Swaddling and Restless Baby

dreamer1 · May 31, 2009 12:40PM

Hi Ladies,
I'm after a bit of advice!!
I have been swaddling Jack since he was 3 weeks old due to his very strong startle reflex - he is 6 weeks 2moro. He wakes himself if not swaddled and when he is really tired he will bash himself in the face with his hands and poke his eyes. It's so frustrating as i can see how tired he is in the day but his hands and arms are flailing everywhere. Think i'm gonna have to swaddle him in the day as well as night time.
However have been told that he may not sleep if not swaddled when he is older. Is this true??
I just thought when he 3-4 months he would be more coordinated so not bash himself in the face so would not need to be swaddled?
Also he has been crying a lot the last 2 days and cannot seem to console him very well. Could he be more hungry due to 6 week growth spurt? He can usually go for 3-4 hours between feeds but crying afte 2-3 hours.
Thanks for any advice!
Naomi
xxx

TheHistoryGirl1 · May 21, 2009 4:04PM

As far as swaddling goes, we swaddled Peter from birth until last week (11 weeks old) but then he started kicking his covers off at night (he wasn't that tightly swaddled) and waking up because he was cold. So this week we put him in sleeping bags and he has taken to it like a dream. He slept for 5 hours straight last night!

I probably wouldn't leave it much beyond three months, but I don't see why it should be a problem.

Not sure about the crying but the six-week growth spurt sounds like a likely bet. Hope he starts to settle better soon.

dreamer1 · May 21, 2009 4:12PM

Some nights when i grt up to Jack he has got his arms out, ut is thrahing them around then. Unsure if sometimes he wakes cos he's got his arms free. Its so much guess work with these babies!!
I used a sleeping bag last week at my in-laws and he slept for 5 hours, but tried it last night and he just bashed himself up!!
Will leave it a few more weeks til more coordinated then try it again.
Thanku!

alison_eardley · May 26, 2009 10:27AM

I am having such problems with the swaddling - houdine (sp) escaping and sleeping. Freya slept beautifully until a couple of weeks ago. When she is in the swaddle she throws her self around and bangs her head. When she escapes from it it is worse - she thrashes around her arms and legs and bangs everything. She does that in sleeping bags too. I haven't worked out what to do yet! She just doesn't seem to sleep as soundly (or for as long) when she is either out of the swaddle, or liberates herself, but she fights it when she is in it and so gets out of it.

In terms of duration, i have read such varying reports. I have seen that you can swaddle for longer than three months if the baby is happy with it. I can't decided if Freya is or isn't. And either way, we are getting A LOT less sleep

Lambchop80 · May 31, 2009 12:40PM

I swaddled Charlotte from about 5 weeks till 8 weeks as she hated being swaddled at first, then would only sleep when swaddled then suddenly started hating it again at which point I switched to a sleeping bag which she now loves. Personally I think as long as swaddling works for you and your lo there is no harm in continuing it, but perhaps a few naps each week try putting lo down without swaddling just to check, you may find one day lo is suddenly fine without it !

As for the feeding Charlotte did the same and I just increased her feeds for a while as figured it was the 6 weeks (or in my case 5 week) growth spurt, she soon reduced her feeding again.

Swaddling and Restless Baby

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