Swaddling-for How Long??

hey A., i went through this last year with my second because my first daughter never swaddled. well we ended up swaddling her for 7 months!!!! but what helped, was my babysitter told me to use full size bed sheets. i believe we folded them in half and then pulled down the corner for the head..but anyway she did this with her son for the same reason of him always getting out. well it worked great! it allowed us to wrap it around more than once. good luck whatever you do!! by the way, i was so worried it would stunt her development..she was fine.

Hi A.. You have gotten so much conflicting advice!
We did swaddle our LO for months - and it DID help us, it was worse without it. BUT - see what works for your baby.

Try without and see what happens. Young babies are in fact restless sleepers (they have reflexes that make them kick and kick, etc) and you may find he does it without the swaddle as well.
If he seems to settle better without it, then bye-be swaddle! If he seems to still kick and squirm without it anyways, then keep the swaddle for a while longer.

I too recommend the Happiest Baby on the Block Book/DVD. He gives some other good recommendations, explains the reflexes, and goes on to explain why your LO may seem to hate the swaddle, but need it.

My LO broke free of all swaddles so we started using the ones with the velcrow on them so they would stay put. Around 4 mos we started to swaddle her with one arm out, and eventually 2 arms out, then we switched to a sleep sack months later.

So again, try it without and see what happens!

Good luck!

We've been swaddling our now 8-month-old daughter since she was about a month old. I came across a book entitled "Crying and Restlessness in Babies," by Rita Blom (http://www.amazon.com/Crying-Restlessness-Babies-Parents-.... It describes swaddling techniques, but it also goes into how long babies should be awake depending on their age. This was very valuable info for us, and really worked to stick to the schedule. For example, at 6 weeks, it recommends that the baby be awake for 45-60 minutes (not long, right??), and in that time, the baby be fed, changed, played with a bit, let alone to get used to being by himself/herself, and then swaddled and put to bed using the same lullaby every time as a cue. The awake time gradually increases - 60 - 75 minutes for 7 to 12 week-olds; 1.5 hours for 3 - 5 month-olds, etc. It has given us a great way to make sure our baby is rested, and after initially fighting the swaddling, she relaxes into it so beautifully and gets real rest. And so do we, since we're no longer standing on our heads to make her happy when what she really needed was sleep! Best of luck, and do consider purchasing the book. It's worth its weight in gold.

Neither of my children liked swaddling past a couple weeks old despite friends who swore by it with their own kids. Personally, I wouldn't force him to stay with swaddling if he seems hot and bothered by it. Babies will wake themselves one way or another, swaddled or not. If you give him the opportunity to put himself back to sleep while he is not swaddled you might be able to do without the swaddle. It seems like he he might just be done with it.

If he hates it, I'd stop, especially since, as someone else already pointed out, if the blanket gets over his face, he could suffocate.

I agree that if he is breaking out of the swaddle, it's dangerous to keep doing it. You could also just see whether he sleeps longer or goes to sleep more quickly in a swaddle. If not, there's no need. If swaddling does seem to help, then I second another mom's recommendation of "The Happiest Baby on the Block" (we used the book, but I'm sure the DVD is great too). Are you using special wraps intended to make swaddling easier, for example Swaddle Me and Miracle blanket, or have you also tried using just a regular receiving blanket and a tight swaddling method? The book (or DVD) mentioned above will show you the tightest swaddling method. I found that my kids could get out of anything with Velcro or any amount of stretch -- the only way to keep them confined was with a regular blanket and the method in the "Happiest Baby on the Block." Once they got strong enough to break out of that, I would use the regular blanket and tight swaddle first and then wrap them in a Swaddle Me, and that bought me a couple more months of swaddling. If heat is an issue, I'd try geting an air conditioner for the baby's room (unless you determine that swaddling really isn't necessary). I swaddled both of my sons for about 6 months and only stopped because they started breaking out of the swaddle consistently.

Also, a little plug for my business: Not all baby blankets are large enough to get a proper swaddle as your baby gets older. My blankets are larger than most and come with illustrated swaddling instructions (the same method mentioned in the "Happiest Baby" book). www.eieiobabygear.com. Use coupon code MamaSource08 for a discount.

There's no requirement for swaddling at all. My oldest child hated being restricted - broke out of every swaddle from day one - and so I never swaddled her after a couple of days of learning that she hated it. In fact, she was born 3 weeks before Halloween, and since all baby costumes pretty much "swaddle" the baby's legs, and my daughter LOVED to kick, my sister so very nicely sewed an entire Halloween costume that had "pants" so that my daughter could kick freely and not be confined. Don't swaddle if he doesn't like it.

If he is breaking out of it - get rid of it. It becomes a danger for him to have it in the crib/bassinet with him. He will eventually stop with the reflexes and he will learn to settle back down and go back to sleep. It is too hot to be all wrapped up. ;-)

It was recommended we swaddle our now-one-year-old because he was born early, by caesarean, and startled easily. As with your son, he could get out of any swaddle. Easily. And I'm not just talking about ours. I'm talking about the nurses', our midwife's, and the midwife who was dubbed "The Swaddle Queen"'s. No one was able to swaddle him in a way he couldn't get out. And he clearly hated it. So, even though everyone said to do it, we stopped. If there's one thing I think having a baby taught me, it's to trust my gut, and my gut said that while this may be the commonly encouraged (and normally effective) way to deal with some of his issues, it wasn't right for my baby. Nine months after giving up, I don't regret not forcing it.

I would suggest getting your hands on the happiest baby on the block dvd. It says babies should be swaddled until 3 months because this is considered the fourth trimester and although they think they may not like it as you have seen when he startles himself they do need it. The way he swaddles infants or fetuses as he calls them for the first three months is with the hands down by their side so they can't get out of the swaddle. He makes it seem as though the feet aren't as important if they get out as is the arms. I say this because when he puts them in the swing they are also swaddled and there feet have to come out to use the straps to secure them in the harness. He states a square blanket is best. The one they sell on the internet is 42x42 and it is wrapped rather snug he says as snug as your pants at the waist at the end of pregnancy as a relation to how tight the wrap should be. If you go onto the happiest baby website go to the link on the left that says certification program then select for educators and then select education updates and download the pdf of the dudu wrap flyer this hand out shows exactly how to wrap your son.

Best of luck.

If he can kick himself out of the swaddling blanket, its time to stop swaddling. Its a safety issue now, because he could kick the blanket up over himself.