Who's still swaddling?

[jsh7809]

Little girl can't seem to make her mind up about whether she wants to be swaddled or not! 12.5 weeks... We don't swaddle to nap (haven't for the last week or so), or in the mornings after her initial wakeup. But I tried to put her down unswaddled the past few nights and she's obviously trying to fall asleep but can't control her legs. It's pretty hilarious, but the problem is I start trying not to laugh, she starts grinning, the legs keep jerking around, and we have to keep starting over. So we swaddle her, but she has to be reswaddled a million times per night cause of all the wiggling to be free.
I think we are ALMOST at the point where she won't need it at all! And thank goodness, cause it's hot here (we have the summertime swaddles but still... plus then I never know if I should leave her nakey in the swaddle, but then she'd be too cold in the mornings, or what).
Anyone else still swaddling most nights?

[Knitting Mama]

We swaddle for all sleeps. There was a stretch of time when she could nap OK unswaddled, but not anymore. If I leave her unswaddled she'll sleep for around 30 minutes. Swaddled it's from 1.5-3 hours.

Cecilia can't get out of the swaddle at night because a) I use a SwaddleMe and it's velcroed closed and b) she sleeps in my arms and doesn't wiggle much.

I generally leave her in a onesie and socks for the swaddle; we keep the house A/C at around 78 and she seems to be the perfect temperature in her lighweight summer swaddle.

[rhiOrion]

I'm wondering if I'm the only parent ever who never really swaddled their baby.

I don't like sleeping with her on me and swaddled. I feel like if she did somehow roll off of me that she wouldn't be able to use her hands or anything to help get herself out of danger. I mean, maybe she wouldn't be able to anyhow, but it just freaked me out.

Plus, it's hot with her sleeping on me. She mostly sleeps in a onesie, though sometimes I'll drape an aden and anias blanket over her legs.

I've swaddled her a couple of times and it's worked fine, but I didn't feel like she slept any better swaddled. It may have helped her get to sleep, but then it's back to the fact that I usually fall asleep while she's eating and falling asleep, so then we'd both be asleep with her swaddled.

She likes to sleep with her arms outstretched above her head.

Funny how different babies are.

We're getting a nap nanny this weekend and I might try swaddling her to put her down in that.

Oh, our other big issue is that she'll generally only fall asleep if she's bounced in a carrier, and we mostly use SSCs, and it seems like it would be difficult to swaddle her in that and bounce her. And swaddling her after she's already asleep just wakes her up.

[Knitting Mama]

If she doesn't need it, that's awesome! Cecilia has lots and lots of crazy energy, and her arms and legs are basically never still when she's awake. Lately I have to put a toy in her hands when she's nursing because otherwise she breaks her own latch constantly with wiggling, or she pulls the SNS tube out, etc. I doubt she'd ever sleep more than 30 minutes consecutively if we didn't swaddle her.

When she sleeps in the wrap, I am generally able to get her out without waking her up, and from there it's either the carseat if we're out (I tuck a blankie over her arms) or just on my lap/shoulder if we're home. Sleeping where I can actively make sure she doesn't flail herself awake is the only time she can sleep unswaddled, it seems!

[sew_crafty_girl]

I've never swaddled any of my babies and wondered about doing it this time. But, since we've had no major sleep issues, I never really tried it.

[GreenTeaGinger61]

We swaddled for about a week but she, like my other girls didn't seem to need it and now HATES it. She usually sleeps on her back with her arms over head. Even when she's in my arms, she likes to have her arms over head I suspect she was in the womb this way and this is why I lots of contractions but not much dilation.

My son ADORED being swaddled and we swaddled him until he was five months old. At that point, it was just impossible to find a big enough blanket to do it with (none of the swaddler things in Maine at that point).

[snoopy5386]

oh yeah! we swaddle for all sleeps that we are home for. If I'm nursing her in bed and she's not swaddled and happens to fall asleep, she won't sleep for more than 5 minutes. In the carseat or in the beco (when she's not swaddled) she will only sleep for 30 mins max, I can almost set a watch by it - moving or not, 30 mins and she is awake. We're roadtripping next week and I'll be swaddling her in the carseat for the drive in hopes she'll sleep longer than 30 mins (the swaddleme has a hole in the butt for the crotch strap to go through for carseat swaddling). Swaddled she naps for 45 mins - 2 hours + at home and at night she sleeps for an 8 hour stretch and then 2-4 hour stretches after that. We swaddle her in a swaddleme and underneath she wears a sleeper at night and whatever her clothes are during the day (usually a onesie).
With DD1 we didn't have a swaddleme and only swaddled her for maybe a week after we brought her home from the hospital.

[IndigoKoi]

We swaddled my son for what seemed like FOREVER. It was mostly to keep him from scratching his face off (eczema) but even after that we had to keep him swaddled until he was about 10 months b/c he was so used to it. We did use something called a woombie, that was nice b/c it let him move around and stretch, but still kept his arms and legs from flailing around. I loved it and I think anyone who is swaddling should at least try one out.

http://woombie.com/

[Laneybug]

I'm going to burn for this, but here goes: I was really struggling with swaddling issues for the past week (my DD is about the same age as Baby Symphony). I guess watching DD gaining more control of her limbs and falling in love with her hands started to make me feel bad about tightly swaddling her in the SwaddleMe. So I tried the Woombie (bought two, any takers? I'll sell them for like, nothing) and it was okay, but she got more annoyed with it than anything, like she wanted to put her hands in her mouth and couldn't. I don't think it was a tight enough swaddle to calm her (in fact, I think a reviewer on amazon said the woombie made her LO look like a head attached to a bag of angry kittens). btw I am not at all trying to dissuade anyone from trying the woombie, lots of people love it, I'm just sharing my experience that got me to where I am now--on bad mommy island.

so I was getting obsessive about finding a way to get her to sleep peacefully and for longer periods, and I had kept having to listen to my mom saying, "put her on her stomach, put her on her stomach." Which I didn't consider until I saw the flat spot developing on the back of her head and our pediatrician referred us to a craniofacial specialist and we discussed "helmet therapy" if repositioning didn't work out. I asked about tummy sleeping and was told no, no, no.

But I went ahead, did it anyway, and haven't looked back. The crib is sidecarred so she is always sleeping inches from my face. She also has excellent head and neck control. Do I still check on her obsessively? yes! do I feel like I'm cheating? yes! is she happier and does she sleep better? of course.

So that's how we stopped swaddling.

[jsh7809]

Originally Posted by snoopy5386

oh yeah! we swaddle for all sleeps that we are home for. If I'm nursing her in bed and she's not swaddled and happens to fall asleep, she won't sleep for more than 5 minutes. In the carseat or in the beco (when she's not swaddled) she will only sleep for 30 mins max, I can almost set a watch by it - moving or not, 30 mins and she is awake. We're roadtripping next week and I'll be swaddling her in the carseat for the drive in hopes she'll sleep longer than 30 mins (the swaddleme has a hole in the butt for the crotch strap to go through for carseat swaddling). Swaddled she naps for 45 mins - 2 hours + at home and at night she sleeps for an 8 hour stretch and then 2-4 hour stretches after that. We swaddle her in a swaddleme and underneath she wears a sleeper at night and whatever her clothes are during the day (usually a onesie).
With DD1 we didn't have a swaddleme and only swaddled her for maybe a week after we brought her home from the hospital.

Doh, we've been using the swaddleme for months (LOVE them, total lifesaver, I'm sure they have saved me countless hours of sleeplessness trying to reswaddle with a regular blanket!) and I had no idea what that hole in the butt was for. I even asked DH and he said "so that their diapered butts don't get too hot?". Ha ha, we are obviously overtired here!
Wow, I am trying not to be jealous that your LO sleeps for an 8 hour stretch! Mine has done a few 6 hour ones but mostly it's 4-5 hours at night, and still at barely 45 minutes, tops, for naps (longer if I sleep with her and keep her jammed in my armpit).
Anyway. Tried the woombie once but it felt weird, and although it kept her arms locked in well, when she was waking up in the morning and couldn't get her hands free she SCREAMED much louder than usual and I felt like, well, yeah, I would too if I couldn't get my hands out no matter what! I think it was mostly my perspective, though, and sometimes I wish I hadn't given it away. I still feel kinda weird about the baby straightjacketness of the swaddleme, but at least with those she can work her hands free if need be. And actually the last few nights it seems to be helpful that she can get a fist out to suck, and the swaddleme keeps it next to her face - when she's tired she can't control her hand at all and gets really upset that she can't suck on them in her sleep, so maybe the swaddleme helps keep it up there.
Well, so far she still needs the swaddle to fall and stay asleep at night. I'm hoping she'll get over it soon because she can find her hands in her sleep, but we're not quite there yet.
I did swaddle her for a nap today because she couldn't stop flailing and it seemed to help, but she still only slept for a half an hour. Power napper! I had a fantasy that she was going to do a nice 1.5-2 hour nap (haven't had one of those in literally months) because she was so tired and sacked out so quickly after swaddling, but, nope, she was up after 30 minutes

Sometimes I wonder if she really needs all of the feedings that she gets at night. Lately it's been just 1-2 feeds (not including bedtime feeding around 9pm, and wakeup feeding at 7amish), and she doesn't even wake up all the way. Sometimes she doesn't even open her eyes! I can't imagine not feeding her at least once in the night, though, since she's so young still. Perhaps if I was more mellow about it she would occasionally sleep through the night?
Ah, I'm not too worried about it (and I know that 6 hours is considered "sleeping through the night", it just sucks when that's a 9pm-3am "night"). I don't mind the middle of the night feedings too much, since I barely wake up - it's the 6 or 7am crying that I hate when she can't find her hands, can't wake up enough to poop, and needs me to coach her awake and help her poop and change her diaper
Could be a lot worse (and sorry for blathering on, can you tell I didn't get enough "grown up" time today?).

[jsh7809]

Originally Posted by Laneybug

I'm going to burn for this, but here goes: I was really struggling with swaddling issues for the past week (my DD is about the same age as Baby Symphony). I guess watching DD gaining more control of her limbs and falling in love with her hands started to make me feel bad about tightly swaddling her in the SwaddleMe. So I tried the Woombie (bought two, any takers? I'll sell them for like, nothing) and it was okay, but she got more annoyed with it than anything, like she wanted to put her hands in her mouth and couldn't. I don't think it was a tight enough swaddle to calm her (in fact, I think a reviewer on amazon said the woombie made her LO look like a head attached to a bag of angry kittens). btw I am not at all trying to dissuade anyone from trying the woombie, lots of people love it, I'm just sharing my experience that got me to where I am now--on bad mommy island.

so I was getting obsessive about finding a way to get her to sleep peacefully and for longer periods, and I had kept having to listen to my mom saying, "put her on her stomach, put her on her stomach." Which I didn't consider until I saw the flat spot developing on the back of her head and our pediatrician referred us to a craniofacial specialist and we discussed "helmet therapy" if repositioning didn't work out. I asked about tummy sleeping and was told no, no, no.

But I went ahead, did it anyway, and haven't looked back. The crib is sidecarred so she is always sleeping inches from my face. She also has excellent head and neck control. Do I still check on her obsessively? yes! do I feel like I'm cheating? yes! is she happier and does she sleep better? of course.

So that's how we stopped swaddling.

No flames here! I would totally sleep her on her stomach or side, especially at this age (I feel very confidant that she's healthy and aware enough to turn her head if she can't get room to breathe, etc). But she seems to hate it and I honestly wish I had let her sleep on her stomach more from the beginning so that she didn't. When she has tummy trouble and has to fart and poop a bunch in the morning, I lay her on my stomach and it helps a lot. I am looking forward to when she has better control and strength and is more willing to sleep on her stomach because I think it will help her gas pains and lots else.

[snoopy5386]

Jess - while Kelsey sleeps for an 8 hour stretch, Morgan didn't sleep that long until she was close to 2 years old. She consistently woke every 2 hours (or even sometimes every hour!) for her entire 1st year. Every once in a while I got a 3 hour stretch, and maybe 5 times in that 1st year I got a 4 hour stretch - she didn't consistently sleep through the night until close to 2.5 years old. My advice is just not to stress or overanalyze sleep and try to get as much as possible yourself.

[Laneybug]

jess, i wouldnt give up on the tummy sleeping if you are still open to it. DD did not like it at first because I tried to put her directly down with her arms at her sides, and she just kept butting her head into the mattress and eventually freaking out. So I turned her on her side and repositioned her so one arm was underneath her chest and the other arm was hanging out. that way both her hands or arms could touch each other. that's a horrible description but maybe you get the picture?? she still didn't like it at first and cried, but I was lying right next to her and rubbing her back and singing lullabies and within a few minutes her eyes were rolling back in her head and she was falling asleep. it's only been a few days now but she has fallen asleep faster every time. Her whole body relaxes once she is laying down now. It just must feel so much more secure to be on your stomach, you know? so I wouldn't give up on your girl just yet---

[jsh7809]

I have been experimenting with laying her on her side, because she can reach her hands better that way and she seems to be able to control her arms better... but she still gets really upset. So I will keep trying with all different positions! I'm learning that everything with babies is so changeable, just because something works or doesn't work, doesn't mean it will or won't a day (or 10 minutes) later.

[laughingfox]

Originally Posted by rhiOrion

I'm wondering if I'm the only parent ever who never really swaddled their baby.

Nope. I've never done it at all with either of my kids. They're both movers and shakers, but it doesn't seem to bother them when sleeping. I also wake up to the sound of them sucking on their fists (which they both did from birth) so I find it helpful that they can access them, and they wake up a lot more suddenly and grumpily if they can't.
Really, though, I couldn't have swaddled DD1 if I wanted to. She was born in August and we had no A/C.

Originally Posted by Laneybug

(in fact, I think a reviewer on amazon said the woombie made her LO look like a head attached to a bag of angry kittens).

[Knitting Mama]

Laneybug, I had the same problem with the SwaddlePod, which is similar to the Woombie. Also the review is seriously hysterical!!

Jess, this has probably been suggested and my overtired mind has ignored it, but have you tried swaddling her with one fist out of the swaddle? So elbow bent and hand up by face, then swaddled? That might make it easier for her to suck on her fist all night rather than having to wiggle to get there.

[jsh7809]

Originally Posted by Cecilia's Mama

Laneybug, I had the same problem with the SwaddlePod, which is similar to the Woombie. Also the review is seriously hysterical!!

Jess, this has probably been suggested and my overtired mind has ignored it, but have you tried swaddling her with one fist out of the swaddle? So elbow bent and hand up by face, then swaddled? That might make it easier for her to suck on her fist all night rather than having to wiggle to get there.

You know, I've thought about it! She seems happy when she gets to that place on her own... but each day/ night is so different at this point, who knows!
Last night she needed to be swaddled to sleep, then needed to have her fist out in the middle of the night, then needed to be reswaddled at 6:30, and is now napping, unswaddled. Sigh. I will be so glad when she can control those crazy flapping limbs a bit more!
Especially because she has to suck on MY hand when she can't get her own. If I leave her hands out she can't sleep because they're too fast and loose, though. What's strange is that she came out of the womb sucking on her fists, then "lost" them for months (maybe as her arms got fatter or her muscles developed differently?) and is only now reliably refinding them. I feel like she would've had better luck if we had given her more tummy time/ sleeping on the stomach time, but oh well...

[ann_of_loxley]

I stopped about a month ago - it was so hot and we dont have a/c in this country (not worth it for the handful of freakishly hot days we may or may not get! lol)...and discovered putting him on his tummy was a good replacement to it!... During the day though, he is in the sling! For about a week I was anle to put him down for a predictable 3 hour nap - but he stoppd dong that ( just because it was becoming predictable I am sure! lol) - Oh, and he hates it on his tummy too - when he is awake! But he tends to fall asleep at the boob and then I can flip him! lol I am 100% comfortable with this as we co-sleep. He is right next to me, so I know he is safe.

DS1 was never swaddled and never needed swaddling either! (and never slept on his tummy).... these two are so very different!

[jsh7809]

Originally Posted by ann_of_loxley

I stopped about a month ago - it was so hot and we dont have a/c in this country (not worth it for the handful of freakishly hot days we may or may not get! lol)...and discovered putting him on his tummy was a good replacement to it!... During the day though, he is in the sling! For about a week I was anle to put him down for a predictable 3 hour nap - but he stoppd dong that ( just because it was becoming predictable I am sure! lol)

Argh, don't you hate that?! I have the opposite - she takes only half hour naps (!!) most of the time. But with every nap I think, "maybe this is when she finally goes back to sleep 1-2 hours at a time like when she was a few weeks old." HA!

I was thinking today, there is a saying about how "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results." Well, isn't that also the definition of parenting a young baby?! Every day, every hour, I try the same things over and over again, with different results each time. There's hardly any predictability at all!

Which is maybe why I feel so crazy over here

[mommajomma]

swaddle troubles...

My little guy loves to be swaddled, but recently grew out of the swaddle me wraps, so I bought the aden and anias swaddle blankets. They fit him really well, I just have to be sure and swaddle him once he is out or it itsn't tight enough for when he starts to wiggle.