To swaddle or not to swaddle?

Hi Presam, Could you please share the details with me as well? I am also looking for someone to massage me and the baby once it's born. Thanks a million.

OMG ladies, swaddling has worked wonders! I was reaching my wits end, my 2 month old was not sleeping during the day at all, and was such a light sleeper at night. Her grunting after 4am was keeping me up, and then spending the whole day up with her was exhausting me out. She hated swaddling since we brought her home, when she would realize her arms are tied she would cry and wiggle till we let her loose, so since day 4 she hadn't been swaddled, till now. DH got me the Miracle Blanket from Mothercare, and we tried it out and it has made SUCH a difference. Yesterday she was doing her usual 8pm fussiness and I wrapped her, and it was so tight she had no room to move her arms. She just went quiet the minute I was done and was staring at my face, like "What did you just do to me?", it actually made me laugh it was so cute! She went from sleeping 3 hours max in a row at night before waking up crying for a feed or change, to sleeping 7 hours straight! I kept waking up to check if she's ok, I was worried she hadnt woken up yet! Now she is taking a nap in the day which is unheard of, normally she'd sleep 5 minutes in the day and be up again. Right now she is napping in her swing, arms swaddled (I left her legs out so I could buckle her in) and white noise on, and has been sleeping for 45 minutes! I highly recommend trying swaddling with the Miracle Blanket, I'm amazed how well it worked! <em>edited by sourskittleashnut on 20/09/2012</em>

I never swaddled my three babies. I believe that they need to get used to life outside the womb right away!

DS was way too wiggly to be swaddled. I could never learn the art of swaddling. The lady who used to come to massage and bathe him used to swaddle him nicely and he used to sleep 4-5 hrs straight swaddled up :) That was pretty much the only time he did not wiggle out of the blanket! Presam12 you had somebody who came to massage and bathe him? Was this a home call midewife? I'm curious as I wonder if this would also help get our ds to sleep at night! yes Golden_brown, that was 2 yrs back. An elderly lady came home for one month to massage me and baby and bathe him. Massaging new born with oil is a part of Indian culture. She has gone back to India and was here for about 25 years. She was on a valid visa (from her son) but no proper papers to perform this kind of service. I am due end of this month and not able to find anyone with legal permission. Presam I really like the sound of that. If you do find someone would you mind sharing her details with me? I think it would be a great idea to get ds relaxed in the evenings :) Sure thing, will let you know!

I thought my little guy hated swaddling, as I tried several times with fancy Velcro swaddle that I was given as gifts. Then a friend (that has 3 kids) that is a midwife came to visit just when I was starting to get exhausted as my LO would not sleep allllllllll day loooong. She swaddled him in a very large muslin square, which you can leave their legs in or out, and it welcomed a whole new world of sleep into our home. My god, I can't believe I waited so long. It's a brilliant sleep queue, and he's gone straight from the swaddle into his sleeping bag, and I would highly recommend both. Keep practicing, you'll find something that works really well for you:)

DS was way too wiggly to be swaddled. I could never learn the art of swaddling. The lady who used to come to massage and bathe him used to swaddle him nicely and he used to sleep 4-5 hrs straight swaddled up :) That was pretty much the only time he did not wiggle out of the blanket! Presam12 you had somebody who came to massage and bathe him? Was this a home call midewife? I'm curious as I wonder if this would also help get our ds to sleep at night! yes Golden_brown, that was 2 yrs back. An elderly lady came home for one month to massage me and baby and bathe him. Massaging new born with oil is a part of Indian culture. She has gone back to India and was here for about 25 years. She was on a valid visa (from her son) but no proper papers to perform this kind of service. I am due end of this month and not able to find anyone with legal permission. Presam I really like the sound of that. If you do find someone would you mind sharing her details with me? I think it would be a great idea to get ds relaxed in the evenings :)

DS was way too wiggly to be swaddled. I could never learn the art of swaddling. The lady who used to come to massage and bathe him used to swaddle him nicely and he used to sleep 4-5 hrs straight swaddled up :) That was pretty much the only time he did not wiggle out of the blanket! Presam12 you had somebody who came to massage and bathe him? Was this a home call midewife? I'm curious as I wonder if this would also help get our ds to sleep at night! yes Golden_brown, that was 2 yrs back. An elderly lady came home for one month to massage me and baby and bathe him. Massaging new born with oil is a part of Indian culture. She has gone back to India and was here for about 25 years. She was on a valid visa (from her son) but no proper papers to perform this kind of service. I am due end of this month and not able to find anyone with legal permission.

I know it calms most babies and I wish I could say the same!

For some reason I can't make all of that first link go blue, you will have to copy and paste it in your browser.

Oh definitely swaddle, unless your baby truly hates it. It settles most babies (as a newborn photographer I have tried this on loads of newborns and the majority of newborns calm immediately), it stops them waking themsleves with thier startle reflex and helps them feel safe as they feel like you are holding them. With my son it was such a strong sleep cue, by around 8 weeks he would literally close his eyes and be asleep within seconds of being swaddled. SIDs and KIDs australia have a pamphlet on safe swaddling, [http://www.sidsandkids.org/safe-sleeping/safe-wrapping/ and actually state that it [b'>decreases[/b'> the SIDs risk. They also have general safe sleeping info here http://www.sidsandkids.org/safe-sleeping/ From their pamphlet: [i'>Research has shown that one of the best ways to reduce the risk of SIDS and sudden and unexpected death in infancy is to sleep babies on their back. Managing unsettled infant behaviour and promoting sleep for babies, whilst ensuring that the safe sleeping recommendations are followed, is sometimes difficult for parents. Wrapping is a useful strategy that parents can use to help their babies to settle and sleep on their back, especially during the first 6 months of life. Wrapping and placing babies on the back provides stability and helps to keep babies in the recommended back position1-2. [b'>Epidemiological studies have shown that being on the back and wrapped decreases the risk of SIDS more than being on the back without being wrapped[/b'>3. Wrapping a baby also reduces crying time4 and promotes sleep by lessening the frequency of spontaneous arousals5-6. However wrapping a baby does not influence breastfeeding frequency and duration and the amount of ingested milk7. Wrapping has also been shown to be effective in reducing a baby’s response to pain, while preterm babies who are wrapped and placed on their back show improved neuromuscular development.3 Tummy sleeping increases the risk of sudden unexpected infant death and must be avoided. Wrapping a baby and placing them in the tummy position is even more dangerous as it prevents babies from moving to a position of safety2,3.[/i'> I swaddled using a mothercare miracle blanket, my baby was long so when he grew a bit we just left his legs out of the leg pocket and only swaddled his arms. Do not put a hat on them (whether you swaddle or not) and keep them lightly dressed under the swaddle. (we had him in just a nappy or in a very lightweight bamboo viscose onesie.) No need for a blanket on top either, unless the room is really cold. Once they can roll over stop swaddling. BTW my son was swaddled until 4.5 months and crawled at 5 months, so it def didn't slow his motor skills. <em>edited by kiwispiers on 03/09/2012</em>

DS was way too wiggly to be swaddled. I could never learn the art of swaddling. The lady who used to come to massage and bathe him used to swaddle him nicely and he used to sleep 4-5 hrs straight swaddled up :) That was pretty much the only time he did not wiggle out of the blanket! Presam12 you had somebody who came to massage and bathe him? Was this a home call midewife? I'm curious as I wonder if this would also help get our ds to sleep at night!

DS was way too wiggly to be swaddled. I could never learn the art of swaddling. The lady who used to come to massage and bathe him used to swaddle him nicely and he used to sleep 4-5 hrs straight swaddled up :) That was pretty much the only time he did not wiggle out of the blanket!

I was swaddled as a baby. In fact, all my cousins were swaddled. DD was swaddled as well. We are all fine. :)

ds doesn't care for being swaddled and it makes no difference on how he sleeps so we dont swaddle him. When we used to we used the mothercare miracle blanket and the babyshop swaddle blanket. Both of these are ready made with velcro straps and allow the legs and feet lots of space to move about whereas the arms are tightly wrapped up. In the hospital they swaddled with just an ordinary blanket and of course the legs and feet were immobile which I didn't like.