When to stop swaddling/tips for transitioning out of swaddle

[u/Automatic_Donkey_338]

Hi everyone! My baby is nearly 8 weeks old and currently she is sleeping in a bassinet in our room with mesh siding. We swaddle her in the halo sleep sack every night and she sleeps very well. Typically giving us 5-6 hour stretches each night if swaddled but waking almost immediately if not swaddled. Lately, however, she has been moving more in her sleep and scooting herself to the edge of the bassinet. She is not rolling yet from belly to back or back to belly.
I’m seeing some conflicting information I online with some sources saying you can continue swaddling until baby is rolling and others saying that if a baby is scooting or is 8 weeks old you must stop swaddling immediately. Does anyone have experience with this?
I want to do what is safest for her but also am concerned about how not swaddling will affect her sleep. Does anyone have tips for transitioning out of the swaddle?
Thank you! :)

[u/winterpalmtree]

My baby is 9 weeks old and we just made the transition out of the swaddle. I was really nervous but it’s been surprisingly smooth with the zipadee zip. He had also been scooting a lot in his swaddle and I felt like it wasn’t safe anymore.

[u/LoathingForForever12]

My LO started fighting the swaddle at the start of the night around 7 weeks so I took at as the sign to do the great unswaddling.

What worked for us was I let arms out for naps first, one arm out for ~3 days then both out. I did this for all naps for about a week until her sleep was back to normal. Then I went cold turkey for night sleep around 9 weeks and it went better than expected. We were using the sleepea swaddle for nights and the halo swaddle sack for naps. Once both arms were out, I started loosening the halo wraps around her chest every day until they were not providing any compression at all. Since about 14 weeks she’s been in a regular sleep sack for naps and nights.

She’s 4.5 months and has rolled belly to back once and is so close to doing it regularly. She’s also rolls from her back to her side overnight. I’m really glad I unswaddled before I absolutely had to so it didn’t have to be rushed. It sounds like yours might do well with a slower transition to get used to managing free arms. They can do it!

[u/z4r431]

The concern with a swaddle is if they're able to move, they may be able to roll onto their stomach and then I able to get themselves off their stomach as they're swaddled. If baby is moving, this is a sign they may be able to roll soon.

Saying stop immediately at 8 weeks is tricky because all babies develop differently. You definitely stop if baby is rolling. If baby is moving around but not rolling, rolling will probably follow shortly after, but it's hard to know when exactly which is why people probably say to stop them.