Babble Talk: To Swaddle or Not to Swaddle?

re: Babble Talk: To Swaddle or Not to Swaddle?

kld — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 05:46:05 GMT

my son (2 months) loves being swaddled at night. we use the "miracle blanket" which a friend of mine gave me. it is made of strechy material and doesn't come undone like flannel blankets. he went from sleeping 4 hours to 6 hours straight (9pm-3am ish).

i'm curious also about when to stop swaddling him. he still wakes up from his reflexes if he is not swaddled.

re: Babble Talk: To Swaddle or Not to Swaddle?

attriel — Tue, 15 May 2007 00:00:24 GMT

my son (6 weeks) likes being swaddled, but only if he can have at least one hand outside. actually, no.

he liked being swaddled. for the first week or two, tolerated it for the next three. now we don't really swaddle him much, but he's still good with it.

but he absolutely had to have that hand free :o

re: Babble Talk: To Swaddle or Not to Swaddle?

nancyt — Mon, 14 May 2007 23:28:07 GMT

My son is the worst kind of swaddle baby--he cannot fall asleep unless he's wrapped up tightly, but he fights it until that last second when he dozes off. I've wrapped and rewrapped him some nights dozens of times. I'd swear that he hates it, except for the fact that swaddling=sleep (eventually) and no swaddling=crazy screaming and pathetic flailing.

Does anyone have any advice/thoughts on when they outgrow this need? My son is three months old and while I realize I'm lucky for having ONE strategy that works, I'm also looking forward to not having to re-wrap him in the middle of the night.

re: Babble Talk: To Swaddle or Not to Swaddle?

RachelZ — Mon, 14 May 2007 21:06:11 GMT

Jillian couldn't be fully swaddled for the first few weeks because she had an IV insert in her right hand. So that arm had to be free, and wouldn't you know it, that's the arm she used to hit herself in the face. Grrrrreat! By the time the IV thingy came out, she refused to be swaddled. Instead, we got extra-long blankets and tucked them under her mattress, imprisoning her fairly successfully.

Then we discovered sleep sacks and life has been great ever since!

re: Babble Talk: To Swaddle or Not to Swaddle?

JulieT — Mon, 14 May 2007 20:36:39 GMT

My first baby hated, hated, HATED the swaddle. Even in the hospital, we would try to swaddle her, and she would cry and fight and swing her arms like a little boxer until her arms were free, and then she would calm down and go to sleep.

My second was the exact opposite. Adored the swaddle. She actually almost got diagnosed with a fever when her temp went up a couple degrees from spending so much time swaddled.

So I think it all depends on what works for your kid.