Just wondering how many months onwards should a baby stop using yao lan?

Ideally till only 12 months. Personally, I don't feel good giving my baby "Yao Lan" to sleep in, which is also known as baby hammock. Due to the very young age of babies (especially infants), somehow the use of Yao Lan will affect the development of their bone structures and eventually lead to poor posture when they grow up. This is because the hammock is made of cotton fabric with no back and shoulder support for babies when they sleep. When your baby has learnt how to walk or crawl, the risk of falling off from the hammock is very high. Having said that, there are still many advantages to using baby hammock. Babies love the motion of being rocked as if they are nestled in the safety and security of their mothers' womb. This will eventually calm your baby down and may make him sleep better. If you wish to stick to the traditional Yao Lan for your baby's sleep, do consider these precautions: 1) Place a mattress under the baby hammock so that when your baby falls, he will not hit the floor. 2) Always place the baby into the hammock on his back and not the front. 3) Do not put any pillows, blankets or bedding in the hammock to prevent any accidents of suffocation from happening. 4) As your baby grows, ensure that the hammock is able to accommodate his growing height and weight.

I only have a couple of friends who used yao lan. One only used it for her baby's nap in the day time, another used it at night. Both started weaning their babies when they babies are around 8 months old. They have friends whose children are beyond one year old and still using or just started to wean off it. For my friends, the one whose baby slept in a yao lan at night is now co-sleeping with them. The other is sleeping in his cot for his naps.

If the baby gets a little too snug in the yao lan, it is a sign to stop using because it will no longer be comfortable for baby. This usually happens after a year or earlier, depending on how fast your baby grows. My friend's son stopped using his yao lan after 8 months because his apparently his legs were sticking out. He is quite a big baby though but his sister, who is smaller, used the yaolan past a year old.

For my gal, I stopped using when she was 9 mths old. I went back to work when she was 7 mths old and taken care by helper. Stopped when I saw helper sleeping while rocking my child in the yao lan, so I stopped using for safety reasons. For my boy, he totally rejected it when he was 3 mths old. Thought is easier for my mil but my boy didnt like the rocking momentum and prefers cot.