can I put dd arms into grobag?

[mads1]

dd is 9 weeks old and tonight is the first time she's in a grobag. Until now, I've swaddled her when her arms are really out of control knocking her dummy out or scratching her face etc.

So has anyone ever put their DC arms into the grobag?

My main concern is sids. Also she is trying to find her own fingers to soothe with and I'm worried that this will hinder her if I continue swaddling etc. She is now at the moment frantically sucking her fist and is not settling at all. It's been half an hour and I've gone in a few times to give her the dummy but she keeps knocking it out.

Anyone had any experience in this? How long can it take for her to learn to suck fingers or thumb?

I seem to remember dd1 was very quick at finding her fingers and also didn't get so frantically over tired with arms all over the place!

no becuase thier head could end up under/in the grobag!

not advised from what i remember

No No No No No! Sorry, but NEVER put the baby's arms inside the grobag, they can slip all the way down inside and suffocate.

If you put her arms inside the gro bag isnt there a chance her head could end up inside and she could suffocate? sorry if i am being thick but i cant see how it could work safely. it is clearly a hard task but she is v v little and not being able to settle herself is pretty common at this age. just stick to keeping her properly in the grobag is my view

best not to

i did, because i was desperate, but he managed to wriggle his hands free anyway

in the end i kept up with the swaddling for ages (4mo?) then opted for something else not recommended (again, in desperation)

I wouldn't have thought it was safe.

you can get combined sleeping bag/swaddle things: swaddleaze. Its either that or you go back to swaddling as your lo is still young enough for it - you could try leaving 1 arm out to see if she can use it to self soothe

that was my concern too about wriggling in. I just thought that I had read somewhere that someone had done it. That's why it was in my head.

I've just tucked one arm in a sheet and will take it off once she's asleep. It's weird because during the night they don't bother her. I'm guessing it's because she's more relaxed.

she got the arm out! She is really getting over tired now. Really getting beside herself . Poor thing

i know it's tough but i do think they have to learn to self-soothe (prepares to be flamed). unless of course you are happy to soothe her back to sleep in the night

i reswaddled and reinserted dummy like a loon for the first few weeks/months

ps poor you

I use a muslin folded on the diagonal twice so it is a long rectangle and just swaddle her arms from elbow to wrist in her tummy area.

are you happy that you are swaddling really well?

i have two swaddling blackets (they're really just thick sheets but perfect size and shape) that you would be welcome to if you like

oh tutter that's so kind of you!

I think I have to give it a go for atleast 2/3 nights and if it's not working out then go back to swaddling.

Another thing I read (yes I should chuck the books out the window!) was that you should only swaddle upto 6 weeks.

Thanks again tutter xx

i did loads of research on this

there is no evidence (as far as i can tel) that proves swaddling impedes development (although doing it when the baby is awake may well cause issues with their motor develeopment)

i would not swaddle if it were too hot becasue of the risk of overheating

up to you, but you're welcome to them

ps it was ds2 that i swaddled (ds1 slept well), ds2 is now walking (at 13mo). his brother didn't walk til 16mo. his (ds2's) fine motor skills are - and have always been - excellent. not scientific proof, i grant you, but...

I swaddled DS for about 4 months too. I did feel a bit mean, but he slept so much better. But around 4 months, I took one arm out of his swaddle for 4 - 5 nights, then both arms out (so his body was still quite tightly wrapped) for 4 - 5 nights, then progressed to grobag.
He did cry quite a bit during the transition, but we got there eventually. Mind you, everything seems to be slowly but surely with him!

The other thing which worked for me was that I 'held' his arms slightly down as DS fell asleep. It took about 15 minutes, until he finished all of his little 'jerks'.

thanks for all you advice

Just a little tip from me as I have this problem.

I swaddled both my boys until they wriggled out of them and had to go to a grobag. Had terrible trouble with arms being free so I would put arms inside, and yes I know it's wrong. I did make sure thought that their head couldn't slip down inside and therefore could only buy certain grobags.

I now have the problem though that ds2 is so used to it, every time I've tried to keep his arms outside he just won't sleep. I wish so much I had just persevered and used it right in the first place! He's now nearly 6 months. For a few nights lack of sleep then, we wouldn't have to go through it now. So my advice is don't!