Hello everyone! I was writing to ask some advice for my almost 4 month old baby boy! Since he was born he loves to be swaddled and won't sleep for very long if not swaddled. Well the past few nights he is getting himself unswaddled and waking himself up several times in the night but than an hour of 2 later hes unswaddled again. I'm swaddling him pretty snug and we even have a snuggle me blanket and still he unswaddles himself. I need more sleep than he is allowing me to have, I just don't know what to do or how to keep him swaddled. Thanks!
maybe you could try the swaddling upside down/backwards so that the folds are under his back. Maybe he won't be able to get out of that.
Use old fashioned diaper pins to swaddle him (like a straight jacket, I guess!) if that's what he likes but comes unwrapped.
I heard a cute story from a birthing class teacher demonstrating how to 'swaddle':
...Part of my job as a public-health nurse is teaching new parents how to care for their infants.
As I was demonstrating how to wrap a newborn, a young Asian couple turned to me and said, "You mean we should wrap the baby like an egg roll?"
"Yes," I replied, "That is a good analogy."
"I don't know how to make egg rolls," another mother said anxiously. "Can I wrap my baby like a burrito?"
The sleep question for the Mom. Well, when you have children we all needed more sleep than we got but that is nature and it will pass someday. Maybe it is time you teach him to sleep and not be swaddled. He can't swaddle all his life. I know that swaddling is a new thing these days but it seems to me it is just another "habit" to have to ween a baby from. Try during the day not to swaddle and see if you can get him to sleep. Gradually stop the swaddling at night. I hope this works and best of luck to you and your little family.
my son is the same way. luckily i have a miracle blanket. my mom ordered it for me when i was preggo with my 1st child...she never liked it but my son loves it. it has 2 small flats to fold over their arms to keep them still, a pocket for their legs and then another flap to cross over that and then one really long flap that wraps around them a couple of times. it takes some magor work to get unwrapped from it. you can look them up on miracleblanket.com also...if it gets dirty i swaddle him in just a regular sized baby blanket rather than a recieving blanket. it works in a pinch while i'm washig the other one.
I never had this problem with my kids or grandbabies. Maybe you could try the "noise machine" that sounds like the rain falling. I use to babysit and a lot of the babies would wake up, but the machine soothed so many of them, including my own kids and they didn't wake up much.
If that doesn't work, maybe you could buy some velcro dots, they sell them at most Walmarts and All Cloth Stores like JoAnns or Hancocks. You could tac a few of them to the blanket so it would not come undone. You can also buy it in a roll.
Good luck.
Sounds like your baby is growing and getting older and is trying to stretch out a little bit. Try letting him seek his own level of comfort without being swaddled. I just talked to a new (2 wks) mom this morning whose new baby was not comfortable being swaddled. She put her in a sleeper and let her acquire her own comfort level. The baby has been sleeping well ever since.
Good luck and God Bless you and your little ones.
i think it might be time to stop swaddling him... my little girl was the same way, and fortunately lasted until she was about 5 months old, but it sounds like it might be time. the loose blankets in the bed are a safety hazard, plus he's waking up whenever he comes unswaddled... we went from a swaddling blanket to sleepsacks, and i started that at naptime and got her used to them, then switched over to using them at night as well, and i don't remember it being too hard... of course, every baby is different! i know he might love being swaddled, but there has to come a day when he can't be anymore-- the blankets are only so big :) either way you go, good luck!
J.
oh no, safety is an issue here. if he can undue the blankets, he needs to not have them at all. he could get tangled or worse in the unwrapped covers. i would invest in some sleep sacks, and just spend the time to get him used to sleeping without being swaddled.
I would suggest a sleep sac. My 6 month old twins were swaddled and eventually started to break free. They have slept in the sacs since they were 3-4 months old and I love them it is like they know it is time to go to sleep when I put them in them. You don't have to worry about hem kicking off blankets and they still feel secure. Kangaroo Pouch in Atlanta seells a great one made by cloud b. I have a 6 year old girl and did not use with her and she was not a great sleeper everyone I know that uses them raves about them. You can find other brands as well. hope this helps
My daughter was the same. Until we started using the sllep sacks is not as tight but it keeps them in one place. Hope this helps.
Hi G.,
I responded to a request like this previously --
http://www.mamasource.com/request/15864751063451041793
You can see my response and other responses. But my son also loved being swaddled and I ended up adding a blanket to the swaddle to keep him from busting out (see my description below). I was also paranoid that he would become "addicted" but he didn't and eventually stopped needing it around 6 months or so. He's 16 months old now and a super sleeper. But here's what I responded previously...
My son also LOVED to be swaddled and slept really well when he was and not well at all when he wasn't. And around the 3 month mark he too was able to worm his way out of it. I ended up "reinforcing" the swaddle. I found some advice on another parenting website. I would lay out the swaddle blanket and then take a regular baby blanket (usually a square, light, cotton one) and fold it in half creating a triangle. I would lay that on top of the swaddle blanket, placing it so that the long edge would hit right where my son's armpits were, the top point of the triangle pointing down towards his butt. I would lay my son down on top of it, take one corner of the blanket over his right arm and then tuck it under his back, repeating the process on the other side. I know it sounds rather straight-jacket like, but it worked like a charm. Essentially it kept his arms snug down by his side where he couldn't wiggle out. You then finish with the swaddle blanket like usual. He would sleep so well like this, it was amazing. Of course I then worried that he would become addicted to it and unable to sleep without it, but around 6 months I noticed that he could get an arm out but would still sleep ok. So I started leaving an arm out of the swaddle and then eventually both arms, and the next thing you knew, no swaddle. I know this all sounds sort of extreme, but you do what you got to do to help them sleep and help you sleep! And I know he found it comfy. Good luck!
K.
