Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3

Original poster

Yes shes sleeping well - but only because i swaddled her!!

72 replies

Saladeeta · 27/10/2015 21:44

This is what I want to text back in response to my lovely friend whose baby is five days old and says he doesn't like his arms being restricted!!! My first just didn't sleep my second I swaddled from the get go after advice on here and the difference was sanity saving.
Am I being ott to be so evangelical about the swaddle? Spesh the velcro one I go on and on about. I just want to save others my misery- but then I think, well maybe the second was just a good sleeper anyway?

OP posts:

Bellebella · 27/10/2015 22:08

Not sure what you want, not sure what sort of friend you would be if you told a woman who has just had a baby that she is wrong and should be swaddling.

Not every baby likes it and she will find what works for her child.

Joskar · 27/10/2015 22:08

You can get a thing called Swaddle Up. It holds their arms up above their heads in the position most bairns sleep naturally. Apparently it's great. Dd1 swaddling didn't make a difference (but I didn't try the swaddle up thing) and dd2 just sleeps (so far).

Jeffreythegiraffe · 27/10/2015 22:08

DS1 hated being swaddled. I tried it from day 1. It didn't work.

littlefrenchonion · 27/10/2015 22:09

I too, love the swaddle. I think the secret is that you have to persevere with them - DD appeared to hate it to start with, even now at 6m (she sleeps in a cot next to our bed for safety) she still grizzles at first but after 5 mins and a feed, it's like her batteries have run out. I do believe her sleeping through from 5 weeks is down to swaddling.

MediumOrchid · 27/10/2015 22:11

YABU - You have a sample size of two! You can't extrapolate that to all babies!

Also, aren't there some safety concerns about swaddling?

Original poster

Saladeeta · 27/10/2015 22:11

Goodness how interesting.... It had honestly not occurred to me that it wouldn't work for some babies when their parents had used it before.... Sorry I really thought I had stumbled on the answer to everyone's sleep problems- it seems not! And no, I'm not really going to send that text, I will send something balanced and normal and not insane I promise

OP posts:

AwfulBeryl · 27/10/2015 22:12

Blimey, what on earth is wrong with swinging chairs ? My dts hated being swaddled too, so I didn't bother, but I used the swinging chairs when I needed to.

Original poster

Saladeeta · 27/10/2015 22:12

I think any concerns have been ruled out now

OP posts:

Original poster

Saladeeta · 27/10/2015 22:15

Yes little that's what I think- perseverance is key

OP posts:

ThatsNotMyHouseItIsTooClean · 27/10/2015 22:15

Just because it worked for your DC2, doesn't mean it will work for every other baby! I had swaddle pods etc for DC1 which I bought before she was born. Would she go near them? No! We were in hospital for 48 hours after she was born & the MW soon abandoned attempts at swaddling as she so clearly didn't like it.
DC2 was born in a heat wave so I didn't use anything at first & he just writhed when I first tried it when he was about 2 weeks old & the weather had cooled a bit. A few weeks later, I saw a friend swaddle her then 6 day old baby & you could see the baby instantly calm in a way that mine didn't. My DC are currently asleep in unheated bedrooms with their duvets thrown on the floor & DC1 is most unlikely to have her PJ top on. If I throw the duvet back over DC1, she just writhed until it is back on the floor. I, on the other hand, am just boiling the kettle for my hot water bottle.

DoJo · 27/10/2015 22:16

Official advice currently (or at least when we were discharged last week) is apparently not to swaddle as it means that the baby finds it harder to self-regulate their temperature as they can't push blankets off. Perhaps she has been told the same thing. Either way, my first hated swaddling and would just shriek if his arms were restricted so I'm not sure that a text which ignores the fact she has already tried swaddling and it hasn't worked would be much help.

WhyCantIuseTheNameIWant · 27/10/2015 22:17

I still remember when a friend came to visit me and a very young dd.

He offered to feed her and put her down for a nap while I showered.

I came back to a very quiet room, dd was expertly swaddled, in the bouncy chair (flat position). With the safety strap snugly holding the blanket in. She looked so contented. And slept for ages!

Dd was then swaddled for future naps. Used gro bag at night.

Bloomsberry · 27/10/2015 22:18

Not sure what you're asking. You have two children but only swaddled one, who slept well, so you have a sample size of one, but are nonetheless considering telling a woman with a newborn she's doing it wrong? you jest, surely!

I was very enthusiastic about swaddling and bought a well-reviewed Velcro one, but DS would have none of it.

BeanGirls · 27/10/2015 22:20

It comes across a bit condescending with the !!

Yabu, just because it worked for you doesn't mean it will work for her.

SantasLittleMonkeyButler · 27/10/2015 22:20

Sorry, no swaddling going on here either! DS1 would scream & scream himself sick if his arms were restricted. He was never a good sleeper (until he hit his teens, now you can't wake him up ).

Due to the issues with DS1, I didn't try swaddling with DS2 - and he slept through the night from just a few weeks old & was always a very good sleeper.

DD was a poor sleeper from the get go, by which I mean would only sleep if being held or pushed in her pram. I did give the swaddling another go at about a week old and, again, she hated it.

I am a firm believer in there being no more complicated explanation than plain old "some babies sleep, some don't."

SantasLittleMonkeyButler · 27/10/2015 22:21

So, yes, YWBVVU to preach to your friend!

VinylScratch · 27/10/2015 22:23

I can believe your friend when she says her baby doesn't like arm restriction. DD hated her baby sleeping bags from day one, she would scream when she was fastened into one, I think it was about 5 days in I gave up and bought cellular blankets then she slept like a dream. She also wouldn't sleep in a bedside cot with the side down, had to put the side up and move it to the other side of the room, she liked her own space. Some babies are born opinionated .

WorraLiberty · 27/10/2015 22:24

There's no way my DS2 (who was the best sleeper of them all), would have been swaddled.

He always slept flat on his back, with both his arms above his head.

Once the arms went up, you knew that was him asleep for the whole night.

longdiling · 27/10/2015 22:26

All babies are different, who knew! It's almost as if they're tiny individual people.

Original poster

Saladeeta · 27/10/2015 22:27

Will be extremely balanced to my dear friend, just amazed that's all...

OP posts:

Original poster

Saladeeta · 27/10/2015 22:28

Haha long it is isn't it
Was amazed by the difference in their sleeping it was remarkable

OP posts:

DonkeyOaty · 27/10/2015 22:29

Oh! Worra I had forgotten the arms up = sleep thing. Awwww.

TheFairyCaravan · 27/10/2015 22:30

Neither of ours would be swaddled. DS1 was an excellent sleeper, DS2 wasn't because they were different babies with different needs and different personalities.

Lucked · 27/10/2015 22:33

I had all my swaddling stuff ready to go for No. 2. I had blankets, Velcro wraps and zip up cocoons all of which had been essential for ds however dd didn't need any of it, she just lay there all relaxed and calm.

WorraLiberty · 27/10/2015 22:35

He still sleeps like that now Donkey

It doesn't look as cute now he's 16

Flip

1 2 3