Can you swaddle too much?

I was wondering if it's possible to swaddle your babies too much, does anyone know? Usually I only swaddle them in miracle blankets at night, but this morning after their 6 am feeding I noticed both girls were lying in the crib and when I put a blanket under them they put their arms by their sides, and it just seemed like they enjoy being swaddled! So all day today it's gone like this: swaddle in miracle blanket and napping for about an hour and a half, wake up, un-wrap, change diaper and eat, 30 minutes or so of awake time and then back in the miracle blankets for another nap. They seem to like it but I don't know if they are going to sleep tonight now that they've been swaddled a lot of the day. Anyone else swaddle their babies during the day?

 

ooh, good question! We swaddle a lot as well...would love to know.

 

We swaddled almost around the clock that first month, and then swaddled for every nap and nighttime until they were 6 months old. My kids were great sleepers and happy babies when awake, and I attribute that to the fact that they were swaddled!!!

Sleep begets sleep...good naps during the day means a good nights sleep! So hopefully they will sleep well tonight!!!

 

We swaddled them whenever they slept for the first 4 months, which was alot, lol!!

 

For the first month or two, ours were swaddled a lot of the time, because they were usually either asleep or fussing! We did unswaddle them right when they woke up, and usually fed them unswaddled and gave them a little awake time. But when they started fussing, we'd swaddle them again before starting the soothing routine.

The instructions for the MB give a maximum number of hours that they are supposed to be swaddled -- I don't remember what it is, but I remember reading it and going "Yeah, right" because we were swaddling them WAY more than that.

After 3 months or so, they were only swaddled for naps and nighttime, so it only totalled a few hours a day (plus 12 hours at night). We did quit swaddling altogether at about 4 months for Sarah and 5 months for Amy. But being swaddled nearly round the clock for the first 6-8 weeks doesn't seem to have done them any harm.

 

Mine were much better sleepers when swaddled, and they sleep so much at first - I doubt you can swaddle too much.

 

As long as they have some unswaddled time when they're awake, you really can't overdo it. Our babies were swaddled much of the time in the early weeks/months. If they like it, go for it!

 

we swaddled ours almost round the clock for the first 2 months and started letting up bit by bit as they grew.....by 4 months we didn't even do it at night....i don't think you can overdo it at first, remember, that's how they were in the womb!

 

Mine were swaddled all the time till a couple weeks ago.
I was thinking about starting to swaddle them again and setting nap schedule because I have one who hates naps and becomes a liitle monster by dinnertime if not sooner. She fights sleep and only naps about 30 mins at a time.

 

Great question! Swaddling is all about creating a womb-like feeling, which eventually helps them to learn how to self soothe and put themselves to sleep.

We followed the swaddling/self soothing technique from The Happiest Baby on the Block by Dr. Harvey Karp, for our first two singeltons. Worked like a charm, both my children are 3 and 4 now and always at nap and nighttime are able to put themselves to sleep without any intervention from mom, dad or babysitter. By intervention I mean: rocking them to sleep, allowing them in bed with us, rubbing their backs, etc. The technique incorporates swaddling to help newborns stop crying, settle down, self soothe then sleep. IT IS A MIRACLE whether your babies cry alot, cant settle or even have colic.

Go to: www.happiestbaby.com for more information

Using the technique from the dvd from the day we brought our first two newborns home from the hospital has helped nap/bedtime to be a pleasant experience. It is hard being consistent, but OHHH SO worth it in the long run. I recommend the dvd or vhs to watch WITH your husband, so you are both on the same page, doing the same thing, consistently.

We are 35 weeks with b/g twins and have our swaddleme blankets (from babies r us) ready to go! I hope sharing what works for us helps others The swaddling WITH the info. from the Happiest Baby on the Block really works. It was just nice knowing I had something in my "Moms Toolbag" to try when my first two babies would not stop crying and I had tried EVERYTHING to soothe them. When in all actuality, they needed to learn how to self-soothe to calm themselves down to stop crying and go to sleep.

It all starts the minute you bring them home from the hospital! xojillian

PS Also, there have been studies on substance abuse, drug addiction and nicotine addiction that the adults in the study did not properly learn how to self soothe as infants and always had outside intervention to help them calm down. SO into adulthood they used artificial methods to self soothe with cigarettes, alcohol or drugs. Thought that was interesting, it makes sense!

 

We swaddled both our girls for naps and bedtime until they were 6 months old as well. We only stopped because they got way
too big for the blankets !!!!! And they both sleep like champions 7pm- 6:30am.

 

In a word? No.
We swaddled for naps, bedtime and even just comfort when our boys were newborns, then just for sleep until 5 months, then just for naps until 7 months. I didn't spoil them, impede their development, or make them addicted to tight blankets. It made them comfortable and well rested. If you end up with a thumb sucker, just do "one arm out". Good luck!

 

QUOTE(Jillianstwins @ Dec 18 2007, 06:45 PM) [snapback]539668[/snapback]
Great question! Swaddling is all about creating a womb-like feeling, which eventually helps them to learn how to self soothe and put themselves to sleep.

We followed the swaddling/self soothing technique from The Happiest Baby on the Block by Dr. Harvey Karp, for our first two singeltons. Worked like a charm, both my children are 3 and 4 now and always at nap and nighttime are able to put themselves to sleep without any intervention from mom, dad or babysitter. By intervention I mean: rocking them to sleep, allowing them in bed with us, rubbing their backs, etc. The technique incorporates swaddling to help newborns stop crying, settle down, self soothe then sleep. IT IS A MIRACLE whether your babies cry alot, cant settle or even have colic.

Go to: www.happiestbaby.com for more information

Using the technique from the dvd from the day we brought our first two newborns home from the hospital has helped nap/bedtime to be a pleasant experience. It is hard being consistent, but OHHH SO worth it in the long run. I recommend the dvd or vhs to watch WITH your husband, so you are both on the same page, doing the same thing, consistently.

We are 35 weeks with b/g twins and have our swaddleme blankets (from babies r us) ready to go! I hope sharing what works for us helps others The swaddling WITH the info. from the Happiest Baby on the Block really works. It was just nice knowing I had something in my "Moms Toolbag" to try when my first two babies would not stop crying and I had tried EVERYTHING to soothe them. When in all actuality, they needed to learn how to self-soothe to calm themselves down to stop crying and go to sleep.

It all starts the minute you bring them home from the hospital! xojillian

PS Also, there have been studies on substance abuse, drug addiction and nicotine addiction that the adults in the study did not properly learn how to self soothe as infants and always had outside intervention to help them calm down. SO into adulthood they used artificial methods to self soothe with cigarettes, alcohol or drugs. Thought that was interesting, it makes sense!


Actually I've got that DVD, "Happiest Baby on the Block". Really I was concerned because I remember the Miracle Blankets saying not to swaddle for more than a certain amount of hours per day and also I didn't know that good naps mean good nights, I thought maybe if I swaddled them during the day and they napped well then they wouldn't be tired at night. Happiest Baby on the Block really works though, you're right, we've both watched it about 5 times!