Some basic questions on swaddling

[HolidaysQueen]

Hi all -

I'm due in 11 weeks (end March) and am a clueless first-timer! I've heard that swaddling is good for helping babies to sleep and it makes sense to me and DH so we'd like to try it, but had a few questions about it.

1. What else should they wear? I've bought a grobag swaddling cloth on eBay. I was assuming that in addition the baby would wear a nappy and a sleeveless vest. Would that then be enough, or would I also need to put a blanket over him? Or could I instead put a babygro underneath the swaddle but no blanket on top? I'm assuming in summer there would be no need for a blanket as well but there might be in March/April when he's very little?

2. How do you change nappies in the night? Do you have to completely unswaddle then reswaddle or is there a niftier way of doing it?

3. How do I judge if the baby is overheating?

4. Is it worth swaddling for daytime sleeps or just for nighttime?

5. If it helps (probably irrelevant), the plan is that the baby will be in our room in a moses basket for first couple of months

I guess a lot of it we'll just work out as we go along but I'm concerned that we don't make any big mistakes in the first couple of weeks!

Thanks!

HQ xx

Grobag products usually come with a thermometer which tell you what the baby should be wearing in addition to the blanket according to the temp. To check a babies temp your self you need to feel the back of the babies neck and judge from that. Some babies are happy to go all night without a nappy change others need to be changed when they wake for a feed. When the baby arrives you will work out what is best for you both.

We used to swaddle ours in a babygrow or vest in the spring/summer but that was with one of those cotton baby blankets with holes in (can't remember the proper name for them). In the hospital the midwives swaddled the babies in loads of layers which goes completely against all advice but was actually very effective.
I often placed a blanket over him as an extra layer, just layed on rather than swaddled.
As for night time nappy changes - I would leave him (using disposables) unless it was soiled, in which case you have to unswaddle - if its a boy, he'll probably pee everywhere anyway so best not to have to wash the blankets too!
Your baby is over heating if he's sweaty on the back of the the neck or face.
You won't make any big mistakes. You'll be fine, you'll just learn a lot by doing it.I think we all do things differently anyway and the books aren't always right!

When swaddled my ds used to wear a nappy and babygro - but he was born in January. We used to swaddle for all sleeps as ds loved it. You get very good at swaddling after a few goes.

Don't worry about mistakes, you will work out what is best during the course of the first few weeks by trial and error.

swaddling was great and worked for us. Read Harvey Karp's "Baby Bliss" - it's a great book.

I would swaddle for day time naps too. The other things oyu'll have to play by ear.

Ds was swaddled until he was 5.5mths, he just didn't like it one night so we stopped.

The Miracle swaddle blanket is also FAB from Mothercare.

i used an ordinary blanket triangle folded to swaddle DS.

He wore a sleepsuit and nappy, and i would put a blanket over the top of him. It was november-feb time though, so on the chilly side.

Thank you guys - that's really helpful, and reassuring!

It's so exciting being a first-timer but there's so much to think about and learn, and sometimes my head hurts