To swaddle or not to swaddle? Safe?

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DD is 8 weeks old and has up until this point been in sleeping bags with her arms out, she doesn't sleep that well at all but does have some reflux that we are trying to deal with.

Her one sleeping bag has a swaddle mode that I had never used but last night I popped her arms in on a whim and she did a nearly four hour stretch in her crib with only needing re settled once briefly which is unheard of.

I'm wondering if the swaddle mode is the reason, but not sure if I should start swaddling now if I haven't before? Is it totally safe?

Also, I don't really like the bag with the arms in and we only have one like that so if we were going to do it then I'd want to buy some decent proper swaddles

Did you swaddle? Why or why not?
If you did is there a make you'd recommend?

Yes, I used a zip up swaddle suit and it saved my sanity! My baby had a very strong moro reflex and startled herself awake every 30 mins without the swaddle unless she was sleeping in me. I decided the swaddle was probably safer than having me fall asleep with her lying across my chest.

That should have said sleeping ON me!

We swaddled DS2 he slept so much better that way he loves it. I used the grosnug which was a swaddle and sleeping bag.

It’s perfectly safe.

Both mine were swaddled but in crocheted blankets with big holes as opposed to sleep suits so they weren't too hot and could fight their way out eventually (will try and find a pic).

My belief is it's safe but mine are now 11 and 8 and safety advice may well have moved on. One thing I will say is when they moved to the sleeping bag type coverings, they definitely slept worse for a few nights (well, until 2.5 for DS )

I swaddled ds3 because otherwise he would literally smack himself in the face whilst asleep and wake himself up. He is a restless sleeper even now at the age of 8. I watched some videos on YouTube about how to do it and just used a sheet so he didn’t get too hot.

Thanks, OP... that made me go and have a look for a pic and reminded me just how lush tiny babies are! Congrats on your little one!

Yes I swaddled both of mine. Check the Lullaby Trust website but I think the current advice is still that it's safe.

For the elder one I used giant muslins, a grosnug was better for the younger one.

I swaddled both of mine. My first in particular was a highly strung and easily overstimulated baby who loved swaddling to calm him down. He was extremely wriggly and strong so I used this shaped swaddle to wrap him firmly and securely. My second, I used Love2Dream swaddle bags which hold their hands up in the position that newborns naturally sleep in - it's less firm but suppresses the startle reflex. Every old skool midwife I met was a pro at swaddling. A big muslin will however work fine if your babies are less wriggly than mine.

The evidence on safety is really mixed.
BASIS are the go to site for baby sleep info, and they conclude that the evidence is t strong, but that the main risk seems to be starting to swaddle when the baby isn't used to it....
https://www.basisonline.org.uk/swaddling-for-sleep/

Yup, swaddling meant the difference between decent sleep or not.

Check out Love to Dream arms up swaddles. Zip on in a single layer and you can get really thin ones so much less risk of overheating. They are also hip friendly. They really helped my baby. He loved being able to soothe himself with access to his hands for rubbing his face and sucking fists, but still swaddled.

DS was swaddled in NICU and then we just carried on. It was magic how much it calmed him. Used giant muslins from Aden & Anais. Even after we stopped he had a period of us needing to hold his arms down as he dropped off.

He was back in hospital but in the paediatric ward a few weeks later. They were rubbish at reswaddling him and used to leave the blanket loose and flapping everywhere. They didn’t seem at all concerned about this! I guess he was in hospital but he wasn’t on constant sats monitoring at this point and I did go off to sleep.

Thank you - I am crap at wrapping and she is very wiggly but I will look up the love 2 dream ones!

We swaddled the first month in giant muslins. Its safe if done properly.

However, I wouldn't buy purpose shaped swaddles for your baby now if already 8 weeks. They say not to swaddle once they can roll. My 10 week old can now roll to one side already, so you may have very little time to use it.

My 3 month old cant roll yet. Its totally dependant on the baby.

Also, you can buy swaddles that change into sleeping bags when you want to transition.

I also used love to dream (company is called Swaddle Up). My baby hated having her arms pinned down but would tolerate these because they allow the baby to suck their hands.