Let me start at the beginning. Just after the kids were born, normal swaddling blankets worked just fine for us for a few months. As the kids grew stronger, the swaddling worked less. Then Gretchen found these waffle blankets. They were like normal swaddling blankets but they had a waffle pattern to them and they stretched out more than a normal blanket, allowing me to get a tighter swaddle. Those worked for a while, but eventually the kids were getting out of those, as well.
A friend of ours told us about these Swaddle Me blankets that had velcro tabs to keep the kids arms and legs in place. Awesome! We used those things for quite some time - I can't remember exactly when we stopped using them, probably when the kids were too big for them, or, knowing us, a little while after the kids were too big for them. You can find them at any Babies R Us store, and probably at Target or Wal-Mart as well.
After they grew out of the swaddle blankets we moved up to the SleepSack. These things are like a sleeping bag with arm holes. Some call them a wearable blanket. They can also be found at Babies R Us. Most kids have a hard time getting out of them, until they learn how to work a zipper. Even then, you can just put them on backwards. As an added bonus, we found that as long as the kids were in the SleepSacks, they couldn't get out of their cribs. They would try, but they couldn't get their legs high enough because they were restricted by the width of the SleepSack. They also couldn't take their pajamas off while in the SleepSack. Definitely a plus when dealing with toddlers!
Alas, all good things must come to an end. A few weeks ago, after E busted her foot out of the bottom of her SleepSack, we decided it was time to switch to normal blankets. The first few nights were rough. We would put the trips down to bed, have them lie down, cover them with their blankets and sneak out of the room all quiet like. A few minutes later we would hear "banket, banket, BANKET, BANKET!" over the monitor. E would be standing in her crib holding her blanket. We would have her lie down and cover her up, and all was well. Then K would start saying "Fut, Fut, Fut!" His feet were out of the blanket and he wanted them covered up. We did this a few times a night for the first few nights. Since then it's gotten better. We are now trying the cry-it-out method again. It seems to be working.
Unfortunately, all three have taken all of their clothes off either during a nap or in the morning. Luckily they kept their diapers on. Fortunately, no one has tried to get out of their crib just yet. Knock on wood.
You all did a lot better than us.... Good luck, ours still sometimes scream to be covered up at 3 years old:)
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