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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To swaddle my 6 month old?

47 replies

BoSho · 03/04/2011 21:39

I've swaddle him in this Kiddopotomous swaddle since he was born and he finds it really reassuring (can wriggle an arm free now) so I'd like to continue, but I just read about hip dysplasia.

Is this type OK or should I chuck it in the bin, and could I have already damaged him?

OP posts:

Bunbaker · 03/04/2011 22:11

DD hated being swaddled. She was a summer baby and it was too hot to swaddle her when she was tiny. When the weather cooled down she had got used to sleeping with her arms above her head anyway.

Original poster

BoSho · 03/04/2011 22:12

Thanks onetoomanycornettos but couldn't the sheet land on his face and smother him if he wriggles free? Or isn't that a worry anymore at 6 months?

OP posts:

Gracie123 · 03/04/2011 22:12

Start off with a half swaddle before moving to grobag. Helps with the transition.

squeakytoy · 03/04/2011 22:12

But babies in the womb can move freely and kick their arms and legs.. I can understand it maybe for a newborn, but at 6 months, many children are crawling.. it seems cruel to me to restrain them, and bloody uncomfortable for them too.

NotaMopsa · 03/04/2011 22:13

makes them feel safe and secure

Mandy2003 · 03/04/2011 22:14

When DS was born he seemed so relieved to be free he was happy to stretch his legs and arms out in the hospital cot. Then on day 2 my two friends (10 children between them!) came to visit and said "What are you doing - this baby needs to be swaddled, scooped him up and did it. He was neither pleased nor displeased.

When we got home soon after I didn't swaddle him at night, just when he was around during the day in his bouncy chair etc. He slept better being free.

After 6 months of sheet and blanket in the moses basket we moved him into the cot with a grobag, up till he was at least 2.5 I think - I remember he could climb out of the big cot while wearing it and shuffle along the hallway to wake me up

ArthurPewty · 03/04/2011 22:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

BoSho · 03/04/2011 22:21

Know what you mean LeonieDelt. It is working, so I am reluctant to stop, but I also feel a bit rotten. And I've only just got him to sleep through the night (literally, this week), so changing now seems like a bad idea, but fucking up his hips also seems pretty bad.

OP posts:

NotaMopsa · 03/04/2011 22:22

very wise Leonie

NotaMopsa · 03/04/2011 22:24

Leonie - people laughed at DP and I for swaddling our (6) babies when they were virtually walking BUT guess who had the last laugh when they slept happily every night!

Onetoomanycornettos · 03/04/2011 22:25

Mine have always used those pure cotton ones with holes in, but I am not up with the latest safety advice regarding them after six months, I can see that the less things in the cot the better. I felt secure putting them at the end of the bed with the cotton blanket only up to the chest, but like I say, I don't have safety advice in relation to this.

Original poster

BoSho · 03/04/2011 22:25

Oh, and thanks for the link Gracie123 - interesting. He actually wriggles into that position by himself, so might be nice to start him off like that.

OP posts:

Original poster

BoSho · 03/04/2011 22:28

Yeah, that's about as much as I know too Onetoomanycornettos. I'll ask the health visitor about it next week.

OP posts:

Onetoomanycornettos · 03/04/2011 22:32

I swaddled my two in these cotton holey blankets a few years ago, I didn't know you could get special swaddling outfits, they look so cute. I think anything in the cot is going to present a tiny bit of a risk, they can ususally escape their grobags pretty early on! I personally felt cotton breathable sheets and blankets were fine, in the right position, but I also feel like it's hard to interpret all the advice. Also after six months, I think they can sleep on their fronts/sides or in the case of my second, face down with bum up in the air. So, presumably the SIDS risk is dropping by then.

pigletmania · 03/04/2011 22:33

I guess its fine if your ds is happy with being swaddled to sleep, and you dont do it all the time and allow him freedom of movement during the day. He will soon let you know when he is fed up of it. My dd did not like being swaddled and would wriggle profusely, even in a growbag, I had to give them up before 1 as she would wriggle out of it and get cold, managed to break the zip of one

worraliberty · 03/04/2011 22:35

Strandedpolarbear I hadn't thought about the 'don't shoot' surrender thing...it's so true lol

My 19yr old still passes out like this on a Saturday night, but that's probably more to do with the lager he's consumed

ArthurPewty · 03/04/2011 22:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

BoSho · 03/04/2011 22:48

LeonieDelt - thanks!

OP posts:

catnao · 03/04/2011 23:27

Cannot understand how my son has made it to ten years and 8 mths without me knowing or fretting about this kind of thing. When he was little it was all about NEVER EVER buying a used cot matress... (I still don't know why)

valiumredhead · 03/04/2011 23:30

I used to swaddle ds in a cotton sheet - weren't new fangled special swaddlers in those days - I think I stopped when he was about 8 months ish.

NotaMopsa · 04/04/2011 20:22

yes - i would use a flat cotton cot sheet and then cellular blankets. Tiny head popping out the top then

CoffeeDodger · 04/04/2011 20:45

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

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