I tried the one arm out a few times, then both arms out for day sleeps, at just before 3 months, because I'd gone into his room often to find him lying with the wrap like two ropes around his neck - he'd tend to accept being wrapped, then struggle out of it after the end of a sleep cycle, and it freaked me out !
Josef is a real "busy arms" baby and I was worried he wouldn't be able to settle to sleep with his arms waving about in front of his face, but I gave myself a few days of absolutely NO PLANS so I wasn't stressed about him falling asleep by a certain time so we could later go out, and just tried a few different things to wean him.
With the two arms out and wrapping from chest, i just did that for one day before moving to the sleeping bag, I watched him fall asleep - and sure enough he did startle as his arms moved from his face slowly to the bed, BUT rather than rush in and re-wrap him, i just watched and he just eventually relaxed into bed. It did take a bit more time of self soothing but he got there in the end - he's much quicker now (he's now almost 14 wks).
I'm not sure if this is coincidence or not, but the very first night we tried NO wrapping at all (at 12 weeks), and his sleepingbag suit for the first time, he slept for a record 7 hours ! (previous record was 4 while being wrapped) - I think previously he'd been waking up between cycles, unwrapping, getting cold/crying, I'd assumed he was hungry and was feeding every 3 hours approx - he loves his sleeping bag, kicking inside it but still feels a bit contained. Admittedly I also sleep much better now, knowing that if i hear him talking to himself or struggling, he's still covered, and i dont need to get up unless he starts crying.
But every baby's different, I have friends who wrapped their bubs much later, and another friend who didn't wrap once they were home from hospital.
I stopped wrapping at about 5 months, when she kept getting her arms out of the wrap. So I figured, whatever. Got her a sleeping bag so her legs would stay warm.
I stopped wrapping at 2 months but last night I had to wrap my 11 month old for the first time since then to get her to sleep. I had to use a cot sheet to do it though!
I stopped wrapping Hamish at around 4 months, I did it slowly over a week or so by leaving one arm out and then eventually both, but i found he needed something in his hands to hold so we started giving him a cuddly. He now sleeps soundly holding it everynight.
My advice would be, if he is happy to sleep wrapped, I'd let him be.
My DD was wrapped until she was 7ish months old, she just wouldn't sleep for long any other way and it had to be tight, really if he wasn't like a mummy, she would wriggle out and start crying. Or like you said, wake up about 30mins later and be very hard to settle again.
I remember being so worried about it, and even asked my Doc if it was a problem and she said most definitely not, if it's comforting her then it would be more harm to her if you stopped. So i just went with her, kept wrapping her up like a mummy each night. Then one night I went to wrap her and she protested a little, so I just tucked her in with her wrap and she was fine to sleept hat way from then on. She is now almost 3 and still keeps her "wrappy" with her when she sleeps. Actually she would carry it all day I'd think if we let her, it's cute.
If your worried about the heat, maybe just put him to bed in a nappy and wrapped in a muslim wrap, or add a singlet if you think he might get a little nippy.
And I can understand the struggle to have him wrapped in the pram, I remember this being a royal pain, but I ended up just adjusting the straps so I could still do them up. I think I even un did the shoulder straps and used it as a 3 point harness instead.
the other thing I forgot to say was that with us, he just started getting out of all wraps (maybe we're both bad wrappers lol) - but he was seriously like houdini! Nowadays he loves to play a solitary soccer game prior to sleep. I can walk past and ALL legs & arms are going a million miles an hour... then 5 mins later - BAM - he's asleep. Just seems to be his (weird!) way of winding down. So I guess as many have said, they have their own ways of letting you know what works for them.
Re sleeping bags, I got a good winter weight one from Target, and also Pumpkin Patch. Just don't get a "travel" one - they have the slit for the harness to come up between the legs. I find if I use them (cos my others are in the wash) he just sticks a leg out through the slit. I reckon trying a non-travel one first is a better transition. After that, mebbe a travel one in the pram? They work very well in prams I think... 'cept we've got a P&T sports and the middle bit is kinda chunky to thread through the slit IYKWIM.
Oh and my final thought - are you always doing a traditional wrap or do you alternate with an angel wrap? I reckon that's a good in between option too (even though I didn't even know what an angel wrap was for yonks... I mean the one where their arms are up by their face, but still IN the wrap).
Belfie Good point re the wrap. My DS likes to be able to get to his hands (he is a bit of a thumb/fist sucker), so I use an angel wrap for DS if he needs to be wrapped. He hated the tight Tresillian wrap as his hands were locked up...
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