HELP!!!! SHOULD I SWADDLE???

[sleepymama]

some of you may know that I have had problems with my now 15 week old and his naps. He would sleep for 45 mins and then wake up screaming. After much reading and debate in the last 4 days I have started to swaddle my son tightly and he has managed to sleep for 1 1/2 to 2 hours for his naps. However, my HV came over for a routine check and has told me not to swaddle because of cot death...I am very worried as his screaming had reached the point of driving me to tears and the swaddling has been the only thing that has worked. But, in the same breath I am now really worried about swaddling him and the unthinkable happening. Does anyone else swaddle their los ? Does anyone have any advice for me?

5 months old.

We have Ben who is 5 months old.sleeping through most nights which is great but I do have one concern.

From birth we have been swaddling Ben as he suffered from extremely bad colic for the first 7-8 weeks of his life. The only way to get him to settle was to swaddle (most times). The problem I am having now is that this is not working as Ben is bviously getting stronger and breaking free of his swaddle and waking up, I am increasingly feeling like I am restraining him rather than soothing him, as it takes quite a few attempts to wrap him up.

I have tried for a week not to swaddle but this had disastrous results and very sleepless nights.

Does anyone have any tips for what we should do.

help

Carmel

If you want to keep swaddling and haven't already, you could try the Miracle Blanket. We use it on ds who is only two months but very strong and was wriggling out of regular swaddling. But then again at 5 months you sound like you want to wean him off it. Could you try swaddling him with one or both arms free and see what effect that has?

sleepymama, lots of other people have given you good advice and good links, I just wanted to add my experience - I swaddled both of my boys when they were little and it really does help them to sleep. And I've learned to try not to listen too much to what HVs or nurses tell me - at least not unless it backs up something I've read or heard from more reliable sources . I said try, because I still often get upset by their off-the-cuff comments. it's really hard not to, isn't it? Luckily the mumsnet members are around to provide a more down-to-earth approach and often far more informed opinions.

Daintree and LeahE - as my ds2 has reflux I was going to suggest the miracle blanket too! Another solution more targeted towards refluxing babies is the tucker sling/wedge combination . I'm afraid I don't know anything about ordering these in the UK, if that's where you are based.

Have you tried a sleeping bag yet? Ds1 graduated from being swaddled to being in a sleeping bag fairly easily.

and one other idea - is it possible that he's waking up for other reasons - like a growth spurt or some developmental breakthrough?

hth a little

Sam

Am joining this thread late ... but wanted to tell you what I did.
I discovered swaddling at 9 weeks with DS and it saved my life (and his ) ...
So, DD was swaddled from day 1 and it a) stopped her flailing arms from waking her and b) made her feel secure ...
I fully swaddled her until she began to struggle and get her arms out (then I worried about her getting in a tangle with the blanket) ... that was around 10 weeks. Then I swaddled under her arms until she got too big for the blanket ... around 6 months. Then she went into a grobag.

have tried swaddling with one arm free this morning guys - will let you know how it goes. Did it because I was still worried about overheating and that maybe I was wrapping him so tightly it may well affect his development.

Ambrosia - my grandfather was telling me about this guy on Richad and Judy - Any ideas on who he is - name perhaps?

It won't affect his development! Babies develop regardless. There was a time when babies were literally strapped to a board almost 25/7 - made them very portable! But when they were unstrapped they did all the same things as a baby who hadn't been strapped up.

If it wasn't for swaddling I think I would have pulled all my hair out!...DS would never have his arms in though, it was as though they were stuck to the side of his head for about 2 months lol

I've never heard a HV say such a thing. We were shown how to swaddle by our antenatal teacher and it was one of the most useful things she taught us. It's been done for god knows how long and I've never heard of any link to cot death. Poor DD was so obviously happier swaddled that it transformed her sleeping.

This is from the SIDS website:

"Is it ok to swaddle my baby?"
Different people swaddle in different ways, using different weight materials. It is therefore difficult to give definitive advice, except to advise if people swaddle their baby it's sensible to use thin materials, keep your baby's head uncovered, take care what other bedding and clothing you use (eg recognise that swaddling is instead of a blanket), and make sure that your baby does not get hot and sweaty.

Sounds sensible to me.

Mine still likes being swaddled in a big sheet when he's sick...and he's 13 months old

hi there - one arm free did not work. DS cried inconsolably at 45 min for over half an hour until I swaddled his arms in and now is fast asleep.
I wish the HV had not come round yesterday - you know what its like when someone makes you question whether what you're doing is right
The thing i'm worried about is when he's too strong for the arm swaddling - if i'll just be back to square one again with his naps?? I've heard alot of people say that they stop swaddling after 4 months - my ds is coming up to that now...

I swaddled all 3 of mine and they are all fine and didn't end up with any development problems cos they're only swaddled whilst asleep not all day. I used to wrap mine in a thin pram sheet and progressed into a cut down cot sheet so that they didn't overheat. All 3 finished with swaddling at different stages, but you will know when cos like other MN's have said, they will start to wriggle free. We then progressed to having the sheet tucked in quite tightly over them in the cot so they still felt secure.

we have a cotton one of these

excellent
cheaper than in uk and speedy delivery - less than a week
theuy do fleece too but i worry about overheating
it is a thin t shirt material
check out sellers other items for differebnt sizes and colours

sleepymama -- I assume it was Harvey Karp. His book is good but IMO the DVD is better as you can actually see what he's doing.

Don't put a deadline on when to stop swaddling, sleepy - as others have said, your baby will tell you. I kept trying to get DD into a sleeping bag but she wasn't happy till after 6 months I seem to remember. Even then I had to put her in a lightweight bag with a sheet tucked tightly over the top and secured with rolled-up towels wedged down the sides of the mattress. Honestly, it won't do your DS any harm. Give yourself a break

I see the Miracle Blanket website has some research apparently indicating that swaddling may reduce the risk of SIDS.

DO what works!!!!

When ds was tiny (pre 15 weeks) he HAD to be swaddled to sleep. Else he'd scream. Then we discovered baby sleeping bags

Once he got to 15 weeks, he HAD to sleep on his side. Else he'd scream (see a pattern ) so we rolled a blanket up behind him. Now (at nearly one) he rolls, crawls etc, and most nights is flat on his face, or has his feet stuck out the cot bars, or is accross the cot down one end. Do what they want imo!

It was Dr Harvey Karp (the shush, swaddle, shoogle man on Richard & Judy). His book called Baby Bliss is great. I've been swaddling dd for feeding and when she's grisling then also got nervous as read that you shouldn't let them sleep swaddled due to this cot death thing. Feel much better for reading the comments here - she seems so much more settled when swaddled. We get told such a lot of rubbish, it seems to be designed to make new mums worry & feel continually guilty, as if it all isn't hard enough! A midwife told me when pg that I musn't drink caffeine becuase it would cause cot death - would love to know what the scientific basis for that was, if any.....

Thanks alot for all the advice - definatley going to continue swaddling ds and feel alot better DH is really peeved with the HV and has told me not to ask her for advice in the future but to ask fellow Mumsnetters ! For all of you who have swaddled - did you have any problems with lo's sleeping once they were unswaddled? Did it take time for them to get used to it?

I saw my HV this morning and mentioned that my 11 week old ds is swaddled in a 'swaddle me' and asked when he might be ready for a sleeping bag. We've tried a few times but as soon as his arms are free he wakes himself up within an hr screaming. She said that they don't advise swaddling due to the increased risk of cot death which is the first time i'd heard this as the midwives showed me how to swaddle to settle ds after a couple of sleepless nights. Imagine my surprise when I logged on and saw this was the new topic of conversation. It's been very reassuring to read the other postings from everyone as I thought we were doing really well (7-10 hrs of continuous sleep a night) and the HV really scared me. There is no way that we are stopping swaddling and upsetting ds when he is so settled at bedtime. I just wanted to say thank you for helping me regain my confidence after a worrying day.

As Ds was a Spring baby and quite sweaty, we swaddled him in a muslin cloth( when he was tiny) and he was very happy. I was also worried about SID as we already had a child affected by this. The key issues seem to be about overheating - not using too many blankets and not covering their heads