My baby flails and is very active with her arms. We swaddle her to get her to sleep, which works except that she wakes up anywhere from a few minutes to two hours later struggling to get out of, or already out of her swaddle. It's a real problem because she can't seem to get to sleep without being swaddled but she can't stay asleep because of the swaddle. Any advice?
Thanks so much.
Thank you all for your advice. We continued swaddling her, tried swaddling her as tight as possible without hindering her breathing and also tried various different blankets (including the Miracle Blanket). For 3 nights in a row, I woke to muffled, gasping noises and found she had gotten free of the swaddle and had the blankets wrapped around her head and was struggling. After that, I gave up on traditional swaddling, we now wrap her under her armpits and leave her arms free. She still wakes up every two to three hours, but it seems to be because she's hungry and not because she's desperately trying to get her arms out of the swaddle.
Instead of using a swaddle, try using a nice soft blanket and wrap it around her while rocking her to sleep. Once you lay her down loosen the blanket, so this way when she begins to move she does not feel trapped and can move in peace, hence hopefully staying asleep.
I know you've received a lot of advice by now, but I had a very colicky baby that HAD to be swaddled. I didn't know about all of the special swaddling blankets, so I just used one of those light thermal blankets. THey are pretty stretchy so you can wrap her up tight and tuck it in to keep her there. We also watched a video "The Happiest Baby on the Block" that showed swaddling techniques.
Congratulations!
From my perspective your baby is not trying to get out of the swaddle, she is just doing what she would do even without it. Newborns are suppossed to wake every 2 hours to eat. And newborns are infamous for waking the up the minute you get comfy in bed after having just put her down 3 minutes prior. Don't give up on the swaddling. It really works. She is probably telling you something else; comfort, touch, hunger, etc. Babies R us has a wonderful swaddling blanket for 9.99 in lightweight cotton and fleece. Worth every penny! I wish you a restful 1st year!
Congrats! I too had the same problem with my now 4 month old son. I found the BEST swaddle blanket ever, I also have a 2 year old, and I sure wish I had it for him!! I am not sure where you live,but they do sell them at The Care Connection in Snyder, NY, or they also have a web site, it is
I can't say enough about this blanket. It is worth every penny. We actually ended up buying 3 of them, so we ALWAYS had one handy and clean, and ready to go. They are cheaper to buy in the store if your in the area. If not like I said, it really is worth it. I hope it helps!
K.
Hi, I have a 9 week old son for whom swaddling really works. We hav tried MANY different permutations to get it to work as he often kicked out of it or one arm escaped. Make sure you are using a large enough blanket- a lot of receiving blankets are not large enough. I now fold over one corner about six inches and place his head at the base of the fold. Then the longest part of the blanket will wrap at the level of his arms. I fold the left side of the blanket (as you look at it) around his body, his left arm and almost around under his right arm. Then I do the same with the right side of the blanket around his body and around his right arm. I don't bother with the feet now as this holds him snugly enough. He likes the blanket around his face but obviously I never let it lie over his mouth (you can fold it back). Good luck!
My daughter was very active with her arms and legs, too. And she hated to be swaddled. Probably because she was a summer baby, and it was just too hot.
What worked for her was to let her sleep on her tummy. She would tuck her legs and arms under her, and sleep ALL night long. I know the word is back to sleep, but for some babies, that just isnt comfortable.
She is 15 months old now, and she still will only sleep on her belly with all her limbs tucked under her. :)
Best of luck!
Hi,
they have great "Swaddle Me" fleece and/or cotton blankets with velcro that keeps baby tight and cozy at Babies "r" us and other baby stores. I bought 4 for my little one in different sizes and he and I absolutely loved them! He could not unswaddle himself and stayed asleep for long periods. They even have an opening for the car seat straps to go through to keep baby happy and warm in car or stroller!
Hi N., I'm S. what worked for my 2 kids is a wedge you could purchase one at walmart or target. It's made of foam and is covered with blanket like material it helps keep your baby in place. Sometimes if there not swaddled tight enough they wiggle out and it may seem like they don't want it. If you don't have a wedge roll a couple of recieving blankets up length wise and put one behind her so she's kind of on her side then put one in front of her so she want roll forward. just remember the one in front is below her neck so it won't cover her face. Swaddling works the best for babies they like to feel safe it worked for me. Hope this helps(:
Maybe she's too hot. Have you tried unwrapping the swaddle after she's asleep? That might get you more then 20 minutes of sleep. Also, it's normal for her to wake up about every 2 hours at this age. That's how often she should be eating for the first couple of months.
Another thing, I know it's not recommended, but my babies were all stomach sleepers. That's what got me more then 20 minutes of sleep at night. If I put my babies down on their backs they were awake in 20 minutes or less. If I put them on the stomachs they slept for a few hours. I think it's because I held them on my shoulder instead of craddling them so they were used to the pressure on their tummies.Good luck, I know it's tough getting through those first few months with very little sleep.
Congratulations on your baby! How exciting! I am a big fan of swaddling newborns. I personally think that if you get a nice, tight swaddle, that over the course of time, your baby will grow to love it. My kids always struggled to get out of it, and we would just recomfort them, and if needed, we would reswaddle. I also used a bouncy seat quite a bit to give them movement. I would use my foot to bounce them in front of me. You could give her movement however you find that she likes. They are little for such a short period of time, I just try to enjoy cuddling as long as possible. :) Good luck!
My son was the same way, I used to call him houdini baby because he could get out of any swaddle that I put him in. He would also not sleep well unless he was swaddled. My son is now 8 months old, so our swaddling days are behind us. What worked for me when he was 3 weeks old was to make sure I had a big enough swaddling blanket, one that would wrap all the way to the back and then I would lay him in the crib and he would be laying on the seam "locking" it place. Also, I used an infant sleep positioner when he was really young so that helped keep the swaddle in place better than just putting him in the crib without it. Doing these things helped him stay in the swaddle longer but he'd end up out of it by morning, I guess its what babies do! Once my son was about 2 1/2 - 3 months old, I would swaddle him with one arm out and that helped him feel snuggly but yet gave him the freedom that he wanted. When your child gets a little older you may be able to swaddle her with one arm out and that may help her.
Good luck!
hi N., i had the same problem, still do sometimes, but overall the swaddle is great. first of all, PLEASE do not lie your baby on her stomach, im sure you know, i just had to say it. secondly, its most likely that she is waking often because thats what they do. i have a 4.5 year old son, a 2 year old daughter, and a 4 month old son. i havent slept in 5 years :) ... but, you can try leaving an arm out like the other moms said. what works well for me is to use a sleep positioner (or just a rolled up receiving blanket or small towel) to have the baby sleep on kind of a tilt, position it just slightly under one side, under her shoulder and less so under her butt so she cant roll over as she gets bigger. then leave out the arm that is on the "down" side. that way it is free, but she is leaning on it a tiny bit so it wont flail around. (switch sides so she doesnt get a flat head on one side, it happens quickly.) that is what worked best for me. also, you can try folding her arms inward a bit when you swaddle her, so they are across her tummy instead of at her sides. . be sure she isnt too hot. one layer under a swaddle is probably enough. and by the way, old navy has these swaddling blankets that are the best ive tried, if you look, they are on sale, a thin flannel with wintery things on them, and they are really big and nice and light and the flannel helps them kind of stick. the swaddlers are awesome, but be careful as the baby gets bigger. the 2 flaps that come across the body and get velcro-ed are partially open on the bottom, and when my daughter got a little stronger, she got her little hands out through that opening on the bottom and managed to work the flaps up, but the velcro across the middle stayed put, so i woke up to find her with the thing around her neck. it freaked me out so bad that i only use blankets now. good luck to you and congrats :)
Hi N.! Congratulations! I feel your pain, my daughter HAD to sleep swaddled for the first two months, it was the only way she could sleep. She may be struggling because the swaddle is not tight enough which would keep her awake if she can still move around in it. I wrapped my now 5 month old tight (not too tight though) and snug. I also found the PERFECT swaddeling blanket. You can get them at Buy Buy Baby or on babycenter.com here is the link http://store.babycenter.com/product/code/16659.do?intcmp=...
The blanket even has the swaddeling instructions sewn right in. Hang in there, in about two months she won't want to be swaddled.
I would get her a "swaddle me" at baby's r us. They come in cotton and fleece and velco close. It was a lifesave for us and worked much better than doing it with a blanket, plus the fleece is really soft and warm. It can be done a bit looser than a traditional blanket swaddle (if you want it that way) and is very easy to fix if she sqirms out. Our daughter only used it for a short time but it was worth every penny of the $20 it cost me.
Two words.... sleep sak.
My son did the same exact thing. He would struggle and struggle to get his arms free and then he'd be chilly. So one night I decided to do a long sleeve onesie and the sleep sak. That was the first night he slept through the night. I'd say it was right around the 3 week mark. Gerber makes a nice one. You can get it at Babies R Us or Target. Good Luck
We had a similar problem. My solution was to wrap our son a little tighter and that did the trick! They have "swaddling blankets" in stores now, have you tried one? It helps too because it velcro's closed. My husband made me swaddle our son back then because he was afraid the baby was too fragile for a tight swaddle. He's now 10 months old and is fine! No broken bones like my husband thought there would be :)
My daughter, now 31, one time was failing her arms and legs instead of sleeping. "Oh,My", i said to mayself and went right over and turned her around onto her tummy. She couldn't sleep on her back. She could only sleep all cuddled up in a fetal position on her stomach with her head turned facing left. She always slept that way until she got older.
a piece of advice from my older sister...when you swaddle, leave one arm out (alternate arms each time you swaddle). good luck!
