Im really interested to hear what people think of swaddling a baby...

[mum2oliver]

......

same as otter and CSWS - the tighter the better, Joey's always been swaddled - the hospital showed me how to do it and i've jsut carried it on, in the winter (ist born in feb/march v cold here) he was having a thick fleecy blanket, now he has either a thin cotton summer blanket (v v thin no more than a sheet really) with a vest if it's not too bad, or a cellular blanket (only once) with no vest only a nappy on, and also the fan.

without being swaddled he keeps him self away with his arms flapping, we've tried to get him asleep a couple of times with one arm out but it doesn't last for v long. swaddled he'll have lovely naps and sleep and he seems to know it's bed/nap time when we do that.

I swaddled my dd2 and I would recommend again and again. She seemed to sleep for longer and more deeply when snuggled up.
I couldn't get the hang of swaddling with a blanket so bought a special thing....will look for a link....

www.fitwears.co.uk/shop.php?c=Baby&n=15850431&i=B0007CQ6W2&x=SwaddleMe_Adjustable_Infant_Cotton_Wrap_Peachy_Pink

Sorry, you'll need to copy and paste it as don't know how to do other thing.

It's thin and made of fleecy materials, and has velcro tabs to hold in the right place...also has a gap to put car seat straps through.

Swesr by it too, though ds (6 wks) is a bit of a houdini and seemed to manage to escape from any sheet/blanket I used. So got him a miracle blanket from mothercare and he's sleeping at least 7 hrs at night - sometimes 9 . Does still manage to wriggle out by morning but that's probably because I dont do the arms very tightly as it does feel a bit cruel!!

brilliant! stopped when dd was 3 months, but helped her get to sleep. used a kiddopotamus initially, but she soon grew out of that. then used a large cotton receiving blanket.

Ds loved it up until about 6 months. Really helped with his colic as it helped to calm him down and feel secure. TBH I thought it was a bit outdated and cruel pre-ds, but would highly recommend it now. I knew ds didn't like being naked when tiny like most newborns (wish I could stop him trying to take his clothes off now) and heard somewhere about it sort of recreating the womb, with them feeling secure and protected. Any way it really worked up until a certain point. Some babies don't take to it though.

For the first 2 weeks I had no sleep then we started to swaddle and ds slept well imediatly. Honestly it was like magic! Swaddled him in a cellular blanket for the first few months then when he started to escape we started to use a kiddopotamus fleece wrap with velcro. Only stopped doing it because he was too big for the kiddopotamus wraps and he could get out of just a blanket. Took him a while to get 'weaned' off it though but sleeps well again in a sleeping bag. Cant recomend it enough!!!

forgot to say, I did it for 6 months.

my tw loved it ,couldn't get them to settle without swaddling in the early weeks.

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Worked a treat for me up to about 10 weeks, then didn't seem to need it

was brill for when dd2 kept flailing her arms and hands in the roads whilst i was trying to put her on the breast.

after about 10 weeks, tho, she didn't seem to need it so much.

yes swaddled all of ours. In this weather DS2 wears just his nappy and is swaddled with a thin cotton baby sheet.

I always swaddled newborns in light weight shawl. Babies are calmed by having their hands wrapped near their belly button. As someone said earlier it stops them being startled by sudden sounds and movement (moro reflex). find that babies who are not swaddles often waken themselves up with their arms flailing.

yep, mears, and getting the arms in the road whilst trying to latch them on. oooo, dd2 was terrible for it till we got that swaddle blanket.

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never done it nor needed to with either child

they were both spread-eaglers from the moment they were born

when dd2 was born, i held her next to me for about an hour. started to feel a bit sleepy. midwife came in, picked up baby, said to her, 'you look tired' and swaddled her in about 5 seconds flat. laid her next to me, and she went right to sleep!

so i asked her to show me how she did that.

magic.

Midwives swaddled DD when she was first born.
When I got her home I soon gave that up - it always felt wrong - she'd been squashed up for weeks / months and naturally wanted to spread out. And she did.
Some people swear by it - I always want to release the poor mites from what looks like misery.

Can you imagine though - in the womb you have hardly room to move. You are used to being 'cramped'. All of a sudden you are in this vast expanse. How scary is that?

DD1 didnt like it. She was born in the hottest summer on record and was so claustrophobic she didn't even want to be in a Moses basket.

but DD2, born 10 December, loved it!

My dad was like 'that's cruel', until my mum pointed out that he, the child of a Mayan Indian woman, had been swaddled and carried about in a ring sling and bf'd till he was 2.

That shut him up.

Swaddling worked for mine. They really preferred it. Some born in hot June and some in freezing February. The ones born in hot months I put just a vest on and swaddled with cotton sheet. Seemed to keep cool enough. The ones born in winter months I put vest and babygro on and swaddled in the sheet. If I thought they were still cold would put a blanket on them. They were much more content when swaddled.

I know Mears.
DD didn't go for it at all = she loved stretching out and slept like a trooper from very early on.
I suppose one size doesn't fit all, so to speak!

both of mine slept better when swaddled, particularly in the early weeks. dd often slept with her arms up and flungback, so I just put them back in or wrapped her lower half. ds slept swaddled for months. They both still like a version of it when they are ill.

dd used to sigh with pleasure when she was swaddled.

Just read your post Mears. dd had the startle (?) reflex for about a month - swaddlimg really seemd to comfort her.