Please tell me about your swaddling technique

[Addie]

We have a four-month-old that has generally been a pretty good sleeper. We've been swaddling him since about two months, and he really seems to do better with the swaddle. At first we did a traditional swaddle with a receiving blanket, but he started breaking out of that. Then we got the miracle blanket, but he got too big for it (even with leaving his legs out - it just doesn't fit around him well). Moved onto the big muslin swaddling blankets, using the "double swaddle" that has been discussed here, then bundling him in a sleep sack. That worked for a good while, but no longer! Yesterday I found him unswaddled to the waist, with the zipper on the sleep sack busted open from the top. Baby Houdini.

Anyway. He seems to still enjoy getting swaddled, and it does seem to help him sleep. So, how do you swaddle your bigger, stronger baby?

[Maluhia]

a larger piece of tshirt like fabric from the fabric store

[Hannah'sMommy]

The swaddle me swaddle with velcro comes in a large size. I don't know how big your LO is, but that one worked really well for us, we could get it pretty tight for our DD and she didn't usually break out of it.

[hakeber]

With ds when he got too big for the recieving blankets we used a twin flat sheet cut in half and then secured with a scarf wrapped around his arms from shoulder to wrist and tied TIGHT. This kept all the loose ends tucked in tight.

With dd (who is only 2.5 months) we use two pillow cases split in half and scarf. The first pillow case gets laid out with the long edge perpendicular to her shoulders and we do the double swaddle. Then we lay her on the corner of the other one with the short edge at 45 degree angle to her left shoulder and the top corner folded down. Then we wrap that in traditional swaddle style and tuck the tail end into the front fold. Then we tie that with a scarf, but she is getting too long for the pillow cases now and she kicks her feet free in the night which makes her chilly and causes her to wake up, so I am going to cut up some old sheets soon as those are longer and should carry us through the next few months anyway.

I have used t-shirt fabric but I find it TOO stretchy and allows for too much wiggle room allowing the arms to get free too easily. The woven cotton of bed sheets is the perfect amount of give, just enough to stretch and wrap tightly, but not too much give so that the baby can escape after a night of squirming.

The morning smiles that result are priceless and that first post-swaddle stretch...awesome.

[Addie]

Thanks for your replies!

Originally Posted by Hannah'sMommy

The swaddle me swaddle with velcro comes in a large size. I don't know how big your LO is, but that one worked really well for us, we could get it pretty tight for our DD and she didn't usually break out of it.

I did see that... the large goes up to 22 lbs., and DS is already 19 lbs. , so it didn't seem like a worthwhile investment for us.

Originally Posted by hakeber

With ds when he got too big for the recieving blankets we used a twin flat sheet cut in half and then secured with a scarf wrapped around his arms from shoulder to wrist and tied TIGHT. This kept all the loose ends tucked in tight.

With dd (who is only 2.5 months) we use two pillow cases split in half and scarf. The first pillow case gets laid out with the long edge perpendicular to her shoulders and we do the double swaddle. Then we lay her on the corner of the other one with the short edge at 45 degree angle to her left shoulder and the top corner folded down. Then we wrap that in traditional swaddle style and tuck the tail end into the front fold. Then we tie that with a scarf, but she is getting too long for the pillow cases now and she kicks her feet free in the night which makes her chilly and causes her to wake up, so I am going to cut up some old sheets soon as those are longer and should carry us through the next few months anyway.

Yes - I think our problem is that we're missing the scarf component. I thought the sleep sack would serve the same purpose, but it's not tight enough. I'm having a hard time picturing it, though... what kind of scarf? Like a winter scarf, or more like a pashima? And where do you tie it? DS is rolling over during the day but has yet to do so in bed, but I'd hate for him to roll over on a big knot!

Originally Posted by hakeber

The morning smiles that result are priceless and that first post-swaddle stretch...awesome.

I love the post-swaddle stretch... DH calls it "arms to the sky"!

[hakeber]

Originally Posted by Addie

Yes - I think our problem is that we're missing the scarf component. I thought the sleep sack would serve the same purpose, but it's not tight enough. I'm having a hard time picturing it, though... what kind of scarf? Like a winter scarf, or more like a pashima? And where do you tie it? DS is rolling over during the day but has yet to do so in bed, but I'd hate for him to roll over on a big knot!

More like a head scarf (basically a square of lightweight fabric about 22" x 22"), folded diagonally into a triangle and then I fold the tip of the triangle down to make a long trapezoid, and lay the swaddled baby in the middle, with the top of the trapezoid at just an inche below her shoulders and the bottom at just above her wrists, and then tie it in a regular square knot across her chest and tuck the ends back in.

I have also used rectangular scarves that are more like those loosely woven cotton scarves that are meant more for fashion than warmth. Like these: http://www.google.com/products?q=gua...ed=0CBUQzAMwAg

Then there is no need for folding, just tie ands tuck in the ends.

ETA: I use quite low thread count sheets for the swaddling. I think this allows for better stretch quality. So really very cheap old sheets/pillow cases. I think my higher thread count sheets would probably be too slippery and come undone easily.

[JuliMummy]

Hi Addie,
I've just started swaddling our nearly 8-month-old again out of desperation for some sleep and I had the same problem as you. She wriggled out of the normal newborn swaddle. I then got a SwaddleMe, which I think someone else mentioned as well. But that didn't work for us either. She just kicked and pulled down the fabric with her feet until the whole thing slipped off her shoulders, no matter how tightly I did it up. I then tried the Woombie (www.thewoombie.com) which is just fantastic. She can't get out of it, she can still move her arms in it (which I like - I was a bit uncomfortable with the idea of her arms being completely immobilised all night) and best of all she sleeps a lot better now. I would definitely recommend the woombie for your little Houdini.
All the best,
Juli

[bumblecat]

Here's what I do: just a regular swaddle blanket, not stretchy. I lay her on it and wrap it around each arm individually with the ends behind her back. Her weight keeps them under her. I don't do it super tight, but enough so she can't pull them out or get her hands near her face. Then I use a separate blanket for warmth. Her legs are free this way and she does sometimes kick but it doesn't wake her up and she doesn't kick high enough for her back to come up off the blanket ends. Works great and nothing new to buy!

[cristeen]

I just use an A&A muslin swaddling blanket for my 6 mo. I don't like him to sleep in a swaddle since he can roll, so it only has to hold him until he's asleep and then I free his arms.

[JustSimplicity]

I just got a Woombie based on the recs here and LOVE it! It feels so much safer than blankets. We were double swaddling and DS sleeps on a wedge. Often I would come in and find him shifted down the wedge with the blankets inching up near his face. Also he hated swaddling but we put him in the Woombie tonight and he seemed to even calm down a bit instead of getting angry like he normally does.

[EarthMamaToBe]

We adore the woombie! Nothing could be easier!