5 Golden Rules to Follow When Helping Your Baby Transition from Swaddle to Sleep Sack

5 Golden Rules to Follow When Helping Your Baby Transition from Swaddle to Sleep Sack

Swaddling works well for many parents as a way to keep their babies warm and cozy. It has also been proven to be a great way to settle a fussy baby and help them get to sleep. 

As well as replicating the feeling of being in the womb, it can curb the effects of your little one’s Moro reflex  which can sometimes cause them to startle awake in response to small movements or sounds. 

While this is all great, the truth is the swaddle has a very short life span. After merely 2-3 months, it starts to become unhealthy for the baby and must be traded for another sleeping aid, or simply removed completely in what some parents call the cold turkey swaddle drop. 

In this blog, we’ll explore 5 golden rules when it comes to helping your baby transition from the swaddle to a sleep sack or other type of baby garment. 

Why is the transition necessary?

Ultimately, swaddling should only be introduced when your baby is a newborn until they show signs of significant development (increased strength in the legs, hips and arms)

Essentially, you should stop swaddling your baby when they start to roll over which will happen between two and four months. However, the official recommendation is that swaddling should stop at the age of 2 months (8 weeks), according to organisations like the American Academy for Paediatrics.

If you fail to do this, your baby might end up rolling themselves onto their tummies while wrapped up in the swaddle and unable to move, which is a serious health risk and cause of SIDS.

Any future item of clothing you choose should give them free use of their arms and hands so they can keep building their mobility and strength without facing any risk of suffocation. 

You should stop swaddling your baby when they start to roll over which should be between two and four months.

Issues faced when swaddle transitioning

The biggest issue parents face when they start swaddle transitioning is their babies suddenly stop sleeping well. With such a big change like this, it can be possible for some kids to be completely derailed from their usual sleeping pattern and crying incessantly through the night. 

While this can be hard in the short-term, the good news is that your little one is at a great age for you to implement healthy and sustainable sleeping practices that will set them up well for when they’re older.

During this period, we’d advise you to stick to a plan and look forward to more reliable sleep in the months and years to come. While being able to swaddle your baby to sleep is a dream, it’s one that will always need to come to an end in exchange for new approaches to baby sleep that will create long-lasting sleeping skills and routines. 

Rule 1 - get the timing right

Some believe that swaddling should stop when a baby has started to show clear signs of being able to roll over. This will come from increased mobility and strength in the hips and legs as well as overall maturity of other muscles which allow for increased movement. 

Other signs to look out for are your baby trying to kick off their blanket or generally struggling to get free of the swaddle wrap. 

As this can happen as late as 4 months, it is believed that swaddling can be continued until this point. However, for those who are more cautious and want to adhere to recommendations by the AAP and CDC, swaddling should stop at 2 months no matter what. 

This is the most reliable way to avoid the dangers of suffocation or strangulation that might come from a swaddled baby who has rolled over onto their front.

As such, we believe it’s best to line up your transitioning method from just before the 8 weeks mark and implement it promptly, whether that’s a new baby garment made to help your little settle or removing the swaddle completely and seeing how your baby gets on sleeping in just a onesie. 

Rule 2 - choose your approach to swaddle transitioning

There are a few different approaches parents can take to swaddle transitioning. The option you choose might depend on a few things, including your broader attitude to parenting. 

1. Partial swaddling

Simply removing one or both arms from the swaddle can be a way to get started with the transition. This means you’re not implementing too many changes for your child but giving them much greater freedom of movement. 

Having the arms free will significantly lower the risk that they become stuck on their tummies, but you must still monitor your child carefully because they won’t have freedom in the leg area.

If your baby takes this well, you can then consider removing the swaddle completely or move them towards swaddle transition products like the sleep sack. 

2. Cold turkey

Some parents find that using the cold turkey approach is the best way to move their children towards greater sleep independence and increased mobility. While this does work for many, it’s also true that some children will struggle with such a drastic change.  

By removing the blanket or swaddle product entirely, they may feel a bit “naked” and bare, which, as you might have guessed, can lead to an inability to sleep well. 

Stick with this long enough and it might work out eventually, however, if your baby shows signs that they’re not coping well, it’s always possible to introduce a swaddle transition product. 

3. Swaddle transition products

One of the most straightforward and common ways to tackle this period of development is to transition from swaddle to sleep sack. All you need to do is choose your preferred clothing item and use it instead of the swaddle after 2 months.

Not every product is going to work for your child so it’s worth considering the different design elements of your sleep sack. 

One of the most straightforward and common ways to tackle this period of development is to transition from swaddle to sleep sack. 

Rule 3 - gather the essential items

If you want to transition from swaddle to sleep sack, you will obviously need to find the right sleep sack in advance. And when there are hundreds of different options on the market, it’s best to start looking sooner rather than later. Types, fits, accessories and even fabrics can differ greatly between brands. 

Some will allow the babies arms to be completely free while others will encase them in a kind of wearable sleeping bag. 

The most important things to look for are:

Increased mobility and freedom of the arms

No restriction of the hip area to allow for growth and development

A fit that is still cozy and warm 

Want to Know What Babies Should Wear at Different Ages?

Rule 4 - remove barriers to good sleep

Dark and quiet is the best environment for your baby. You might think that some kind of night-light or mobile phone will help soothe them, but they can actually distract your baby to the point that sleep will be unachievable. 

It’s important to do this anyway, but during the transition period, make sure you pay extra attention to removing any barriers that might exist to good baby sleep. This includes turning off any TVs or electronic devices in the room and any nearby rooms, as well as using dark (or blackout) curtains to completely remove any additional lighting from outside. 

If there is too much background noise coming from the street, you can consider adding some white noise to the mix so that these noises become diffused or masked by a more soothing sound. 

Dark and quiet is the best environment for your baby. 

Don’t pick your baby up straight away

 Give your swaddle transition method a chance to work before you step in and soothe your baby. They may feel a little unsettled by a switch from swaddle to sleep sack, for example, but with some time, they may adjust nicely to this new clothing option and fall asleep just as well as they did in the swaddle. 

Don’t just rely on the sleep sack

The right swaddle transition product can do wonders, but you can’t solely rely on it to help your baby sleep. If they are overtired, overstimulated, hungry or unable to relax properly for any other reasons, it’s obvious that your new sleep sack isn’t going to be that much help. 

When approaching baby sleep, make sure you approach it holistically by creating a checklist of all the things your little one needs before they’re set up for a good night’s rest. 

Rule 5 - create a bedtime routine and stick to it

With no consistent routine, children will have trouble settling down for bed and sleep quality may suffer. Whether it’s for daytime naps or nighttime sleep, children will benefit from following a series of steps which might include a bath, massage, cuddles, stories, or a lullaby sung by a parent.

When your child is going through a change from the swaddle to the sleep sack, having a strong routine in place can really help. It’s also just as important for new parents who are starting to develop their own routines and cycles in relation to their newborns. Having a fixed set of activities can help to synchronise the whole house so that everyone is working towards the same goal of better sleep. 

How to help your baby transition from swaddle to sleep sack

Transiting is a process that might take time. If your baby is struggling without the swaddle, it might be necessary to keep them partially swaddled for certain nap slots to ease them into things if your baby has not started rolling over yet. 

Equally, getting this process right might simply take patience. A few nights of patchy sleep might be the price you pay for your baby eventually taking to their new sleep sack. 

If your baby is struggling with the switch, experimenting with different soothing methods can really help. Some babies transition better when there’s soothing music or white noise in the background during nap time or bedtime.

How To Transition Baby Out Of The Swaddle

Swaddles are an amazing tool that helps calm your baby, helps them sleep well, and helps them sleep longer.  The reason that we have swaddles is because if you’ve ever seen your newborn sleeping, they have something where it looks like they’re jumping when they’re sleeping called the Moro reflex, or startle reflex.

This is normal – their bodies have not fully developed, they’re still figuring out how they can be in control and how they can move. They are very jumpy when they sleep!!

Part of this reason, too, is yes, they have been very much confined for nine months, and now they are just loose out in the wild world, so being in the swaddle actually helps them feel more safe and secure. 

Now, you’re not going to find a lot of research on newborns or babies in the sleep world because not a lot of parents raise their hand and willingly say, “Yes, please do tests on my baby to keep them awake for a long time!” You can definitely find research, but it’s very limited. 

However, what I want to encourage you with is the best thing to do is to look at your own baby and determine what is best suited for them. 

So let’s talk about the swaddles.

Swaddles are not straitjackets. You may see comments and messages from people talking about how that just looks so horrible and how dare you confine your baby, but think about it like this. 

They just spent nine months all safe and secured and bundled up in the womb, and now they’re out in the open. 

That swaddle reminds them of that safe and secure environment. And it helps them sleep longer. 

The reason we recommend the use of swaddles is to keep babies feeling safe, secure and snug because it softens that Moro reflex and helps baby sleep longer. That’s the point and purpose of the swaddle. 

SIGNS IT’S TIME TO TRANSITION:

1. Are they rolling?

If your newborn is rolling from belly to back or back to belly, you need to get them out of the swaddle. 

If they’re rolling, or they’re in their bassinet or crib and they’re showing signs they want to roll, it is not safe for your newborn to be in their swaddle because they won’t be able to get back over. This will cause frustration, and of course, we don’t want their face down in the mattress.

So if they are starting to show you signs or they are rolling, please go ahead and transition them out.

2. How old is your baby?

If your baby is 8-11 weeks, look for those rolling signs and keep their age in mind. If they’re right at that 11-12 week mark, it’s time to transition.

3. Are they starting to use their hands to self-soothe?

If they’re starting to suck on their wrist, hand, thumb or whatever they can find on their hand to suck on, and they start to close their eyes and you can tell they’re soothing themselves to sleep, that’s a great sign that they are ready to use their hands. Which is awesome! They can have a little bit more control over their soothing.

4. Is it just not working?

If they are busting out of that swaddle and you have tried all kinds of different ones and it’s just not working, then let’s save everybody the middle of the night frustration and just go ahead and get them out of the swaddle. Let’s get them out and be hands free. 

PLAN TO TRANSITION

Overall, the big picture here is that it should take no more than one week to go from swaddled to arms out. 

Now, we’re not just going from swaddle to absolutely nothing. Our end goal here is a sleep sack. 

The reason I’m suggesting a sleep sack is because still at this age, they cannot have blankets or any loose items in their crib, so they might get chilly, but they cannot have a blanket until after 12 months old. 

So a sleep sack, which is a wearable blanket, is a great option to keep them comfortable and it still has that security for their legs! 

Personally, I only used sleep sacks until 6-8 months and then I was just done buying them. You don’t need to have sleep sacks forever, but I do recommend sleep sacks sometimes for kids all the way up to the toddler years. 

If you are specifically looking for brands that I recommend, check out my Amazon shop here!

THE SWADDLE TRANSITION (WITHIN 1 WEEK)

1. The first thing to do is commit to this and let everybody in your household know (whoever is helping you with your baby sleep) that we are making this transition. 

The worst thing you could do is just have it in your mind that this is your plan, and then don’t tell anybody, but then get really upset in the middle of the night when you see your baby have their arms in the swaddle again.

2. Start this at nighttime. I always recommend starting at night for any sleep change. The reason is because naps, especially for newborns, can be really tricky and I just don’t want to throw any more variables in there.

3. Put the baby in their swaddle and leave one of their arms out of the swaddle during the bedtime routine. Complete your bedtime routine (you’re likely still doing the Pick Up/Put Down method that I teach inside my sleep course at this age) and then you’re going to say goodnight and leave the room.

4. Throughout the night when they wake up and it’s time for a feed, you’re going to switch the arms. You’re alternating the arms, which one is in and which one is out, every single time they have a night waking.

5. Next nap, alternate again and keep doing this for about 3-4 days max!! Some babies take just one or two days. You are the parent, you are the caregiver, so you can definitely determine how this is going. But please use your judgment with that – what we’re aiming for is your baby is transitioned with BOTH of their arms out within a week.

6. On Day 5, 6, or 7, when both of their arms are out, go ahead and put them into a sleep sack.

IF YOU HAVE A 3-4+ MONTH BABY 

If you have a 3-month old or a 4-month old, you can do this transition!! You just might want to spend like 1 day doing the one arm in, one arm out. 

If you have a 5-month old baby or older, I would highly recommend cold turkey getting out of the swaddle. 

So here’s why I recommend that for our older babies: they need to have their arms out!! A 5-, 6-, 7-, 8-month old is fully capable of rolling.  For safety reasons, they need to get out of the swaddle. And the longer they stay in the swaddle, the harder it will be for them to get rid of their startle reflex!! They have to be free. 

They will have night wakings. They will have disrupted sleep, but they have to learn how to work through these things. We can’t just always rescue them at every single moment of the day. 

Anytime your kid goes through changes, there will be disruptions in their sleep. And this actually happens even with my girls who are in elementary school. When they have a big day, when something is really big, they’re going through something developmentally, they do have some stirrings in the night – that is normal.

RECAP

When you are transitioning out of the swaddle, you are taking one week, at most, to get out of the swaddle. What you’ll do is transition your baby’s arms from one arm in/one arm out and alternate that for about 3-4 days. And then they’re out completely and in a sleep sack. 

Now know that your baby is free and safe to roll and move because they are hands free. And they have the ability to use their arms and their limbs to help them get around in their crib or self-soothe. Pretty cool. 

Bonus tip! Now that your baby can roll, they need some more space – it’s a good time to go ahead and get them out of the bassinet and into the crib. 

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