What this is about
Stop swaddling as soon as your baby first tries to roll, for naps as well as nights. That first try can come as early as 2 months, and most babies make it around 3 to 4 months. If you haven't seen one by 4 months, stop anyway, because the first roll can come any night.
A swaddle works by holding the arms still, and that's also why it has to stop. A swaddled baby who rolls onto the tummy can't push up with those arms.
Why parents swaddle
You rock your baby to sleep and lay your baby down in the crib. As the head settles back, both arms fly up, and a moment later your baby is wide awake. That's the startle reflex, and in the first weeks it can undo all that rocking in a second.
It's set off by a sudden noise, a bump or the head dropping back. The arms and legs shoot out, then the arms pull back in, often with a loud cry. It's at its strongest in the first month.
Arms free
A bump or a noise, and the arms fly out. The jerk can wake a newborn.
Swaddled
The arms stay in, so the same bump is less likely to wake your baby.
The snug wrap also feels a little like the womb, and done right, swaddling can calm a newborn and help with sleep. A swaddle can be a thin muslin you fold yourself, or a ready-made zip-up or wrap-style one.
Is swaddling worth it?
It's up to you. Swaddling doesn't lower the risk of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome), and some babies settle better with the hands free from the start. A sleep bag that fits, with the arms out, works from the first night.
A swaddled baby also wakes less easily. That's the whole appeal when you're exhausted, but waking easily is thought to help protect a sleeping baby, so a swaddled baby always goes down on the back.
If you breastfeed, hands going to the mouth are an early sign of hunger in the first weeks, and wrapped arms hide it. You might leave the hands free until feeding is going well.
How long to swaddle a newborn
Until your baby first tries to roll, which for most babies means 3 to 4 months of swaddling, and for some only 2. That's less of a loss than it sounds. The startle reflex starts to fade after about 2 months, so by the time the swaddle comes off, it has mostly done its job.
What to wear under a swaddle
The swaddle counts as a layer, like a light blanket. Use a thin one, and choose the clothes underneath for the room temperature. How to dress a baby for sleep shows what goes under a swaddle in each room. A wrapped baby can't kick off a layer, so feel the chest or the back of the neck now and then.
Sometimes the swaddle stays off altogether:
- In a room at 28°C (82°F) and warmer. A diaper alone is enough.
- In your bed. A wrapped baby can't move away from a duvet or a pillow, so next to you, your baby sleeps with the arms free.
- With a fever. The wrap holds in heat that the body needs to lose.
Hip-healthy swaddling: snug at the chest, loose at the hips
Keep the swaddle secure around the chest without squeezing, so the cloth can't work loose and creep up over the mouth or nose. Below the waist it's the other way round, and tight legs do not make a swaddle more secure.
Not good: Too tight at the legs
The cloth is pulled tight from the waist to the feet, so the legs lie straight and pressed together, like a stiff pencil. Legs wrapped this way can lead to hip problems (hip dysplasia).
No room to bend at the hipsGood: Room for the hips
The cloth is snug across the chest and loose from the waist down. The legs bend up and out at the hips, like a frog's, with room to move.
2–3 fingersslide under the cloth at the chestKnees bend up and out
A zip-up or wrap-style swaddle needs the same room. Its leg pouch stays loose, never tight around the thighs.
If a swaddle works loose in the night, take it off and wrap it again from the start. Never add a second wrap or a clip to pin the cloth down.
Signs your baby is trying to roll
Many parents wait for a full turn onto the tummy before they put the swaddle away. A first try looks much smaller: rocking onto one shoulder, arching sideways, or swinging the legs over to one side. A roll from tummy to back on the play mat counts too.
Does it count as trying to roll?
Good: Wrapped, on the back
Before any try to roll, a thin swaddle is fine for sleep.
Not good: Rocking onto a shoulder: time to stop
The hips tip up, the wrapped legs swing over and one shoulder lifts. That's a first try, even if your baby rocks straight back again.
Good: Arms free in a sleep bag
The next step is a sleep bag with armholes. If your baby rolls now, both arms are there to push up.
How to transition out of the swaddle
If your baby is already trying to roll, skip the gradual steps. From the next sleep, the arms stay out, in a sleep bag or in sleepwear for the room.
If there's no try yet, you can go one step at a time, freeing one arm and then both before the sleep bag. Some parents start with naps, when it's easier to help a baby settle, and others go straight to the sleep bag. Around 2 months, when the first tries can begin, is a good time to start, so the arms are used to being free when the first try comes. You can stop sooner, too, if an arm escapes every night or your baby wakes with the hands up by the face.
1. One arm out
Wrap as usual, with one arm left out above the cloth, for two or three nights.
2. Both arms out
The cloth wraps only the chest, under both arms. Two or three nights more, then the sleep bag.
With the arms out, the cloth still wraps the chest, so it's still a swaddle, and it stops at the first try to roll too. So does a transition sack that holds the arms in or presses on the chest, whatever its label says. Before that first try, arms in or out is up to you: there's no evidence that either one changes the risk of SIDS.
Keep the wrap secure while an arm is out. Loosening the whole swaddle instead leaves cloth free to ride up over the face.
Tell everyone who puts your baby down, from grandparents to the sitter. If daycare starts soon, make the switch at home first, because some daycares don't swaddle at all.
From swaddle to sleep sack
An ordinary sleep bag (a sleep sack, in the US) has armholes, so the arms are free and the body has room to move, and your baby can wear one for as long as you like. It should fit snugly at the neck and shoulders, so your baby can't wriggle down inside. Most come in sizes by weight and in different warmths, measured in TOG. Fitted sleepwear for the room works on its own too.
You don't need a special transition sack or suit. The weeks in between need nothing more than the swaddle with one arm out, then two.
The first nights with free arms
When both arms are suddenly free, the startle reflex can still fling them outward and wake your baby. By now it's weaker than in the first weeks, but expect a few unsettled nights.
Free arms bring an upside, too. Your baby can now find the mouth and suck on fingers or a fist to settle. Those hands can scratch, as well, so keep the nails short.
Keep the rest of bedtime as it was, in the same place and with the same routine. You can still rock or feed your baby to sleep, rest a hand on the chest, or offer the pacifier your baby already uses.
Questions parents ask
Do I have to stop swaddling at 8 weeks?
No. Eight weeks is about 2 months, when the first tries to roll can begin, so it's when to start watching closely. Until that first try, you can keep swaddling.
My baby rolls onto the tummy in the sleep bag. Should I turn my baby back?
Keep laying your baby down on the back for every sleep. Until your baby rolls both ways, from the back to the tummy and back again, turn your baby onto the back when you notice. After that, you don't need to, as long as the crib is clear.
Are weighted swaddles and sleep sacks safe?
No, neither one. The added weight presses on a baby's chest and can make breathing harder.
When do you stop swaddling a preemie?
The same way, at the first try to roll. A preemie often makes it later than the birth date suggests, because milestones follow the corrected age, counted from the due date.
When to stop swaddling
- Put your baby on the back for every sleep.
- Keep the chest snug with room to breathe, and leave hips loose to bend.
- Stop swaddling at the very first sign of rolling onto the side or stomach.
- Never use a weighted swaddle, sleep positioner, or loose blankets.
Keep the mouth, nose, and head uncovered. If the wrap works loose in the night, unwrap it and secure it again from scratch.
