One more piece of sage advice from someone who’s been there

If there was only one piece of advice I could give to parents of newborns, it is this:

Your baby does NOT hate to be swaddled.

Your baby *may* hate being swaddled in the wrong way, or too loosely, but your baby does *not* hate being swaddled. Learn how to properly swaddle your wriggler, and you’ll all sleep better. Babies do better swaddled, in a low-light (not pitch-dark) room with background noise.

In fact, when Coyote’s youngest was just wee, they brought her over and Coyote told me “swaddling won’t work; she hates it”. But I swaddled the baby, and she immediately fell asleep and stayed asleep for a couple of hours. Coyote certainly wasn’t the only person to doubt the swaddling; just one of the loudest. ;p

Posted

23 January 2011

Children, Porblems

cenobyte

Tags:

Advice, babies, Kids

Comments

8 responses to “One more piece of sage advice from someone who’s been there”

Stark Raving Dad

23 January 2011

Wow… I get to disagree with Ceno!

Noah LOVED being swaddled. He slept like a log (note I did not say like a baby, whoever coined that term obviously didn’t have kids) when properly swaddled.

Griff on the other hand – no way. Any restrictions at all and he would fuss and kick up like nobody’s business. We tried different ways, different snugness, the whole nine yards, nada. If he couldn’t sprawl, he couldn’t sleep.

He was a good sleeper, and is to this day, but not when he was restricted from moving!

Reply
1. cenobyte
  
  23 January 2011
  
  I guess there is an exception to every rule. I have never encountered a baby who didn’t like being swaddled. I did meet a baby who would only tolerate being swaddled with one hand out of the blanket, but there you go.
  
  Reply
melistress

23 January 2011

I have to agree with Stark Raving Dad. Nenster loved being swaddled and would sleep very well. The Diva, however, hated it. So it isn’t that I didn’t know how to do it. She is just different. She did best if I covered her loosely with a receiving blanket and prewarmed her bed with a hot water bottle. I think that the background noise is more universal.

Reply
Coyote

23 January 2011

Technically, your reasoning is false. There could have been a couple of other things that may have caused the sleeping kidlet. That swaddling was one of the conditions doesn’t make it the cause. :)

And honestly I could never get the swaddling right for Little Crow. Since then we’ve also determined, that like her Dad, she’s hypersensitive. So a lot off times her discomfort may not have been being swaddled, but what she was swaddled in, or there may have been a little bump in the cloth, so on and so forth. Y’know princess and the pea? :)

Reply
1. cenobyte
  
  23 January 2011
  
  My reasoning is never false.
  
  My bournal, my rules.
  
  Considering she woke up as soon as I removed the swaddling and then fell fast asleep again when I swaddled her again, I effing cock. Effing. Cock.
  
  Reply
  1. Coyote
    
    23 January 2011
    
    And again, there could be other conditions that could have produced that effect with the same simplicity of explanation.
    
    As well further evidence, that being that the swaddling didn’t work for others may suggest other possible causes. I could suggest a few but no need to toss shots at folks who aren’t going to read this anyways. :)
    
    And I’m not disagreeing with the general statement. With Little Bear, she had to be all bundled up, hell still does if you watch the way she sleeps, to be comfy, and that continued till … well. :) And most babies do react positively to swaddling. I’m just sayin’ cause and effect are not always what we think they are.
    
    Nor have I protested swaddling loudly. Just swaddling on the Crow.
    
    Reply
Cheruby

23 January 2011

And Kara also hates being swaddled. She liked it for a few days after she was born and then decided it wasn’t for her. She fussed and fought and wouldn’t sleep until she had Freedom! In particular, her arms must be free to stick in her mouth or splay above her head.

Reply
1. cenobyte
  
  23 January 2011
  
  As long as you’re able to sleep, I guess it doesn’t matter if you swaddle or not. I didn’t have to start swaddling The Nipper until he was a month old.
  
  The Captain took to swaddling like pigs to mud.
  
  But The Nipper needed to unfold first. Then, when he would only sleep for an hour (or less) in every four-hour stretch, I began to swaddle him. He would be asleep within minutes.
  
  This has been my experience with every baby I’ve met. I’m sure there are some exceptions; I just haven’t met any.
  
  Reply