The Ollie is worth the price for those who struggle to swaddle. And don’t believe that “stop at 8 weeks” nonsense either. Swaddle until the baby can roll back to front. We quit after 4 month sleep regression but my 5 month old still has no interest in back to front, but will quickly flip if placed on stomach.

We used the sleepea swaddle (the Snoo brand swaddle without the wings) for the first few weeks and our baby loved it and slept fine in his bassinet. Like others say, do it tighter than you even think you need. Then he woke up a little to the world and his tummy got really gassy and he hated being put down and only wanted to sleep on us on his tummy, and we desperately ordered a Snoo at 3 weeks and it was magical. You can also safely incline the Snoo (since they are strapped in) if it's gas/reflux troubles causing baby to not want to be placed flat on his back for sleep. We think this is ultimately a big reason the Snoo helped us. He slept better and better (despite awful gas, tongue and lip ties, general unhappiness all day) and was doing 10 hour stretches by 9-10 weeks old. Anyway, I know it's super expensive and not a practical tip if it's out of your budget, but if you can swing it, it really did save us. They offer rentals, or if you buy, you have 30 days to try it and return. You'll know within 30 days if your baby is taking to it.

Anonymous wrote:So normal. Ugh - it's terrible but it will pass.

We double swaddled. A velcro swaddle on top of another swaddle. So so tight. Perfect for January newborns because they won't get too hot!

PP again. Do you have a friend who can come over and show you? I had a friend come over and showed me and I almost cried with relief - she did it so tight I couldn't believe it. But it was perfection!

So normal. Ugh - it's terrible but it will pass.

We double swaddled. A velcro swaddle on top of another swaddle. So so tight. Perfect for January newborns because they won't get too hot!

Not to overwhelm you, but everyone is right- the velcro swaddles are great. We used the SwaddleMe brand and they were great. I also highly recommend a DockaTot

If you're like me, you enjoy the snuggles but also need to shower, eat, walk around without a baby sometimes. DS loved being swaddled and napping in the DockTot. I was able to snuggle him and then set him down and he'd stay sleeping

Swaddles and white noise (there'sa YouTube video I found helpful if you search "White Noise for Babies"). My husband figured out the swaddle, I never did and needed the velcro versions.

Swaddle and snoo is my advice as well. For swaddles, do the snoo one even without the snoo (sleepea) or the nested bean one. They are very tight on the arms and comfortable throughout. Held my baby for every nap and night for 4 weeks until we got the snoo, but then got rid of it (it was a rental) and was fine just with the swaddle.

Anonymous wrote:In other news the sky is blue. Hang in there. Totally normal but no one tells you.

Yes! It is evolutionary. They know you are the food source and want to be close to you. Pretty smart.

All three of mine did this for at least a couple months. They hated swaddling but loved being held.

Mine slept in leachco podster after only doing arms

Swaddle (very important)
Crib to sleep (always)
It mattered -a lot- that mine had something resting against his head... like the crib bumper. I don't know what's currently considered safe. But top-of-the-head needs to feel swaddled too.

I gave up and slept with my baby because I was exhausted. Babies want your body heat. After a couple of weeks I could lay down and put my baby next to me then when she was in a deep sleep slowly get up off the bed.

In other news the sky is blue. Hang in there. Totally normal but no one tells you.

Yes agree with everyone else - this is normal but you also really need to up your swaddle game forget blanket swaddles, if the Velcro ones don’t work try the miracle swaddle. Swaddles won’t work with arms out but this is very common as a first time parent to think your baby doesn’t like to be swaddled or can get out of every swaddle but if you really get one that works for them (not you tying a blanket) then it’s very rare that is the case at this age

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you all! She wriggles her hands/arms out of every swaddle we attempt. Is a swaddle still helpful if her hands and arms are outside it?

It’s expensive, but we love the Ollie swaddle. I really like how you don’t have to reach around the back at all, it just pulls across the front. But like any swaddle, you have to make it tight across the arms.

If you figure out the swaddling, that will really, really help you.

+1 on buying a Velcro swaddle and swaddling tight. We loved the fleece Halo sleepsack swaddles. Don’t even bother doing a blanket swaddle, you don’t have time for that.