How long was your baby wrapped to sleep?

Hey everyone.
Just curious. I know that some babies grow out of needing to be wrapped to sleep from an early age. Others love it. Gabby is one of the ones that loves it. When she is wrapped tightly, she drifts off to sleep with no major troubles. If she can get out of her wraps, that's when she finds it difficult to go to sleep.
She is now 7.5 months old and it doesn't look like she is any closer to being put to sleep without being wrapped. I don't mind. It can be a challenge because she is getting bigger so the sheets and blankets are getting smaller. We still manage though.
How long was your baby wrapped for? How did you decide it was time to stop and how did you go about it?

My daughter only got wrapped for a few weeks. It seemed she wouldn't drift off to sleep until she'd wriggled her way out of her wrapping, and would work pretty hard to do so lol. Maybe some bigger blankets might be helpful?

Jacob was only wrapped for a few weeks too. He always wanted to get his arms out and have them up by his head, so we decided we'd see how we went with leaving him unwrapped. He was fine......probably because at that stage he was still in his bassinette, which meant that he was tucked in nice and snug anyway (i.e. a lot more closely than would have been the case if he was in a cot IYKWIM?).

Paris loved to be wrapped she was about 8 mths old and then we went from wrapping to a gro bag (as it was the start of winter), and she had that till she was about 12 mths. I don't think it really hurts them, I think if they like to sleep wrapped then thats ok. I know you've got warmer months coming up when it was warmer we used muslin instead as it was cooler and longer. Paris had a few settling techniques, dummy, wrap & mobile and wrapping continued till about 12 mths, dummy till about 18 mths and Mobile till she was about 2 (we took the mobile off and let her have just the music part). And now she has "baby bear". But she has never objected to bedtime, and has slept through since she was about 8-9 mths so I am happy with the choices we made, and would more than likely replicate them with Seth if thats what he wanted.

Got off on a bit of a tangent...sorry 8-[

*hugs*
Cailin

I stopped wrapping Gemma at about 3-4 weeks as she always wanted her arms out near her head.She doesn't mind not being wrapped, infact she loves it as shes a real wriggler.

We wrapped Aidyn until he was about 6-8 weeks, which is when we bought him his first Grobag.
He never really liked being wrapped and would always struggle to get free, and then end up with the blankets on his face... which is why we decided to use the grobag.

It sounds like it really works for Gabby though, and must make things a bit easier by helping her drift off to sleep! :)

LOL 1 day!! :)

Only a couple of weeks, Debbie. Blake spent more time trying to get out of the wrap than trying to get to sleep.

About a week for us - as soon as Tamsin seemed to like waving her arms around while she slept, we decided to let her, and it's been fine so far.

Debbie,

We stopped wrapping Hendrix at 4 months. He was struggling to get out at this stage and once he did he would wake himself up. I thought that because of this that he wouldnt be able to sleep unwrapped but to our suprise he went straight to sleep! I actually felt a little sad as he had become a big boy and didnt need to be wrapped up :D.

xx

If I have any more babies, I will never wrap them to sleep. I have had nothing but problems with Coby sleeping since he was a few weeks old and I really think that the wrapping had something to do with it. He hates being wrapped, but won't sleep if he is unwrapped AARRGGHH!! Very frustrating. And to top it all off, he's a really hot baby and now that its coming into summer, its really really hot here at the mo and he is sweating his little bum off. So for the first time yesterday, he actually went to sleep without being wrapped!! Yay!!

It's literally taken me weeks to get him to go down without being wrapped.

I was talking to my mum about it, and she said that when we were babies, they never wrapped us and we all slept fine - never a problem, she used to put us down and we'd go off to sleep. I can't count how many times I've had to go in and re-settle Coby during the day. So I can't help but think that the wrapping has something to do with it...

What do you guys think?

Well Lily was born at the beginning of Summer and the only time she was wrapped was in hospital, so 3 days. Even then she'd get her hands out and put them near her head. She absolutely hated being wrapped and hates sheets and blankets on her aswell which i dont mind now because she is a very hot baby(she sweats even when i think its a bit chilly!) but in winter it is a bit hard.

Belinda - I wouldn't say that Gabby enjoys the process of being wrapped either. She fights it hammer and tong! BUT she won't sleep if I don't do it. I have tried a couple of times (on hot days) but she just plays with her dummy. She gets crabby after a while and wriggles her way up to the end of the cot and gets stuck in the corner (whilst banging her head). So I just resigned myself to the fact that I will have to wrap her until she can roll and rescue herself.
I guess it's a bit cooler here so I can get away with it for a bit longer. It has been warm over the last couple of weeks tho. I have been wrapping her in a cot sheet instead. Actually, I might go out and buy a single-bed sheet because the cot sheet is getting too small. She busted out last night and her little arms were freezing (I only have her in a body suit because it has been so warm).
I have tried the muslin wraps and I found them to be pretty useless. Gabby got out waaaaay too easily. Most of the time I wrap her in a stretch polar-fleece blanket and she only gets out if I have been lazy.

I was also thinking, too... maybe because Coby is a boy, he's a bit stronger? I know one of the girls at my MG had a similar problem with her little boy and she tried for aaaaggges to get him to go to sleep without being wrapped. He would just bust out of anything she wrapped him in.

I wish you could buy some sort of sleeping-bag with the arms not there. That way they would be wrapped and couldn't get out! ;)

Debbie,

If you are a sewer, I have a pattern for a sleeveless sleeping bag - a big like a grobag but with a zipper.

If you like I can trace the pattern and copy the instructions for you.

Sounds interesting, Rachel. I will PM you. I am not a sewer but my Mum is! ;)

for as long as possible. four months? I don't really remember but I kept doing it until DD could wriggle her way out, then I started wrapping her with her arms out.

She loved it though and was the only way she could sleep.

Debbie I've emailed you cause I can't PM!

Hi Debbie, Nick hated being wrapped, but Ryan loved it, he outgrew it at 6months, but every now and again if he's really unsettled i wrap him and he goes straight to sleep

Hi Rachel, I would be interested in that pattern, I will email you if that's ok....

They're little duffas aren't they!

Coby has finally gone without being wrapped just yesterday afternoon and today, I have just been putting a sheet over him.

He is such a hot baby that I can't even put a suit on him, he's nude all the time!! 8-[

My Son was wrapped until he was ten months old (a long time... i know) But he was a HORRIBLE sleeper and it was the only way we could get him to go to sleep. We spent a month gradually lossening the wrap and by eleven months he was sleeping in a sleeping bag and was sleeping through the night!!!!!!

I don't think 10 months is a long time, Bec. Just from what people have said here, I think it's really up to the baby.
Gabby sleeps soooo well when she is wrapped. Half the time I just have to wrap her, put her down and I don't hear a peep out of her for a couple of hours!
The way I figure it, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!
I'll worry about trying to get her to sleep unwrapped once her motor skills are more developed (which will hopefully coincide with the warmer weather).

Aaron knew as soon as he was wrapped that it was time to sleep, i didn't have any problems with him and he was wrapped up until he was about 8 months.
Corey will be 9 weeks tomorrow and he is the same as Aaron, he knows once he is wrapped it's time to sleep. Corey is happy to sleep unwrapped too, whereas Aaron didn't settle very well unless he was wrapped. So i'd say each baby is different, some like to be wrapped and some don't.

Maddy hated being wrapped & so I gave up in week 1, but Indah slaps herself in the face & pulls massive handfuls of her own hair in her sleep & wakes herself up screaming, so in last 3wks I have started wrapping her, she is a hot baby too, so I use some of our Bali sarongs, she doesn't really like it either, but it's better than pulling your own hair & slapping yourself!? ](*,)

My kids all hated being wrapped. Sarah will only sleep if she has her hands behind her head!
However, I have a friend whose 9 month old still needs to be wrapped to sleep!
I guess they are all different.

Tracey, good to "see" you. I'll catch up with you in another thread.

My first DD was wrapped until 10 months. My second DD didn't like being wrapped at all.

My bub was wrapped until she was about 16 months :) I did find that once I gave wrapping the flick she started to settle better at night and sleep thought the night :)

But she did love it while it lasted....

Mary 8-)

Gabby slept her first night unwrapped last night!
I was speaking to one of the girls at my MG, and she was telling me how she managed to get her son to stop being wrapped at night.
She started putting him in a sleeping bag just for his overnight sleep. She said it was easier to do it this way with him because he was more tired and didn't fight sleep as much as he did during the day.
I thought I would give it a go because the few times that I had tried Gabby during the day, she would just play or cry (throwing the dummy out of the cot, kicking up to the end of the cot and hitting her head etc.).
So I gave it a go last night and she went to sleep ok. I still had to get up a few times to put the dummy back in (she's been very dummy-hungry since her top teeth started coming through) and I had to pick her up once because she wouldn't settle (which never happens - must have been the fact that her arms were out).
She woke up for good at 6am when she normally sleeps until 8-9am when wrapped. Still, I figure it's probably going to take a bit of getting used to. I think Neil having a shower woke her up. When she's wrapped, she just goes back to sleep but I guess it's all pretty new to have the arms out and about at that time of morning.
So I'll keep plugging away at it. I'll still wrap her during the day for a couple of weeks and then try to slowly get her used to sleeping without being wrapped. It will be nice not to have to do it anymore but I want her to be ready. She is crawling now but still won't roll from back to front. It's bizarre! If I put her on her back, she won't even try to roll over - she'd rather just crack it until I pick her up, LOL.

We went cold turkey - no wrap and straight from basinette to cot all in one go at 10 weeks! How cruel! But he was fine and has been okay (now 13 weeks) up until this week, but I don't think it's due to not wrapping.

It's interesting to read everyone else's responses, just goes to show that every baby is different.

James also used to spend too much time getting out of the wrap which just got him more and more awake, then as soon as an arm came out ... woo hoo party time! But now that he has them all the time they are not such a novelty!

Pearl :p

I have basically stopped wrapping Regan tightly as she kicks her way out of the wrap anyway. I will put a blanket (or muslin wrap) around her and tuck her in tightly in her bed. But she seems to sleep ok not being wrapped now and she too likes sleeping with her hands up around her face and head.

I have the same problem with Joseph. I'll try to explain this as best I can: try turning the sheet so that the corner is at the top, then fold the corner down a couple of times to make it a straight edge. It makes the sheet wide enough to wrap them properly.

Hope that makes sense.

chantelle is nearly 3 months and likes to be wrapped still
nikki

We had our first sleep-through whilst unwrapped last night! Yay! I was half expecting to be up 3 or 4 times (once again :roll:) but I wasn't woken until 8am!! Woo hoo! Here's hoping it's gonna stay that way!

i agree Debbie the muslin wraps are not good for wrapping especially with my Marnie as she is so strong - even at 3 1/2 weeks! I bought cotton stretchy wraps from Target and they seem to work if i then wrap that with the mualin over the top of it because she gets out of the stretchy one - i hope that makes sense - thank goodness for air conditioning or else she would be extremely hot!

As of today, Gabby is no longer wrapped!
Yesterday when I put her down for one of her naps, she managed to get one arm out so I left it. She was asleep within 2 minutes so that indicated to me that, perhaps, she was ready to sleep unwrapped all the time and not just at night. So, this morning, I put her to bed without wrapping her (just put a blanket over the top of her and tucked it in) and she slept for 2 hours without any hassle. Yay!
It seems the "slow and steady" approach with Gabby really works. Just a little at a time until she gets used to it.
It will be good not to have to worry about bringing a blanket or a sheet with me wherever I go!