Swaddling | Imamother

amother

Sun, Jul 24 2011, 3:11 pm

Anon coz this is totally gonna give me away...

but until what age would you swaddle your baby?? I did it from when my baby was born, he is now almost 3 months and sleeps best with it and loves it...although we grew out 2 I am now going to buy the sleeping bags with the extra swaddle piece.

Everyone who sees my baby in it wants to know why im wrapping them up so tight and not allowing him to move around etc etc. All my friends and friends friends are talking about how I tie up my baby.
But ive read everywhere it is best for them and keeps them from waking themselves up at night. Not to mention that the past few nights my baby has been without one, every couple hours is waking up for the pacifier moving their hands around and waking themself up (nb till now my baby slept through the night)

So my question is should I train my baby now already how to sleep without it or should I go for the swaddling until they are older and settling themselves.

chatouli

Sun, Jul 24 2011, 3:15 pm

I swaddled DS until he was almost five months old. He slept great swaddled. Once he was three months, people started to give me a hard time about it too so I tried to unswaddle him and it was a huge disaster. He would wake himself up by whacking himself in the face constantly. I went back to it and he slept well again. He let me know when he was ready by breaking out of the swaddle, even out of the Miracle Blanket. Once he was ready, I kept him swaddled around his belly but let his arms out, then gradually unswaddled him completely.

You know what's right for your baby, don't listen to the old wives Smile

in many cultures, babies are swaddled until a year.

MaBelleVie

Sun, Jul 24 2011, 3:32 pm

Anyone who thinks that swaddling is cruel, as a rule, is simply uneducated on swaddling. There are many physiological and psychological benefits to swaddling that have been documented in scientific research. Why not print out a few to show them when they start on you?

Not to say that everyone must swaddle, but at least recognize the benefits, even if you choose not to do it.

morah

Sun, Jul 24 2011, 3:40 pm

I still swaddle my almost 4 month old, he can't sleep without it. I am trying to figure out how to teach him to do without though, because lately he's been breaking out.

Bea21- Husbands are often expert swaddlers. I know mine is better at swaddling than I am, and just about all my friends as well as my parents' friends have said Abba/Daddy does the swaddling. Maybe because we ladies are too gentle with it Smile

amother

Sun, Jul 24 2011, 4:27 pm

I chose love, but really depends on the baby. I've had some who HATE it, and some who LOVE it. One or 2 I swaddled but with hands free, so they can suck them. By 3 or 4 months max, mine won't be swaddled, so can't help you on that point! But by then they're on their fronts anyway, so they don't need it so much.

amother

Sun, Jul 24 2011, 4:56 pm

I really think some babies have more flaily arms than other babies. my baby has was swaddled till 2 months, then unswaddled, but once he hit 3 months and gained more control of his arms we had to start swaddling him again because he could not keep his hands out of his face. He is still swaddled now at 6 months, but has just recently started sleeping with one arm out of the swaddle. (we only swaddle arms to begin with using the summer infant swaddle me) I really think he will just grow out of it, and even though people make fun of me, I know that he sleeps best that way.

ElTam

Sun, Jul 24 2011, 9:28 pm

Babies R Us has these great swaddler things now that are foolproof. They use velcro and are built especially for swaddling, much easier than a blanket.

My brain is fried, so I can't remember how long we swaddled for, but it was a LONG time for baby #1 and baby #3. #2 didn't need it so much, so not as long.

Funny story: We were on a car trip when baby #1 was maybe 2 months old. We stopped at a gas station in the middle of nowhere and some guy asked my FIL (in a very concerned way), "Don't that baby got no arms?" LOL! We still laugh about it and "that baby" is in second grade.

ttbtbm

Sun, Jul 24 2011, 9:37 pm

Some babies love it and some don't. If your baby is calm and comforted from swaddling then keep on swaddling. One of my kids needed to be swaddled. Even after she got too old for swaddling, she needed the blaket tucked under her and she would always smoosh her face into the sides of her crib. That's what she needed to sleep. Some babiess find it very soothing.

chava42

Sun, Jul 24 2011, 9:38 pm

I have three children. My first child had difficulty controlling her restlessness and swaddling was just essential for her getting any rest at all. The other two only needed swaddling when they were overtired.

amother

Mon, Jul 25 2011, 11:00 am

ElTam wrote:

op here...
I use the summer swaddle blanket from babies r us that has the velcro but my baby is tall so I think he is growing out of it so I am going to buy the sleep sack that comes with an extra velcro piece to swaddle but you can also use it just as a sleeping sack.

About the story I was somwhere and two little kids were talking one said where is that babies hands? so the older one replied what do you mean he has no hands!! Rolling Laughter

1Life2Live

Mon, Jul 25 2011, 11:35 am

Bea21 wrote:

I'd have to vote"other". Love the idea of swaddling, but can never seem to get it right--they always manage to break free! Any advice?

The Miracle Blanket. A true miracle. DS2 was a bigger baby and he was too big for the summer swaddlers with the velcro. I tried the Miracle Blanket and it was much bigger and roomier for him. I used it until he was 4-5 months old. At that time he started breaking out of it and rolling over.

It's sold in BabiesRUs and BuyBuyBaby and some other baby stores. It's more expensive than the others, but it was 100% worth the money.

amother

Mon, Jul 25 2011, 1:07 pm

1Life2Live wrote:

Bea21 wrote:

I'd have to vote"other". Love the idea of swaddling, but can never seem to get it right--they always manage to break free! Any advice?

op here
I just looked up the miracle blanket it looks great!! Thanks for the sggestion coz my baby is already almost too long for the summer one.

obagys

Mon, Jul 25 2011, 1:12 pm

I do not swaddle my 2 month old, and never did with my other children, simply because I am a swaddling failure Sad

Luckily my babies are able to sleep well without it.

6coop

Mon, Jul 25 2011, 1:46 pm

I tried swaddling all of my kids, but my older ones broke out of it after a few weeks. B"h the SwaddleMe was finally invented (why did it take so long?), and I used it with my last 3 kids. I used it for about 2 months with one, and about 6 months with the next, and still using it with my now 2 month old. I found that all of my kids slept better when swaddled.

Peanut2

Mon, Jul 25 2011, 1:48 pm

I use the miracle blanket for my 7 week old. We have been repeatedly told to swaddle by almost every healthcare professional we've encountered, including the baby's pediatrician. Plus, since DD loves being swaddled, I don't understand why anyone would call it cruel.

It's not without controversy in the medical community. But form my experience it seem that most of the people interested in the controversy are med students and residents. Like I said, our experienced pediatrician is all for it...

21young

Wed, Jul 27 2011, 11:06 am

My in laws are big believers in swaddling, and when my husband told me about it when I was pregnant, I scoffed at it. I'm eating my words.
I read a book about how to calm babies, following a very interesting theory. Swaddling is part of this doctor's method, and when done right, it can work like a dream.
I recently went to a family simcha for shabbos, and everyone who looked at my baby swaddled looked at me with a skeptical face, but I knew that what I'm doing is right.
My baby is now 4 months old, and starting to grow out of it. I think every baby is individual.

Pandabeer

Wed, Jul 27 2011, 11:40 am

One of my Ds was crying constantly and I didn't know what to do with her.

The nurse that came to my house for a checkup tried all methods and then she told me to try swaddling
What a miracle, she slept like a baby!!
I think I swaddled her until 9mths if I remember correctly, as she got older I didn't do it very tight and she fell asleep like this but got unswaddled as the night went on