Newborn Self-Soothing « Back to Group Discussions

[Teles]

This past Saturday, DH and I went to our the final class in a series about parenting/infant care/childbirth in the area. I have to say that it was refreshingly helpful in contrast to the prior class and what I was expecting, and I even learned a couple things that I wouldn't mind sharing and getting some opinions on. Specifically, the public health nurse who was teaching the class said not to use scratch mittens because newborns have only a couple of ways to self-soothe that they learned in utero and one of them is to rub their hands and fists on their face or suck on their fingers. Scratch mitten prevent them from doing that. As far as she was concerned, finger nails can be filed down with an emery board if necessary but that face scratching is more of an aesthetic concern for parents than it is a danger to the baby.

Along the same lines, she also recommended that if you're going to use a swaddling blanket you swaddle the baby with her hands up near her chin so she's still able to soothe herself.

I had never heard about this at all before, so I was wondering what everyone's opinions are on this matter and what you've all heard about this.

[HouseofPeace]

haven't heard about this, but can report from personal experience.

my last 3 babies always had their fists up at their faces.  in labor, this was a bit annoying, and caused some bruising on the last 2 around their eyes.  w/ my 2nd pregnancy, her fist at her face actually was cause for breech alarm and an ultrasound that caught her sucking her fist.

though i swaddled all, i always left out a hand for them to move about and put near the face.  my 3rd was born a thumb-sucker.  2 hours after birth had that thing in and was the EASIEST baby.  she's only 3 now, so we haven't had to face the challenges of it yet...  

it makes complete sense to me, as they all loved having that one hand out and in reach.  and it was never a problem.  sometimes i feel like a total flop as an idealist, as i just kinda go w/ the flow as long as it doesn't seem like a problem.  so all my babies got an arm out and i just figured if they wanted to they could!  and they do all have little fists up at their face for most of the pregnancy.  this one is like a boxer- punching me more than kicking at night!!!  so definitely is practicing fun w/ fists!

[etsdtm99]

I have never used mittens (for more than a couple mins, with baby #1) and i never swaddle at all- there are articles out there that talk about both swaddling and the mittens and from what i remember, it was more about the babies not having good vision and their hands being a way they 'see' - ie. feeling mom's breast - this is why babies grab your nipple as they are trying to latch on, sure it would be easier for us to hold their hands out of the way but then they are going in "blind"

my babies have all sucked their hands and had them in their faces on u/s so i do think it is natural for them to want their hands free for a number of reasons.. -- however, I do take a bit of issue with any expectation that a newborn self soothes at all .. in my experience newborns are not made to self-anything outside of breathing, pooping, peeing, and 'demanding' to nurse- some newborns don't even do the latter that well .. (my 2nd was not a 'demander' or even a hinter when it came to eating - he would have waited 6+ hours to nurse if i didn't offer, even as a newborn..)  i like to go into this assuming baby will need me for every possible thing and when they don't, when they can hang out and suck their hand or whatever for a few mins, then that's a bonus ;)  

[rachieface]

As a postpartum doula, I have seem similar research re: swaddling, and I believe it to be true for a lot of babies. That being said, I would do what works. Do what gets you the most sleep during those first few months! Not that I am advocating crying it out or formula feeding for more sleep, but something like swaddling is definitely an area where I would be really open-minded because you don't know how your baby will respond to it. I've seen some babies who always want that fist out (and manage to get it out on their own if needed!), and others who do best with a cozy full-body swaddle. My son was actually loosely swaddled until 8 months or so, because we didn't want to mess with something that helped him sleep. Mittens, swaddling, co-sleeping--those are all things that babies respond to in different ways, so it is worth it to experiment just a little to see what works best. :)

[lovebeingamomma]

My babies love being swaddled like burrito's, calms them right down.  If I left a fist by the opening they would have room to pop both arms out, and that always woke them up if they managed to become unswaddled.  As PP said, do what works!
 

[loveandgarbage]

My kids always managed to sneak a hand or two out of the swaddle, so this self-soothing thing makes sense! According to my two latest ultrasounds, this little guy already has both fists squishing his face, too.