Talk to me about swaddling, pretty please!

[IdentityCrisisMama]

I understand that lots of mamas here swaddle.  I'm trying to understand how and when you do that with a young infant.  DC is 5 weeks old and I started using the miracle blanket instead of the Woombie.  I think it works much better for her to be tightly swaddled.  What I don't quite understand is when you swaddle a child who takes so many naps still.  Do you swaddle for every nap?  

Also, if you just want to talk to me about swaddling in general that would be great.  It's a new idea to me somewhat.  Do you use regular blankets or a special product?  Do you prefer it for the night or day?  Do you find it really helps your child sleep?  Do you notice any difference in sleep during times that your child isn't swaddled?  What do the baby books say about it?  Research? Stuff like that.  

Thanks!!  

[livelovelaugh]

All I know is that all three of my babies were calmed by swaddling from the start, and I swaddled each of them as long as I could until they could bust out of the swaddle ont heir own!  The Aden and Anais muslin blankets are my favorite for swaddling - lightweight and breathable, and lots of material to really tuck them in nicely and make them feel like they are back in that womb!  In my opinion, swaddling is a fabulous thing.  My babies loved it, and it really helped them to sleep and not be wakened / unsettled by the startle reflex.  I swaddled ALL of the time, even when co-sleeping.  It simply helped my babes to feel snug and cozy like when they were in the womb, and my kiddos had a much harder time sleeping (basically wouldn't!!) when not swaddled.  They were just too free - much more free than their little bodies wanted to be.  Sleeping, for my kids, meant swaddling, until they were old enough/big enough/settled in the world enough to be unwrapped and free...it happens way to early!!  Then the crawling, the walking...at this time last year I was still pregnant...hard to even imagine!  Good luck, and happy swaddling!!!!

[MovingMomma]

For some negatives associated w/swaddling (including extensive citations!) check out this article: http://www.nancymohrbacher.com/blog/2010/12/3/rethinking-swaddling.html

[Marissamom]

my kids would only put up with being swaddled  for the first week or two, after that they wanted to have their limbs free. I think, as with many thing, you have to follow your baby's lead and see what works for you. 

[MamaPhD]

Yeah it's another one of those "it depends on the baby" thing.  DD liked to be swaddled until around 3-4 months old.  Until then we swaddled her every time we put her down for a nap using a blankie.  Our favorite is SwaddleDesigns ones because they are big.  All the other receiving blankets we got like 3 packs from Target etc were too small for us.  And when she started to break free from the swaddle, we let her.  We still swaddled her for naps for a few more months when we put her down, but she would come out of it during the nap. 

Now DS doesn't like to be swaddled at all.  He likes to sleep with his arms up by his face.  He doesn't suck on his fingers or anything like that.  Just enjoys the freedom.  He doesn't wake easily from his arms moving about.  If he is totally out, I put his arms down and wrap them loosely.  But if he is falling asleep, swaddling will actually annoy him and he tries to break free and wakes himself up!

[sere234]

We swaddled just DS's arms until last week! He is not 8 months and can finally sleep without his crazy arms jerking around or grabbing his face and waking him 

He very much needed being swaddled and we'd try unswaddled sleep unsucessfully every week or so.

[kittn]

i  love swaddling. we did it for most babies at work (i was a night nanny) It can help a lot of babies. some love to be tightly swaddled others need more give. It seems like your baby likes a tighter swaddle. for that the miracle blanket is amazing. the woombie is a looser swaddle method.

at 5 weeks babies still dont seem to have much schedule to their days which is normal. here is what we recommend for the parents we service.

swaddle as part of the bed time routine.

if baby shows you a preference for nap time (like grace , she takes a long nap every morning without fail) you can swaddle them then

if baby is crying and out of sorts try a swaddle sometimes it will help calm a fussy baby.

never put a swaddled baby on their belly 

unswaddle baby to nurse/feed them (except at night feedings)

 make sure baby still gets plenty of skin to skin time and time unswaddled.

 with Gracie she loves to be swaddled but hates the act of being swaddled. we put her to bed around 830pm. unswaddled usually and then I wake her at 10 to get an extra feeding in and reset her night time clock. (so I get her longest stretch while I'm in bed too ) i swaddle her then since waking a baby to nurse isn't always easy so the act of changing her diaper and swaddling her is enough to rouse her to eat and refil the tank.

If your bottle feeding you can swaddle at bed time.

 somewhere in the April DDC is a video of how to swaddle with a blanket rather than miracle blanket. that swaddle works best with waffle knits and muslin blankets

[IdentityCrisisMama]

Thanks everyone!  Kittin - that's a great help, thanks.  I think I'll do a few of the things you suggest - especially the idea of swaddling starting when I get into bed.  The couple of hours where DC sleeps before I'm ready to go to bed has been stressing me as far as "wasted chance to sleep" goes.  I like the idea of resetting DC.  

I also like the idea of removing the swaddle for day-time nursing.  

Any opinions on the Summer Infant brand swaddle blanket?  

[kittn]

i dont love them.i find babies get out of them easily. I dont like when babies can get out of swaddles. It scares me to have a loose blanket possibility they are fine when babies are little but i think the miracle blanket is better. i also dont like that its only tight around babies chest and no where else. 

Originally Posted by IdentityCrisisMama 

Thanks everyone!  Kittin - that's a great help, thanks.  I think I'll do a few of the things you suggest - especially the idea of swaddling starting when I get into bed.  The couple of hours where DC sleeps before I'm ready to go to bed has been stressing me as far as "wasted chance to sleep" goes.  I like the idea of resetting DC.  

I also like the idea of removing the swaddle for day-time nursing.  

Any opinions on the Summer Infant brand swaddle blanket?  

[ZakareyasMama]

I was all ready to swaddle and had several blankets. DS had a different idea. He never liked being swaddled and even managed to break out of the nurses' super-tight wrapping at the hospital. Oh well!! My doula had told me to change his dipe, swaddle, nurse and then lay him down to sleep. Maybe the next one will tolerate it haha!

[gemasita]

We've swaddled DS at night since he was born.  He's 3.5 months now.  We used the SwaddleMe blankets from BRU but we had the fleece ones and they didn't breathe.  And I had found that the knit ones wouldn't stay tight with clients' babies (I'm a pp doula).  DS is hot-natured so we moved to a Snug and Tug and LOVE it.  It's SO soft.

We don't swaddle for naps because DS either naps on me in the Moby or in the swing.  At night, we swaddle, DH walks DS around for a few minutes and then we lay DS down next to me in bed.  He sleeps for 7 or 8 hours in a row.  Every now and then I unswaddle him in the morning (mostly because he's sweaty) and he won't stay asleep because his arms are EVERYWHERE.  Not sure when we'll be able to give up the swaddle...my only rush is that we have a soft bed and I don't feel safe with him swaddled lying next to me because I don't want him to roll towards me.  So he sleeps IN my arms, in the crook of my arm, or on my arm, to be more specific.  Once he's too big for that, I will want to get him out of the swaddle so that if he rolls over, he'll be ok.

[MSWmama]

Check out The Happiest Baby On The Block for a good explanation for why some babies need to be swaddled. We still swaddle DS at 6 months for naps and part of the night. When we co-sleep, we leave him out of the swaddle bc I worried about overheating. We use the SwaddleMe. He hated the miracle blanket and the woombie... Go figure. He literally will not sleep unless he's swaddled, in bed next to me, or in the Ergo. Every week or so we try to do a looser swaddle, legs out, etc, but so far we haven't made any progress swaddle-weaning him. I think it depends on the kid. I can't imagine life without swaddling, but I know lots of other moms who's babies were fine without it.

[JulieInChicago]

My son would NOT take a swaddle when he was little.  at 4 months, though, he turned a corner and needed it- he was waking himself by grabbing his face and ears- and so we started using a miracle blanket.  We tried the summer infant ones and the halo sack ones but the noise of the velcro would wake him.  the nice thing about using a blanket or miracle blanket is there's no noise.

The whole time, though, he didn't want his feet swaddled.  Even with the miracle blanket we'd leave his feet out of the pouch.

We never swaddled for nap time.  He was ok at going down for a nap without it and we didn't want to push swaddling since it was bound to be hard to break.  He quit using a swaddle almost cold turkey around 6-7 mos and hasn't used it since.  We use sleep sacks instead now to keep him cosy.