To swaddle or not

I'm having swaddling issues with one of my girls (starting at about 5-6 weeks). I've tried several different swaddling methods: blankets, kiddopotamus wraps, woombies, halo sleepsack with swaddle and she hates them all! I've had nights where I swaddled her and she slept great after the initial struggle, and nights where she woke up constantly fighting it. One website recommended to just not swaddle if she dislikes it so much but I'm afraid she'll wake herself up constantly with her flailing arms - I'm also hoping/wishing/dreaming that she'll eventually succumb and sleep longer like so many other babies do that I've read about here. So do I continue to let her struggle and fight and hope that with time and consistency she'll sleep longer and accept it, or do I give in and let her sleep "freely"? Anyone with similar experiences?
Thanks!!

 

I say do both. try swaddling a few days, try nothing a few days. See what works best. Babies change their mind about things too, one day she may hate it, the next day maybe not. What do you feel most comfortable with? Your the mama! pick something and go with it, if its not working try something else Shes never been a baby before, she wont know if your "trying" things out on her

 

I would give it a night without swaddles and see what works best. It turned out my boys hated to be swaddled, even though their older brother loved it. The only way I knew was by just trying it. I was kind of shocked... Mine preferred to have their arms stretched up above their heads to sleep and didn't really have a problem with flailing. They actually slept better WITHOUT the swaddles.

 

My DD prefers to sleep tightly swaddled (most times at least), while my DS will have no part of it! As long as they sleep, that's all I care. LOL I agree to try it a few nights both ways and see how it goes.

DS sleeps with his arms stretched out above his head too. So cute!

 

I don't have any advice really, mine always liked to be swaddled. :hug: Have you tried miracle blankets? That's what I used.

 

We half-swaddled, I guess. I could never get them that tight anyway, so their arms were often out, but the rest of their bodies were wrapped up. Just try it both ways and go with what you think works best for her. If she's fighting the swaddling, I doubt it will untimately help her sleep longer. Unfortunately, I think that just comes with age and all babies sleep longer on their own schedule.

 

When my babies started fighting the swaddle, it quickly became more trouble than it was worth! It was right about the age your two are that I stopped swaddling.

 

QUOTE(becky5 @ Jan 20 2009, 06:56 PM) [snapback]1154676[/snapback]
When my babies started fighting the swaddle, it quickly became more trouble than it was worth! It was right about the age your two are that I stopped swaddling.


Same here.

 

Mine loved the miracle blanket. As a matter of fact, ds just stopped using his. Dd still likes it, but I'm trying to wean her from it. They liked to be swaddled tight and it helped them nap and sleep. They did really well with the miracle blanket, and nothing else. They were little escape artists with everything else. We had to play around with swaddling to figure out what suited them best. I hope you find something they like too! Good luck.

 

Neither of my boys slept swaddled. They liked to sleep with their arms above their heads. I just wrapped a blanked in swaddling style with their arms out.