Against unswaddling?

[Anonymous]

I am just trying to gather information as a super new mom. Our baby is only 12 days old and she does great being swaddled but she needs to be swaddled all the time. Do I need to be gradually reducing her swaddle time? If so, by what age? And are some people opposed to swaddling? If so, what are your reasons? I am just trying to gather information so I know what is best. I know that for now I cant swaddle enough but i just want to know what the future of this swaddling thing looks like. I see tons of photos of relative newborns and they are never swaddled and seem ok. I would appreciate any insight anyone has.

[Anonymous]

According to Dr. Karp (in his book "the happiest baby on the block"), you should swaddle for the first 3 months which Dr. Karp calls the "4th semester". Swaddling helps the baby feel secure b/c it reminds him or her of the womb. It helps in reducing fusiness and helps the baby fall asleep. After the first 3 months, according to Dr. Karp, you can gradually unswaddle: start with putting an arm out and see how that goes...etc.

[Anonymous]

I'd say do whatever you need to do for the first three months to make your baby happy. They will eventually resist the swaddle and will likely ween themselves from it.

[Anonymous]

We still swaddle our 4-month-old at night and for most naps (trying to wean, so do some naps unswaddled). We swaddled almost all the time when he was a newborn. Only person we met who was against it was my mom, based on the fact that she wouldn't like being swaddled (I'm guessing she wouldn't like wearing diapers, either, but she doesn't seem to mind that we use those!). I have heard no good reason not to swaddle, and plenty of reasons to (see Karp, as a PP suggested). I say do whatever works to soothe your child! Your baby will let you know when it's time to change things up.

[Anonymous]

There is no need to get out of swaddling until the baby is ready to start rolling over, or begins to dislike swaddling. Usually, this or any transition in the sleep routine takes adjusting to, and it seems like a really big deal when you are approaching the change, but usually you can get through it with maybe a week or so of disruption.

Generally, a sleep sack is a nice alternative when you get to that point, because it's roomy enough for the baby to be able to move around ,but it keeps them warm and gives some of the feeling of comfort that they get from the swaddle.

Right now I would let the baby enjoy the swaddling. Even before the unswaddling IMO is the step of getting to the point where the baby does not have to be nursed or rocked to sleep. In a few months they should be able to be put down while still awake and fall asleep on their own. I'd aim for that first (not now, though!) because you may not have to stop swaddling until later.

[Anonymous]

I agree with all the advice above. There's no such thing as too much swaddling the first three months. Your baby will start resisting it when he/she is ready -- just follow their cues and you'll be fine.

If you have any doubts, read Happiest Baby on the Block or better yet, watch the DVD. We found it VERY helpful, and DD looooooved her Miracle Blankets.

As for people on the other side, I think they tend to see it from the adult perspective -- to us, it looks like a straightjacket. But to a baby, it's apparently heaven.

One last thing -- when your baby weans himself or herself from the swaddle, you'll want to do more tummy time. But don't worry abut it the first month.

Congrats and have fun with your newborn!!

[Anonymous]

DS practically lived in a swaddle for the first couple of weeks. As he started moving around more, it became apparent on its own when to swaddle less.

Don't worry about swaddling for too long if it helps your baby sleep or calms her. We'd often break out the swaddle when DS was distressed. Plus, I swaddled him for naps until he was over 5 months old. I swore I was going to be swaddling him in high school. But he eventually kicked the habit when he was ready.

[Anonymous]

I didn't read any sleep books, but in my experience:

DC #1 loved to be swaddled and did so until almost 8 months, yes that says months (not weeks). She does not have any adverse effects and just seemed to really like that comfort to sleep. She slept through the night (7hrs) consistantly by 7weeks.

Now, DC#2 only liked to be swaddled for the first few weeks and then liked to be free. He also slept through the night at 7 weeks.

I say just go with the flow and follow your DC's lead.

[[e-mail]]

Power to the swaddle! It's the best and for me the only way my son slept thru the night since he was 3 months old. He eventually did a hudini on the swaddle and then we knew it was time for a blanket.... he is 19 months old now and still sleeps thru the night ( 7:30 or 9 pm till 6 am)!!! SWADDLE, girlfriend!

[Anonymous]

definitely swaddle for as long as it works!! we did.. whenit was an issue we found a great swaddle alternative sleep sack the pekemoe http://www.pekemoe.co.nz , but for now, do what works!

[Anonymous]

OK, I'll be the lone stick in the mud. Here is the disclaimer up front -- this is based on my own intuition, and not someting I read anywhere. Basically, I figured DS was in the womb for as long as he needed to be and while I completely believe in the fourth "trimester," I also think that trimester is about snuggling, cuddling, skin to skin as much as possible, and just being tucked up close to mom or dad (or both!). I found that we were swaddling our baby so much initially that it was reducing our skin to skin. It was a PITA to unswaddle him all of the time to feed him, etc. So we felt like we were carrying this baby around like a football! Then, at 2 weeks or so, DS started to really resist the swaddle anyway. We'd read that harvey karp book and I was trying hard to force his solutions on our child. Then what happened was I realized that (at least for us) all of that stuff was just a substitute for snuggling and nursing. I started rocking and nursing DS to sleep and -- voila -- the time it took to "get him down" went from sometimes 2 hours (!!!) to just a few moments. And he slept longer when he was not trying all night to break out of the swaddle. I think this had to be good for his development, too.

Here's where someone will flame me, and so I truly don't mean to speak for anyone else's situation or claim to know what will work for them, but we went into this parenting thing without too many concrete ideas of what it would be like and read books like happiest baby, etc. We bought a crib and practiced swaddling. Then the only thing that really worked for DS was to sleep on one of us. Suddenly that made a ton of sense to me from what I think is an anthropological standpoint. Babies are meant to sleep on their moms. These days we are scared to do it, think it's less safe, and somehow think it makes sense to put baby on his own surface far away from mom. Believe me, we are completely not crunchy, but it occured to me that the reason we need to swaddle is to somehow trick the baby into thinking he's in someone's arms.

Everyone needs a break, and swaddling can help comfort a baby, which is good from that standpoint and also from the standpoint of getting that much-needed break. But I would seek other ways to comfort him, and other ways to get him to sleep, rather than relying on swaddling all of the time. Basically -- swaddle, but in moderation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OK, I'll be the lone stick in the mud. Here is the disclaimer up front -- this is based on my own intuition, and not someting I read anywhere. Basically, I figured DS was in the womb for as long as he needed to be and while I completely believe in the fourth "trimester," I also think that trimester is about snuggling, cuddling, skin to skin as much as possible, and just being tucked up close to mom or dad (or both!). I found that we were swaddling our baby so much initially that it was reducing our skin to skin. It was a PITA to unswaddle him all of the time to feed him, etc. So we felt like we were carrying this baby around like a football! Then, at 2 weeks or so, DS started to really resist the swaddle anyway. We'd read that harvey karp book and I was trying hard to force his solutions on our child. Then what happened was I realized that (at least for us) all of that stuff was just a substitute for snuggling and nursing. I started rocking and nursing DS to sleep and -- voila -- the time it took to "get him down" went from sometimes 2 hours (!!!) to just a few moments. And he slept longer when he was not trying all night to break out of the swaddle. I think this had to be good for his development, too.

Here's where someone will flame me, and so I truly don't mean to speak for anyone else's situation or claim to know what will work for them, but we went into this parenting thing without too many concrete ideas of what it would be like and read books like happiest baby, etc. We bought a crib and practiced swaddling. Then the only thing that really worked for DS was to sleep on one of us. Suddenly that made a ton of sense to me from what I think is an anthropological standpoint. Babies are meant to sleep on their moms. These days we are scared to do it, think it's less safe, and somehow think it makes sense to put baby on his own surface far away from mom. Believe me, we are completely not crunchy, but it occured to me that the reason we need to swaddle is to somehow trick the baby into thinking he's in someone's arms.

Everyone needs a break, and swaddling can help comfort a baby, which is good from that standpoint and also from the standpoint of getting that much-needed break. But I would seek other ways to comfort him, and other ways to get him to sleep, rather than relying on swaddling all of the time. Basically -- swaddle, but in moderation.

1630 here - No flames and I understand your point. i think the biggest message you have though is that everyone can read all of the books in the world and not know what will work until baby arrives. As a first time parent it's hard not to try to force fit some philosophies on your baby, but should realize that you need to just go with your baby's lead. To elaborate a little on what I said before - we joked that we would be using bed sheets to swaddle her while in high school, but DS slept much better unswaddled and on our chest or right next to us.

[Anonymous]

Please see what the bump expert says in their website:
Re: How long should I swaddle my child? My daughter is almost five months and still seems to enjoy it.
The Bump Expert

We recommend that parents stop swaddling their babies by three or four months of age. At this time, most full term infants are acclimated to life outside of the womb and no longer crave the constriction of a swaddle.

It is actually extremely important to give babies over four months old the freedom to move at night. When we stop swaddling our children we were astonished to see how much they traveled around their crib during the night. They scooched and flopped from one end to the other, several times a night! Babies may look peaceful when they sleep, but don't be fooled. They are actually doing important exercise while they slumber. All that nighttime movement helps them enhance their gross motor development, which is crucial for upcoming milestones like crawling, standing and walking. A swaddled baby doesn't have a chance to refine these skills at night.