You know it's coming. If you've chosen to swaddle your baby for optimal comfort, the time will eventually come to transition out of it. There are two options here: fast or slow. 

Fast transition: You'll need to ditch the swaddle when your baby starts to show signs of rolling (usually between 2 - 4 months old) or if they're regularly breaking free — that loose blanket can create an unsafe sleep condition, increasing suffocation risk. At that point, it's time for an immediate transition: bye-bye baby burrito, hello sleep sack.

Slow transition: In other cases, you can use a more gradual approach. This is a good choice for babies who haven't shown signs of rolling but are approaching 4 months of age and/or have been fighting the swaddle. Start by leaving one or both arms out at bedtime. You can then re-swaddle fully after the first night waking. Once your baby has had 2 - 3 nights to adjust, you can move on to arms out for the entire night, then for naps, and then finally swap the swaddle for the sleep sack. 

Either way, expect some adjustment time. Whether you make a quick change or a slower one, we've found it's common for babies to initially wake more once their arms are no longer confined in the swaddle. With some time, they'll adjust to falling asleep in this new way.