't tied up! So I re-wrapped her and she still wouldn't settle - so got her up for a bit and then tried again without the wrap and she was so tired, she fell asleep.

Something is going on with her at the moment (I think it's the infamous 9 month sleep regression). For the first time since she was a teeny tiny baby, she just won't self-settle. We've had every other sleeping issue except the self-settling one....until now. That's a whole different topic though, but my gut feeling is telling me that she's ready to be unwrapped.

We have a muslin wrap, but she gets out of it really easily. And if she gets out of her wrap, she wakes up.

[Evie76]

ARG............

Sounds like there is no solution to this one. She's just being a baby. Not looking forward to this nine month sleep regression. Can I sleep through that one?? I'll let DH handle it.

[krysalyss]

Not sure about the 9 month thing as we aren't there yet but we stopped wrapping cold turkey. We used to do it to try and stop DS scratching at himself (busy hands - even when asleep!). He adjusted really quickly but I remember we did some rocking to help him get to that sleepy part. I think after a couple of days he was fine. Perhaps he was jut ready.

[Rouge]

Both Paris & Seth were wrapped till about 9-10 months. I then moved from wrap to a sleeping bag and it worked best, cold turkey didn't work for either of my children.

[Erin_25]

Charlie was still wrapped up until 2weeks ago, he too was getting very hot & out of the muslin wrap very easy. So yep we just stopped, it was getting harder to get his arms in anyway. Lucky for us it just worked, all I did was put him in bed & put the wrap on top of him so he could play with it & cuddle it. For the past 2weeks he's slept through the night, not something he ever did & seems to be sleeping on his side. Seems that's what he likes but couldn't do so wrapped up. Perhaps try giving her the wrap to cuddle?? Sorry, that's the best I've got.

[Liviam]

Clairre I feel your frustrations. I'm going through exactly the same thing at the moment. We had 35 and 36 degrees over the weekend and poor Livvy couldn't sleep because it was so hot so I tried without the wrap and she was screaming to. I had no idea they go through a sleep degression at 9 months. I'm in trouble!
I have no ideas or suggestions to help you I'm sorry but I wish you the best of luck, hang in there, and I'll be stalking your thread to get some help for us too.

[blueflower]

We have just changed Kaetlyns sleep routine. Although she is only 3months.
She was wiggling out of her wrap. we would wrap her, then wrap a muslin wrap around that to hold it. Putting her in it she was screaming. She was then waking up cold after getting out of her 'straight jacket'.
So....
I brought some sleeping bags and went cold turkey one night. And have had no probs since, touch wood, its been 4 nights now.
She used to be a jerky sleeper, but now she seems to settle herself in the night time which is a god sent!!
I guess try cold turkey and if that doesn work, try and wean her.
Good luck!!! I know it can be scarry!

[Erin_25]

I forgot to mention when we went cold turkey we too started using a Sleeping Bag. It seems to give them another comfort so to speak. Also I don't stress about DS getting too hot or cold.

[Clarrie]

I'm thinking about using a sleeping bag, because I need to do something about Bonnie's sleeping. Each night she wakes when she gets out of the wrap, and then screams when I re-wrap her.

I've always been reluctant about trying a sleeping bag because I feel like it's the equivalent to cold turkey for the bubs - eg. they still have their arms flapping about wildly. But a few people have recommended it as a transitioning thing, so maybe it might help.

In a sleeping bag, can they roll over on their tummy (I think Bonnie likes sleeping on her tummy)? Can they crawl around the cot in a sleeping bag? (would be great if the sleeping bag stopped their ability to crawl and climb in the middle of the night).

[Nadine]

My DD got out of her wraps herself at around 6mths of age, so since it was still cooler weather, I put her in a grobag, and actually gave her the wrap (thin muslin) to cuddle.

She still sleeps in a grobag at night time and still cuddles her wrap. And yes, she can still go onto her tummy and move about freely

I will be taking her out of the bag when she goes into a big bed.

HTH

[JenSam]

Clarrie,
I am going thru exactly the same thing and seem to be going backward! I was up and down all night last night re-wrapping but ds(6mnths) wakes himself when unwrapped!
I have a waffle weave sleepbag on order at the baby shop and am going to try it - but it's Beaus arms that are the problem so I am not sure how this will help....I feel your pain!
The only was he stays asleep is if I do a lycra wrap first and a muslin one over the top again but it is way too hot for that now...i have been trying all sorts of things too - ket us know if you have any success?