This post was written over a decade ago. Since then the evidence about the safety of swings for infant sleep has evolved and I no longer recommend their use for sleep. If you’re struggling to figure out how to help your baby sleep (and I assume you are since you’re googling right?) my book can help. It provides practical and safe approaches that can help your child sleep better today.
I am leaving this post up because many people find this through desperate searching and I want to let them know that swings are not the answer and that help is available.
Babies sleep better in swings. I KNOW this. I’ve gotten probably 50 non-sleeping babies to sleep happily in the swing over the past 4 years. Getting babies to sleep in a swing is my secret super power. (I was hoping my secret super power would be something cool, like shooting laser beams out of my eyes, but unfortunately you don’t get to choose these things).
Medical Research on Baby Swings
I went hunting for academic support for babies sleeping in swings and came up with the proverbial donut hole. Nada. With hundreds of thousands of babies in the US merrily sleeping in baby swings, some stuffy old professor somewhere had to be researching this, right? I mean what the heck are old professors doing with all their free time? (Honestly I married a professor and I have no idea what he does all day.)
If I couldn’t find anything I figured surely somebody who was really plugged into medical research and who knew a lot about babies sleeping in swings would know something. So I tossed out an email to Baby Guru Dr. Harvey Karp fully expecting to get some “thanks for your interest blahbittyblah” auto-response. I mean the guy is a best-selling author who is traveling the country CONSTANTLY and is working on fifteen thousand infant research projects while he sleeps on the plane between speaking engagements.
So imagine my surprise when he ACTUALLY WROTE ME BACK! Check it…
Hi Alexis,
All best,
Harvey
Seriously, how cool is that? I mean it’s not quite “Bono and The Edge having sangria at my house” cool, but it’s right up there. I think this means that Harvey and I are now BFFs.
Once I got over the excitement of my new celebrity bestie I actually looked into the research he had sent. And it stinks. Some of it is ancient (even older than I am). The most compelling research suggests that infants actually sleep better on waterbeds. Which would be useful if a) anybody actually used waterbeds anymore and b) if the AAP hadn’t outlawed infants on waterbeds because it’s a huge SIDS hazard. In fact you can skip reading these ancient and questionably useful research papers and skip to the chase with this one quote:
“Infants assigned to any of the waterbed groups slept significantly more and better, had significantly fewer unsmooth movements, state changes, and transitional states, and were significantly less irritable”
So if we take out scary/creepy waterbed and insert “baby swing” that is as close as you’re going to get to medical evidence that babies sleep better in swings.
So what do we really know?
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Baby Swings Help Babies Sleep
Dr. Karp knows this. My years of experience support this. They help babies sleep better and give you a really gentle transition path to get your little one into their crib without crying.
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The NIH Needs to Fund More Infant Swing/Motion Research
Seriously guys let’s get on this. You’ve done some amazing work with kids and sleep studies. But it’s time to beef up the infant research budget. Let’s give some fusty old professor something to do.
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Dr. Karp Totally Thinks I’m Awesome
He didn’t actually say so in his email but obviously he meant to and was simply just too busy that day to mention my awesomeness.
{photo credit: Lisa Stout}
This isn’t about babies, but it might be useful evidence: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/06/20/137300311/why-hammocks-make-sleep-easier-deeper
This is MOST EXCELLENT. Thanks SOOOO much for sharing!
(PS. See? I KNEW I was right! 😉
My 18 month old took his daily nap in a hammock throughout our Playa del Carmen vacay last year. 5 minutes of swinging and he was out. Probably brought back memories since his first 6 months were spent sleeping in his Fisher Price cradle swing.
Man I wish I were napping in a hammock in Playa del Carmen too. Lucky kid 😉
my 7 month old still wakes up at night every 2 -3 hours and at least 3 times of feeding at night. He won’t sleep back without feeding. I want to sleep so bad. I wonder where can I find a hammock that is safe for my baby. I wonder how can I let my baby sleep thru the noght? Does a hammock or a swing works? He moves a lot! Pleas help!
I would go with a swing vs. a hammock. Check this out:
http://www.troublesometots.com/the-ultimate-baby-swing-sleep-guide-for-swing-hating-babies/
I tried the baby jello cheeks jiggle and also putting baby in the swing when very asleep. Neither have worked. I should mention our baby is colicky-very much so, and also our pediatrician had said she is the top 1% of fussy/high maintenance babies. I would give anything to be able to put her down for naps. She only sleeps on me and mostly not if I lay down so it’s not as though I can also nap.
She is almost ten weeks old. We co-sleep because we have to. This looks like me on the couch and her dad with her on the bed as he can sleep however without much difficulty. My back hurts, we are all tired and we bought the fisher price snuggabunny swing with great hopes it would work. It isn’t. Please help
I’m so sorry you’re having such a rough go:( Really my best strategy for swing sleep is summed up here:
http://www.troublesometots.com/the-ultimate-baby-swing-sleep-guide-for-swing-hating-babies/
Add tight swaddle, loud white noise, and a paci (if she’ll take it). If it doesn’t work today, try again tomorrow. The remarkable thing about newborns is that what doesn’t work one day will work the next. And I do think the swing is your best bet to get off the couch and back in your own bed.
Best of luck with things!
Hi there,
I have a fisher price aquarium take along swing. It doesn’t really recline flat. My little one is only 3weeks old (11lb 2oz though!) I was just wondering if it is ok for his little back and neck etc for him to sleep in the swing since it doesn’t recline. I know that they say that a newborn shouldn’t sleep in their car seat for longer an 2 hours as it is bad for their spine.
Thanks
Rosie
I’m not a huge fan of travel swings for that reason. If you’re thinking of using the swing for more than the occasional nap then I would invest the ~$100 in a full sized Fisher Price swing (Graco is OK too, I just find the Fisher Price swings to be cheaper and the motors are more reliable). If your travel swing is just for the occasional nap at Grandma’s house or whatever, it’s probably fine.
You are awsome Alexis 🙂
Ditto. You are awesome. This may be my favorite post on this site.
How long can he stay in the swing? My baby sleeps great in the swing, it is motionless now, but how long can this go on. I want to move him to the crib but he won’t have it. Do I have to do CIO now that we want him in the crib? I hate that because he’s such a sweetie and does so well in the swing. So what do I do?
I’d like to know this too. My daughter is 7 weeks old and will currently only sleep at home in her swing. Naps, fine but I’m concerned about nights. We got a 4hr stretch of sleep and 3 hrs this morning. Do I just let her sleep in the swing at nights for now or wait 20-30 mins until she hits deep sleep and try and move her? Do I test it by turning off the motion and see if she stays asleep first?
I recently got a Fisher-price swing with high hopes, but so far I am having the same problem with my five week old. At night, he can sleep three hours and wake only to be “dream-fed” and head right back to sleep. Naps, however, are a different story (and by naps I mean all sleeping from 9 am to 1 am. I rock and sometimes notes until drowsy and then swaddle and turn on white noise. Then I pit him on the swing and jiggle for three minutes. Then there is usually some “pick up put down” and pacifier issues until he is really asleep. Then, anywhere from three to twenty minutes later, we repeat until I can’t do it anymore. I am not keeping him up longer than 60 or 70 minutes between nap attempts ( 45 to nurse, a few for play). What am I missing?? Oh, the room is also darkened with black out curtains.
Hey, Alexis!! My six month old baby girl sleeps great in her swing!!! Some nights we can move her to the crib and she sleeps the night in it… other nights she will wake up after a couple hours…. most naps are in the swing but from time to time we have had a 45 minute to an hour nap in her swing. We swaddle (but she is in a convertible swaddler and has arms free) We also use white noise, have a great routine and scheduled bedtime…. just currently we have introduced a little blanket/bunny thing she sleeps with. … im hopin this is just an extra thing to help her eventually stay in the crib. She hasnt grown too long for he crib but i am afraid she will…. she sleeps so good in it no issues with reflux she just really sleeps so well eithout needing to be soothed to sleep… im concerned about transitioning her. Do you have suggestions? When she was two weeks, she had some tummy issues that we got under control but she slept on us in the rocker ONLY for like two weeks… one night she just wouldn’t settle so out of frustration i put her in the swing to get a few minutes…. she fell asleep no fuss in it and its been a thing ever since. Id REALLY appreciate any help…
Have you seen post below on weaning off the swing? I think (?) it answers all your questions? Start with nights first and if you want her sleeping in the crib ideally she starts the night IN the crib (not switching halfway). Check the post (and comments) for more suggestions 🙂
Alexis, I just had to write and thank you! I was at a loss for what to do to get my 3.5 month old (who was mostly sleeping through the night at 2 months and then abruptly STOPPED at almost 3 months and NEEDED to be rocked to sleep at 2am, 3am, 4am, 5am, and 6am) to sleep again! We were all desperate for sleep in the house. Yesterday, our Fisher Price swing FINALLY arrived- Walmart doesn’t understand how urgently these packages need to be delivered, so we waited 4 days- and my baby boy fussed for 2 minutes, then fell asleep in it with arms swaddled, and slept for 8 hours straight! I did have to wake up before the 4 hour swing timer made it turn off and restart it again, but that was NO big deal compared to being up every hour rocking this poor motion-loving baby. THANK you a million times! I’m very hopeful this will work and we are going to follow the plan for weaning him off of the swing as well, going as he shows signs of being ready. I believe you have a book published with baby sleep advice? Precious little sleep? Where can I buy it and start recommending that my mom friends buy it too?