Swaddle or sleeping bag for newborn?

[Melly]

Hi, can anyone offer any advice on my dilemma. My second baby is due Mid April and hopefully (!) will be in GF routine as I did with my dd who is now 18 months. I'm thinking about bedding etc for No 2. DD was swaddled as newborn, then half swaddled etc until about 3 months (I think) and then I discovered sleeping bags and swear by them.

I know sleeping bags for newborns are now readily available but I'm wondering what to do in the first few weeks. Research tends to suggest that swaddling can soothe very small babies and although sleeping bags are very safe etc, young babies can obviously flail their arms about in these! Have seen a combination of sleeping bag/swaddle blanket on website called Kiddycarebabybags.com which looks quite good although it is quite pricey at £34.00 plus shipping as I think it is an American site?? Was wondering if anyone has one or could give me any advice.

Hi Melly, I found swaddling for the first 2 or so months really useful. They really did seem to sleep better when tightly 'packed up'. It worked until the babies started being able to break their arms free of the swaddle. That's when I introduced the sleeping bag and that proved really good too. So I would say swaddle for early weeks then sleeping bag - but then that's just what worked for me.

Maybe you should experiment when your baby is born and see what they are happiest with? I bought a sleeping bag for my daughter, now almost 3, and she hated it! In the end she was swaddled until almost 6 months, because that is what she liked the best!!
Ds, who is now nearly 1, loves the sleeping bag and was in it from about the second week. Different babies like different things for sleeping. I was amazed when ds didn't like swaddling as I had assumed he would be the same as dd.

I've been swaddling my dd in a flannette sheet since we got home from hospital - in hospital they used a blanket. She's now 11 weeks and still loves being swaddled particularly at night. I find it easy using the sheet to wrap around her, even when her arms are all over the place and it's not too thick. I use blankets over the top which can be easily added or removed depending on how warm it is. I'm nervous about a sleeping bag because my dd gets hot quite easily.

I have never used a sleeping bag so can't vouch for them or otherwise, but I have always swaddled my newborns and find they loved the feeling of security and comfort that being swaddled gives them. With my youngest, I found the swaddling with her arms tucked tightly at her sides gave her the most comfort - she hated having her arms loose and flapping around - she seemed to feel very insecure if not swaddled tightly.

Thanks for the replies. Think I will try swaddling for first few weeks as I did with dd and take it from there.

I swaddled ds2 for 6-8weeks beofre putting him into a sleeping bag. Just felt temperature regulation was easier and ds2 just loved it unlike ds1 who kicked his way out of his swaddle at every opportunity and went into a sleepbag at 4weeks as he woud wriggle to the top of the bed within minutes and get cold. My sleepbags came from kiddycare and I spotted the swaddle bag in their recent catalogue. Just wish I had a small enough babe to put in one. They're based in Scotland I think, not USA.

So what exactly do you use to swaddle a newborn and how do you do it? And do they not get too hot in a swaddle?

Was told today by staff in MOthercare that they do not recommend swaddling as the baby can pull the blanket up over their heads and smother themselves. Surely the same could happen with normal sheets / blankets?

Never believe a word anyone in Mothercare ever says about babies - IME they haven't the slightest clue what they're talking about !!

My HV was amazed that I swaddled dd (2 years ago) as she said it was very old fashioned and it was no longer recommended practice - but dd loved it - so I ignored that bit of advice. I think the idea is that it's pretty tight and stays tight so shouldn't be able to work up the body - but by the time the baby is capable of pulling the blankets it's time to stop swaddling anyway I should think.

I used a jersey blanket that I bought from Blooming Marvellous, double thickness of T-shirt like material - very soft and a bit stretchy.I then moved onto sheet & blanket briefly before discovering Grobags at about 12 weeks.

Like Sobernow, I initially swaddled my pre-term twins although I swaddled them individually until they were able to wriggle their arms out. Then I used sleeping bags (they said they were OK to use from 10lbs) which are still working well - the twins are nearly 1.

I swaddled ds2 for his first few weeks, then unwrapped him - but found that he was kicking the blankets off. So then bought a sleeping bag - it's fantastic! I can't praise it highly enough. I've absolutely no worries now about him being uncovered in the night, and best of all he started sleeping through the night

I got my sleeping bag in M&S, but I've since seen them in Mothercare, as well as a lot of the mail order catalogues.

bit of swaddling to start with - she seemed to like feeling 'enclosed'..and then when she started to kick off blankets (she was rolling around from about 6 wks!) struggled on for a few months until I discovered the joys of sleeping bags, and thank god for them.

Unfortunately dd spent the first three weeks in special care. Once she was outof the humidicrib she was sort of swaddles - wrapped up tightly in bed clothes in her egg box. When we got her home.. because she was such a nightmare to keep sheets and blankets on we bought her some sleeping bags. They are fabulous. I do not have to worry about her kicking the blankets off or slipping down the blankets. SHe loves them. We bought ours from John Lewis originally. SHe has only had the one sleeping bag for winter and I just wash it a couple of times a week. ANd it is still going strong. We intend to take her sleeping bags with us when we go o/s and hope that willhelp her sleep in the various places we will be staying. Grobag do them, M & S do them and I saw them in mothercare today.

I saw swaddling blanket in the grobag catalogue - very reasonable from memory.

Hi Melly =) ... I use the sleeping bag/ swaddling combination and it works a treat! here's a link to a website I found that has some on offer (reduced from 22.95 pounds to 17.21) Still a little pricey but definatley worth it.

www.mothersbliss.com/shopping/swaddleaze.asp

I swaddled all my 4 in the early weeks with either a flannelette sheet or a cotton cellular blanket both of which you'll be likely to be buying anyway. Lay out swaddle material, put baby on top. Tuck one half under armpit and under back. Other half over baby's other shoulder and across to second shoulder (and under back again. or leave second part a bit looser if later on your lo wants to find a thumb!)

There's something adorable about a newborn all snuggled up in a clean white cover fast asleep.

oh dear your baby will be at school now

I would do exactly as you did before. Personally I wouldn't use a sleeping bag for a newborn because it won't hold the baby close enough. You can also have more options of sheet/blanket etc.

I had a swaddle blanket I bought from Mothercare. It was rubbish.

Our baby was struggling to sleep at night, like any other, and we found swaddling very helpful. We use a thin cotton blanket with holes on it, which allows to breathe through in the unlikely event that the baby gets the sheet over his face. We haven't tried sleeping bag and we will wait a few more weeks before purchasing a sleeping bag.

I swaddled my son because he had a habit of scratching his face in the night - If it's done properly I don't think they can suffocate themselves... I always kept it down round his shoulders rather than up to the neck. He was born in Febuary so it was cold too. He went into a sleeping bag when he was out of his crib into his cot @ about 3 months.

re modama - cellular blankets are a godsend too - great for pram & cot!

We used a Swaddle Bag from Puckababy. Our baby was a terrible sleeper. With some advice from a good friend, we bought the Puckababy. This worked great. After six months we used a sleeping bag.

www.swaddlebag.co.uk