swaddling?

I never swaddled my babies. It was a priority for older generations to swaddle. I read a post in this forum about swaddling and was surprised to read that it is still practiced!

Do you swaddle? Is it an important practice? Did I miss something here?

Thank you in advance.

 

Swaddling is an easy way to make your newborns feel more secure and sleep better. You find it talked about a lot here because it's one of the steps in the book Happiest Baby on the Block. A lot of people love that book (or the DVD!) because it gives you tools to soothe a fussy baby. We swaddled for the first two months, but I know parents that didn't stop until 5 months.

It's not something you have to do but is a tool many use. It depends on your baby and his/her needs.

 

Couldn't have said it better! Our boys were swaddled w/ arms out in the NICU for a month and we did it for another month once they were home. I don't know if it calmed them much, but it kept them warm!

 

I dont think its important per se, just something that babies can be comfortable with. That being said, my DD was swaddled for about 2 days then she had to go back to the Special Care Nursery for Jaundice and go under the lights. So we stopped. The boys were swaddled a bit longer.

 

I agree, it might not be important, but it did help my babies be comfortable and also sleep better. Once they started breaking free of the swaddle, around 3-4 months, we stopped.

 

It totally depends on the child. Some children love to be swaddled and it does, indeed, make them feel safer and more secure (which can lead to better sleep). Some babies, though, hate it. My twins would NOT be swaddled no matter what we tried. They would work up a sweat trying to break free and would bawl until we freed them. They both slept much better without the swaddle.
So, take your cues from your babies.

 

Swaddling is SO important for us! We could not have survived w/out swaddling our girls. They are almost 5 months and when they are gripey or overly tired...I swaddle them tight-both arms in- and they relax and just sleep. It's amazing! We have "graduated" them to both arms out and they have done good. We will swaddle for as long as they fit in their pink swaddle blankets or they don't need it anymore to soothe.

Joanna

 

It's not important in a developmental sense, but many parents find it helpful. We never swaddled any of our babies. I had never really realized so many people still did it either, until I read it on here. But then I never read the book either. With Luke I wish I would have known, maybe it would have helped with his fussiness!

 

Never swaddled. Never even heard of it til I was on this site!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I think swaddling is very popular right now, especially since babies are sleeping on their backs. Swaddling helps them feel secure and prevents that startle relex. A lot of babies will fight swaddling when you first do it, but they relax and calm down quickly. My DS was like this. I'm glad we stuck with swaddling. Mine were swaddled until they were 5 months old and I wish I would have done it longer. (DD has never slept as well as she did when she was swaddled). I recommend the Kiddopotamus SwaddleMe blankets.

 

They were big on swaddling in the NICU so we are continuing with it. They also swaddled the two together for body heat regulation. They didn't seem to mind it. Our one daughter likes her arms free, but sometimes to settle her the swaddle works. My mom swears she never swaddled either of us kids, and we turned out ok