Swaddling; Health Visitor said absolutely not, Antenatal teacher said go for it - What did you do?!

[MotherofKitties]

Hi all,

I'm receiving some really conflicting advice about swaddling and I'd appreciate your thoughts!

We had planned to swaddle as our antenatal teacher recommended it and I get the theory behind babies feeling happier when they're 'close' and contained; obviously we wouldn't be swaddling tightly to prevent constriction of baby's chest and overheating, and we would be using cotton specific muslins only to do this, but it seems like a good alternative to sheets in this hot weather too.

Anyway, we had our first pre-birth health visitor appointment the other day and she says swaddling was a big no no, and not to even consider it because all the research shows it increases SIDS/cot death due to overheating and constriction issues.

This has obviously concerned me and when I questioned her on it (and explained we'd be shown how to do it loosely so as to avoid constriction and overheating etc), as nice as she was, she was very black and white about the subject without providing any examples or advice about why or where the research comes from.

This is our first baby and so I have no previous experience with swaddling and I obviously don't want to do anything that might endanger our child, so I was wondering whether anyone else has been warned not to, if anyone has any success stories for it, or advice on why not to?

Thanks in advance

Xx

@MotherofKitties I had the exact same experience! At our pre natal visit the health visitor preached about breastfeeding & not swaddling. I questioned her further on both points & it was clear that she was pushing the department of health agenda without any of her own evidence/opinion to back it up.

In the hospital they swaddled but I was too scared to do it until my LO was about 3 weeks old. I wish I had done it consistently from birth until he could roll over! I would swaddle from day 1 if I had another child...use your common sense, don't swaddle too tightly, use a breathable fabric (Aden & Anais large muslins are perfect) and I placed our LO in a sleepyhead.

Good luck with your baby! X

Thanks for all your comments and experiences; sounds like there's an awful lot of conflicting advice out there, but then like most of you have said, welcome to the world of parenting, everyone says something different!

I think we'll just see whether our little one likes it or not and see what's right for her, like you've all said some babies might like it and some might not, we'll just have to see!

Thank you again xx

Things that previous generations do, are later discouraged. Not just this, but many things. Sometimes I find that questionable. I swaddled both mine.

DS was born end of November last year, we had a grosnug. He was swaddled in the hospital by a MW.

Agree with taking things HV say with a pinch of salt. I've had conflicting advice from HVs within the same authority, in the same day. See how your baby is. DS didn't mind being swaddled underneath his armpits, used to wriggle his hands out regardless of how I blanketed him.

I've swaddled all my children. I use a thin blanket or special swaddling blanket to wrap baby in and then tuck another thin blanket over baby and under mattress but not tight and nothing over the face and arms not too tight. Apparently there's no advice on whether to swaddle or not because there's no evidence that it safer, or a risk, so as long as you follow the guidelines it should be ok and can help baby sleep better as they feel more secure.