If wrapping is a sleep cue, how long do you do it for?

[Teeki]

DD is at the point now where if she's drowsy, we can put her down and wrap her, and she'll usually close her eyes and go to sleep. That doesn't happen if she's not wrapped, so I'm thinking it's become a bit of a sleep cue for her. The only problem is, she's a wriggler and very strong. So no matter how tight I think I've wrapped her, at night she manages to get her hands out and wakes herself by punching herself in the face.

So while it's good that she has a sleep cue that works, I'm thinking as she gets older, stronger and wrigglier, I'm not going to be able to keep her wrapped. Will she grow out of punching herself in the face? Do you keep wrapping them til they're toddlers?

TIA

[FabFiona]

I stopped wrapping DS1 when he could roll onto his belly. I didn't want him wrapped and not have his hands free to be able to push his face up off the mattress.

DS2 is very similar to your daughter. I stopped wrapping him at 3 weeks as he would spend more time fighting it than sleeping. He's only a few weeks older than your daughter actually. He sleeps in a very thick sleeping bag with arms so it's not easy for him to get his hands to his face anyway.

I assume wrapping is not the only sleep cue? Dark room, cot, feed prior and dummy are our cues. When we stopped wrapping the sleeping bag just became a new cue, as well as the other stuff that we didn't change.

[Teeki]

Thanks Fiona At night, the dark room is definitely a sleep cue, and she has a feed just before all of her sleeps so that's one too. Good point about the rolling, I hadn't even considered that.

We do have a sleeping bag with sleeves, and her little pyjama suits have parts we can put over her hands, but she can still get to her face so I have to wrap her with her hands down. I'm wondering if it'll get better when she grows out of the startle reflex? Maybe that's what's making her arms come up?

[sloane]

i'm pretty sure they do recommend to stop wrapping when they can roll but i think once the startle reflex goes, things will be better with regards to waking herself up with a punch to the face! as they get older there are lots of different sleep cues that you can use (bath time, books etc) so when one goes, it can be replaced with another (if needed)

[FabFiona]

With my DS1 we stopped wrapping at around 4 months. He was fine... Well, he was a crap sleeper before that and unwrapping him didn't change it!!!

It would definitely be the startle reflex but also probably exploring her environment. Her face is so exciting!

You'll know when she's ready to be unwrapped. At the moment if it's working then go with it. Some people do wrap for extended periods. You just need to work out what works for you and your daughter and go with the flow. When you do make the change it probably won't be that bad. I find I get anxious about changes and then my children surprise me by being totally fine.

[Heaven]

Yeah, the startle reflex goes at around 12 weeks and so they say to wrap them until then so they don't wake themselves up. My DDs always got their arms out too though. I wrapped DD1 until 6 months and DD2 is still wrapped. Mainly bc she doesn't self-settle so it's way easier to put her down when she's asleep if she's wrapped otherwise she flings her arms around when she feels me trying to lower her into the cot and wakes up.

[luna moth]

I wrapped until just after 5 months for day sleeps, and at night we're still doing it. Not so much because she needs it, but to keep her hands warm and to keep Bambi (the beloved bamboo blanket) nice and close.

[lissy]

Hey Kaytee - as far as wrapping as a sleep cue, I wrap DS but I wait till he's asleep to do it.

At night before his first sleep I sit on the couch with just a lamp on & feed him with a bunny rug just laying over him & shielding his face. He feeds sleepily, I burp him with him snuggled into the bunny, then when he's really asleep I'll lay his bunny out & wrap him & then put him down for the night in his basinette.

Not sure if this helps or not. This works for me as I know DS will go down for a good sleep if I can move him to wrap him. If he wakes up, he wouldn't have stayed down anyway.

[Asparagus and Lemons]

We were wrapping Harlee till she was maybe 5 months old, thats when the weather started getting warmer and we just wrapped her in a light sheet, she would easily get out of it so eventually we just stopped re-wrapping her and she got used to it.
We never noticed her rolling while she was wrapped though, it was just too hard for her.
Hope you figure it out soon

[BlackCat]

We wrapped until we were told to stop by the mchn when he started to roll. That was our first mistake. When we reintroduced it at 12 months old our sleep issues vastly decreased just by changing that one thing back. He eventually grew out of the need to be wrapped by 18 months to 2 years old. We used a sheet. We were told by the sleep school (one of the few bits of advice we could take from there) that there was no reason to stop wrapping if we didnt want to. And DS didnt want to.

[Liz]

Wrap til it doesn't work any more For my ds that was 7/8 mths, for dd it was 15 mths. Never had a problem with rolling. They outgrow it eventually

[Taurean]

It was a sleep cue for DD too but she kept escaping her wraps (even the proper swaddles!!) so we just bit the bullet and put her in a sleeping bag. She was already sleeping through and it continued, she didn't miss a beat She was only 10 weeks old.

I think kids surprise us sometimes and cope a lot better with change than how we expect them to. I've worried about sleep cues and habits with DD but have found she often copes well with change and the worst case scenario is things can be a bit erratic for a few days or nights until we get over the hurdle.

[Just Me]

I have wrapped all my kids until they are around 9 months old. They do roll in their wraps but by that time I wrap them losely and they can get their arms out. I also stop using the wrap with their arms by their sides around 2 months old and I angel wrap them using a cot sheet from that point.

My kids have all loved the comfort of wrapping and it does help.

I'll find you a link for angel wrapping because it is better for older babies - they can get their hands to their mouths to suck and they can move but it still stops the startle reflex in younger babies and gives them the security they need in older babies.

[*EJ*]

DS1 was pretty easy to get out of the wrap at an early age and in a sleeping bag from 6ish months but DS2 was a little trickier. I warpped with a cot sheet though so i could really tuck and wrap him quite well. Rolling was never an issue for us and DS2 was wrapped until after 12months. It took a little bit to get him out of it but he loved it and he slept well. DD is the same, wrapped nice and tight. She was in a sleeping bag but nights were really unsettled, since wrapping with the sheet again we've had a lot better quality sleeps from her.

[Teeki]

Thanks heaps everyone Just Me - thanks for the link! I'll give that a go tonight and hopefully she won't escape. Makes sense just from the pics that she shouldn't be able to get her hands up too high anyway.

We did stop wrapping and doing just a sleeping bag for a while because she seemed to be straining to get her arms out, but that resulted in her waking every 1-2 hours. Turns out she was straining because of wind. So she does really well so far with her arms by her side, but hopefully the angel wrapping works.

So I guess as long as it's working and she's liking it, we'll do different variations of wrapping

[MummaSue]

I wrapped DD for all sleeps until she was 7.5 months old. At 16 months, there are times when I wish we were still doing it as she will. not. lie. still. That's a whole other post

[Shanti]

I think it depends on the individual, like everything!

DD1 - she was wrapped until 11 weeks when she kept getting out of every wrap, even those 'miracle blanket' one's!! Yep, she got out of it.... you name it! She was so determined. Hated being wrapped.

DD2 - she likes being wrapped and yep, it's a sleep cue for her, just like the sling is I will keep doing it as long as it is working.... I have noticed her startle reflex isn't as strong as DD1's was though so her waking herself if she gets out of the wrap, has never been a prob

[*EJ*]

I'm pretty sure the wrap i do is the angel wrap and there is no way DD can get her arms out, they loosen up throughout the night but she is still pretty tightly wrapped around her tummy and legs which i think can be just as comforting/reassuring for them.