Help Weaning Off Wrap and BFing to Sleep!!!

[Merbaby]

Thanks for the advice ladies.

mis_tree, We have also tried socks on her hands (that go all the way to her elbows). She gets them off within seconds. She's a very strong and determined little thing! I will perservere with one arm out, but I just don't seem to be able to progress past that!

Thanks again and looking forward to some more ideas!

Monique

[mollycat]

Is it possible to unwrap her after she has fallen asleep and her to remain asleep, or perhaps use a sheet to mimic a wrap, ie, tuck it in around her, but as she moves it will loosen, perhaps having to pat her back to sleep, with the tucked in sheet around her, hand on her shoulder and pat her bottom.

[Ginger]

monique- have you read 'no cry sleep solutions' by elizabeth panty? she has some good ideas in there for this sort of thing.
i just wanted to second what raven said about the bfing to sleep. the same thing has happened with my ds. he was constantly bfed to sleep until about 12 months when he gradually just stopped needing it, all by himself

[aimz78]

i second to keep the BFing to sleep as it is a lot to drop all at once. Could you possibly start introducing other cues to sleep, such as a "cuddly"( stroke her face with it while she is drifting off) or music to help that association and then you can slowly take away the wrap or replace it with a light cloth tucked in tight. I also agree that this is a time for lots of milestones etc which seems to make them unsettled (my dd same age!). Also, i know it is still hot but could you put her down in just a nappy and a light muslin wrap? I also found that taking away the wrap for a day sleep seemed to help her learn gradually to do without it at night
I hope her sleep improves soon.

[Merbaby]

Hi everyone,

Thank you all so much for your advice with this!

I've already had two successes today with putting her in her cot awake and having her go peacefully to sleep!!! Both times it was after a feed, but I didn't let her go to sleep feeding. The first time she did cry a little bit, but I patted her and soothed her and she was asleep within about 2 minutes! The second time she didn't cry at all and was perfectly calm - but took about 20 minutes of me patting her to go to sleep! I would have left the room but wanted to make sure she didn't wriggle out of her wrap because then I would have had to start all over again and I just didn't have the energy for that! Anyway, she did it and I'm so proud of her! I've had to go and re-settle her three times so far since putting her to bed tonight, but it's only taken a few minutes each time. Lets hope she stays asleep for at least a few hours now (still waking a few times overnight too but hopefully I can train her out of that too soon!)

Raven, It's reassuring to hear someone say that their child has weaned themselves from being breastfed to sleep. It must feel good to tell all those know it alls who tell you you're creating a huge problem for yourself! You're so right about the teething etc too - thank goodness she's coping pretty well with that (already has two teeth and I have a feeling there's more not far)

mollycat, I have thought about unwrapping her once she's asleep, but I'm too scared! Once she's asleep I usually don't want to do anything that could change that, but maybe I'll give it a go when I'm feeling brave! I liked your idea about tucking the sheet in around her, but she really flings her arms around when not wrapped and I can't imagine it lasting more than a split second!

Rainforest, I AM reading "No Cry Sleep Solutions", I just got impatient and thought you girls might be able to help me a bit quicker! I will keep reading it though as I'm really getting into it! See what I said to Raven about self-weaning from breastfeeding to sleep...

aimz78, We do have other sleep cues, like reading books to her, soft music, me singing to her etc, it's just that up until now, without the feed, none of them have meant much! The problem with putting her down in just a nappy and wrap is that she will scratch her tummy/chest (whether she has active eczema there or not - another bad habit). We dress her very lightly for bed in hot weather though. See what I said to Raven about the milestones too!

Thank you all again for taking the time to reply to me, I really appreciate it. You've all helped me in some way, even if just to help keep me motivated! I hope you all get some sleep tonight!

Monique

[Ezz]

I would focus on getting her to self-settle wrapped first, then worry about getting rid of the wrap.

Have a look here for a discussion about getting rid of the wrap for my DS.