I have a three month old who is a great sleeper (about 2 3 hour naps a day and 11-12 hours at night) and I put him to sleep on his back. I'm concerned because the back of his head is getting a bit flat. I went through physical therapy/plagiocephaly, and torticollis with my older son, so I'm trying to be more proactive early on with this one. I bought a Miracle Blanket before he was born- which I absolutely love - but, it restricts his moving around and learning how to sleep in different positions (i.e., on his stomach). So, I'm wondering, when did y'all stop swaddling your babies? I've tried for a nap here and there, but he always wakes up fairly quickly and if I swaddle him he sleeps so much longer. The Miracle Blanket says it's for up to 14 weeks, but I don't know if he'll be ready to give it up by then.
Thank you so much for the great words of wisdom. I think what I'm going to do is start swaddling him in receiving blankets and I think he'll be able to learn to get out of them and transition to sleeping without. I also got a Boppy Noggin Nest to try to keep the flat spot from worsening. We have all sorts of toys and contraptions for him to be in when he is awake - in addition to tummy time - so hopefully it will all work itself out well. Thanks again for the great advice! I really appreciate it!
C.
I was never real good at the swaddle :), but I kept trying until about 8 weeks. I know that the transition will probably be a little hard for him, but once he starts rolling over and moving more he will his sleep will be interuppted more anyway!
Good luck
I say swaddle him as long as you can. Once he starts rolling over around 4 months or so then he probably won't want to be swaddled and he will sleep longer on his tummy.
I swaddled my son for about 4 months and then when he learned to roll over on his own, He slept so well and not needed to be swaddled.
Good Luck and I hope this helps.
M.
mine stopped just after we got home, he could finagle his way out of a swaddle from the nurses at the hospital day one so he really only gets swaddled when he's stressed and really needs to be calmed down. we have had no head shape issues.
I didn't use any special swaddling blankets, just the receiving blankets, and I swaddled until they could kick their way out. For my daughter it was probably around 3 months. For my son it was around 8 weeks. If he'll stay swaddled, and you want to change his position, could you lay him on his side? I used sleep positioners to prop both of mine on their side. Just switch sides every few nights to keep his head from getting misshapen. I think there is also a positioner that helps keep the head from getting flat.
We swaddled our son until he was 6 or 7 months old. Not as tight as when he was a baby, but he still seemed to like that feeling of coziness. You can use one of those little things with padded sides so that you can turn him slightly on his side.
We swaddled for a couple of months, but he would eventually get out of it, so we stopped. Make sure you give him plenty of tummy time (even if you're laying him on your tummy -- that was one of my favorites). That will help his head. It also may be good to alternate how you put him in his crib. We're used to laying the same way in our beds, so if you're like me, you probably have designated a "head of the bed" for his crib. Try alternating, and lay him the opposite direction sometimes. My son would face whichever way I was, so it helped him to alternate sides of the head he was laying on. I hope that makes sense. Good luck!
C.,
My son was in the NICU for 3 weeks. When I brought him home the nurses and doctors told me not to swaddle him at home. They swaddled at the hospital because they had monitors on him. My son is 5 weeks old and hasn't been swaddled in 2 weeks. He is doing great.
Good luck hope this helps.
Merry Christmas,
Jenn
i swaddled my son for as long as he would stay in it. at about 3-1/2 months he started to escape. the transition period was a little tough for us, but he was back on schedule in about a week.
i used the little sleep wedges to keep him on his side kind of angled towards his back. he hated his tummy! i would rotate the side that i had him on each night so that his head stayed a nice shape. we used the wedges that you attached by velcro to the little pad that went under the baby. it worked great!
good luck!
C.,
At 3 months old your child is at peak risk for sids. The American Academy of Pediatrics does not encourage alternate sleep positions until babies are able to roll over independantly. Sleeping with a pacifier to drop off to sleep with also raises serotonin levels which help to prevent sids. There are documented cases until 1 year, but the peak begins to fall off at about 8 months. Dr Harvey Karp (the happiest baby on the block author) recommends swaddling up until even 8 months old if your baby needs the soothing.
To address the other issue, however I see that you have had some significant difficulties with a previous child and that has left you understandably nervous. I have personally used a miracle blanket up to 1 year without difficulty or flat heads, but we carried the baby around in a sling and wrap instead of a car seat. The use of car seats for everything is really a difficulty on baby and mom both. So we left the car seat in the car and (yes even on a sleeping baby) put the baby in a sling. They go right back to sleep most of the time with very little encouragement and it is better for both of you. Get a good sling that doesn't put extra pressure on your back and shoulders, it is worth the money and can give you free hands at just the right time of day.
I hope these thoughts help, please feel free to email me and don't forget to update us on how it worked out for you.
Sincerely,
K. Willis,
The Nesting Place
We used the miracle blanket for almost 6 months. You might want to try a wedge (sold at any baby store or Target) to help position your baby on his side to help with the shape of his head.
My daughter slept so much better swaddled that we continued to swaddle her until she was about 7mo old! So I guess it depends on how well he sleeps. However, we did get wedges (like a previous poster mentioned) to put her down on her side sometimes (swaddled) and she slept great like that. But I also got her a memory foam "pillow" to keep her from having a flat head. I found the wedge system that came with a memory foam head area for that reason.
Here's one: http://www.mypreciouskid.com/baby-sleep-pillow.html
and another: http://www.mypreciouskid.com/baby-sleep-pillow.html and one more: http://www.onestepahead.com/jump.jsp?itemID=424758&it...
None of these is exactly what I bought (the foam was just a little half cirle about a half-inch thick for under the head) but I couldn't find it online anywhere. Maybe they don't make it anymore. But one of those might work for you.
My daughter's head never got a flat spot (thank goodness!), but I let her have lots of tummy time during the day and put in her a bumbo seat as early as I could, too. That allowed her to sit up, which she loved, and kept her head from resting on other surfaces during the day, like the bouncy seat and swing, as much.
Hope that helps. Good luck.
P.
i stop swaddling my son about 2 months. but he also did not like it much to begin with.i have found that when my son fralls asleep while i am holding him i would lay him kinda on his side and snuggle a blanket around him as if i was still holding him and he would sleep much better.
