Swaddling

[JammieE]

Hi all.

Our daughter is 11 weeks old and we have been swaddling her at night since birth. She has a really good bedtime routine. I breast feed in bed with the lights dimmed and then hubby swaddles her and puts her in her Moses basket. She falls asleep straight away and sleeps for between 5 and 6.5 hours without any noise. She then starts grunting and groaning loudly whilst still asleep. She wriggles a lot but doesn't wake up and will eventually stop and sleep peacefully again. She tends to go about 8 hours before we actually get her up for a feed.

We're not worried about the grunting and groaning add we have read that it is quite common and she has a milk allergy and a bit of reflux so it is kind of to be expected but because the grunting phase makes her wriggle so much she has started to work her way out of the swaddle (we just use a stretchy knitted blanked, not one of those fancy Velcro swaddle wraps). I'm worried that this could harm her if the blanket ends up covering her face and wondered if we should stop swaddling her but hubby thinks it is fine to carry on as we are.

Really not sure if it is a problem that she can work the blanket loose and don't want to risk her getting harmed but I'm not sure if I am just being paranoid.

Any thoughts or advice would be great. Thanks!

[babybythesea]

Maybe it's time to move to a gro-bag?
I certainly used one from very early on - dd hated being swaddled but was very wriggly and ended up throwing all covers off, or over her head etc, so we stuck her in those fairly early on (from three or four weeks I think) and it worked wonders.

[anniroc]

Sounds like your swaddling days are limited. Once babies get to your daughter's age, i.e. around 8-12 wks, they discover their arms more and start Houdini-wriggling out of swaddles!

Don't worry though, as you can start using sleeping bags I.e. Grobags etc which are really cute and help with a good night's sleep :)

[pictish]

Mine all loved being swaddled, but I stopped doing it when they were able to loosen the blanket off...about three months old if I recall.
After that I went onto a grobag.

[Beehatch]

Just on the subject of swaddling, there was an article on radio 4 the other day about the incidence of hip dysplasia in swaddled babies. There is apparently a form of 'safe swaddling' basically where the hips are held apart for correct growth. It is akin to the difference between slings that dangle the babies by their crotch and the wrap slings that hold them in the 'froggy' position.

Just thought I'd mention it.

[JammieE]

Thanks for the advice. We put my daughter in a grobag last night and she slept just the same as usual. I could hear her wriggling around a bit at first but she slept just as well and I didn't have to worry about a blanket covering her face. So glad as I had read of babies finding it difficult to transition from swaddling to blankets or grobags. Hopefully last night wasn't a one off and my little one can sleep safely now.
Thanks all.