Swaddling new born

[moosh]

Not sure if I am on the correct topic but here goes.
My friend has just had a baby 2 weeks ago and wants to swaddle her during the day so that the little one feels secure. I have 2 children youngest only 10 months and didn't need to swaddle any of them. How do you swaddle a little one? and can you still swaddle them as she is under the impression from the HV that babies can get too hot if swaddled so they don't recommend it anymore. Thanks

[nailpolish]

its true they dont recommend it anymore because of cot death, but i have to say i am guilty of it

[Chickyboo]

When I had DD in July, they recommended swaddling and it was a hot summer. I think the advice varies and you have do do what feels right for you...my DD loved being swaddled and has slept really well since 8 weeks old. You don't have to use blanket you could use a cotton sheet and also not so many clothes during day. Do you have thermometer where baby sleeps?

[PlainFlum]

They do it in the hospital I had dd in. And have the temperature at about 130 degrees. Don't know how any of us survived.

I think its nice and cosy for them, especially this time of year. You can feel if they are too hot can't you.

[Bexter]

Moosh! I have the thread b4 yours about how my Dd CANNOT sleep unless she is swaddled!!! Swaddling is easy and you can use different weight materials (sheet/blanket/fleece etc) so that the baby doesn't get too hot. (Dd is currently swaddled in a thin blanket with extra sheet/blanket over her if required). I don't swaddle Dd during the day, only at night or when I want her to sleep for more than an hour or so (for cat naps I don't bother.)

This is for a right handed person to swaddle:

Fold your sheet/blanket corner to corner to make a 3 sided triangle. (Rectangle sheet will not fold exact - don't worry - so long as the longest of the 3 edges is corner to corner). Lay sheet on bed/floor with the longest side to the top (rectangle sheet will have two points at the bottom).
Lay Babs about 3/4 of the way along the sheet (towards the right as you look at it) making sure that the back of her shoulders rest parallel with the top edge. You should have 1/4 of the sheet to the right of the baby and 3/4 to the left. Pin Babs' arms to her side and roll her onto her side so that she faces towards the short end of the sheet.
Holding babs down with your left hand, use your right hand to bring the short side around her front and (quickly removing your left hand) tuck it flat against her back before rolling her back (onto her back).
Place your right hand on Babs' tummy (to stay the material) and, with your left hand, pull the longer peice of sheet from under her so that the swaddle begins to tighten.
Remove your right hand and now just wrap the remaining material around and around making sure it is nice and tight!
Try to finish with the corner underneath Babs' back.
Feet sticking out of the botton will depend on the length of both the sheet and baby! If it's not cool enough for an extra blanket, I just slip a pair of socks onto Dd's feet so that they stay toasty!
Your friend should experiment during the day so that she can monitor and get a feel for how hot the different swaddle materials make the baby. Of course, the more material that is wrapped around, the hotter the baby will be as it's more layers!

Hope this helps.

P.s. No-one showed me how to do this, it was trial and error and we found that this was the best way - the smaller the baby, the less tight the swaddle needs to be as they wriggle less!

[colditzmum]

I swaddled my ds in the hospital, and one of the cleaners came and unwrapped him, saying he would be too hot..... 30 seconds later, he screamed the place down, he was too cold!!

[moosh]

Thanks everyone Bexter thankyou for the steps will show her how and advise her that it is really upto her WHETHER TO SWADDLE OR NOT.

[beansprout]

I would wait and see if the baby needs it, as not all do. If she does though, she might want to take the extra layers into account when monitoring the temperature of the toom.

We used a small moses basket size sheet to keep the number of layers down.

[starlover]

for easy-peasy swaddling....

swaddle me fleece

[expatinscotland]

She can try it, but I wouldn't force it on a baby. My daughter HATED swaddling. In fact, she hated her isolette in hospital and her Moses basket at home. She wouldn't sleep in either and was in a full-sized cot bed by the time she was a week old.

[jessicasmummy]

jess has always liked her fleeces, as long as she is laid on one, and her skin has contact with one, she is happy... not one for swaddling myself, and wouldnt have done anyway as jess was a july baby.

[nailpolish]

these swaddle me fleeces that starlover linked are great

i would get too as my baby always spews on hers!

[nailpolish]

two not too

[mummytummy]

I swaddled DD2. I bought three meters of the cheapest thin muslin I could find, and cut it into three lengths.

[highlander]

If she is good at wriggling her arms free - try using 2 sheets.

With the first one, make the triangle as normal and bring the point over her arm then between that arm and her chest so that the point ends up under her back. Repeat with the other side.

With the second sheet, make another triangle and simply wrap around her body.

With swaddling, it's impt that the swaddle is nowhere near the face as it tickling the cheeks will initiate the rooting reflex in newborns.

Try and make sure the swaddle forms a v-neck so that heat can escape from the top of the chest.