Swaddling & SIDS

quad_red

Hi all,

Would appreciate people's opinions on swaddling a baby at night. We were advised by Holles St not to do it due to increased SIDs risk. But the evidence according to online sources is varied.

Basically, our little man is a kicking machine. There is no point going near bed clothes cos he just goes bananas kicking them off then ends up getting cold and waking up cos of that.

The sleep sack works better but what completely knocks him out is swaddling - he's out like a light when he's swaddled.

I think this has contributed to him getting his days and nights mixed up. All he wants to do now is sleep during the day and is awake all night (which is exacerbated by continual thrush problems).

So, any advice. Does anyone here swaddle at night? Thoughts?

Cheers,
Quad

catch me if you can

Every parent is different.
But i never swadlled my baby girl. I always felt i would hate being restricted myself and not being able to move my arma and legs. Feeling trapped. i would hate that. so i always let my daughter kick her blankets.
she slept in our room for a year so i would just put blankets back on her.
she didnt sleep through the night properly until she was 1 year of age and in her own room.
i think cot death can be attributed to over heating although there is no conclusive proof. its a risk i wouldnt be willing to take. go with your instinct .

DM addict

Have you tried getting him a sleep suit? They can be very useful for kicking - keeps them all zipped up and cosy and no loose covers.

No experience with swaddling I'm afraid.

Bagheera

I had my baby in March and the Midwives in Holles St showed me how to swaddle him, never once mentioning anything about SIDS. I stopped swaddling him when he was about 2 weeks old as I was worried about overheating.

However when he was about 6 weeks old (and I hadn't slept in that long!), I decided to give swaddling another go using a cellular blanket and I thought it was brilliant. He slept much better. I didn't swaddle him for day naps, just at night. I stopped at about 3.5 months as he had better control over his arms and legs at that stage.

It's your choice but I'd definitely recommend it.

wmpdd3

Yeah I swaddled for the first months as she was way too small to get into a sleeping bag. It really worked, but her room was about 18c every night as it was between Oct and Jan last year, not much chance of over heating.

I presume it is just the overheating that they think leads to a risk of SIDS.

Das Kitty

If it were my baby I would swaddle.

We had a similar "crisis". Our fella needed to be really warm to sleep. He was blue and crying with cold at the recommended temperature. An extra layer and he slept lovely. We had to accept that SIDS is extremely rare and they don't actually know the cause. The guilt was there but we got past it thankfully.

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

I had my girl in Holles St. in April and they swaddled her in the hospital. We continued to swaddle her for a few weeks - she seemed to be calmed by it - and then transitioned to a baby sleeping bag.

Our PHN suggested half swaddling - letting her have her arms up across her chest and free-ish but her legs constrained so she couldn't kick the blanket off.

quad_red

Mmmm. Thanks for the opinions.

Our little man objects (loudly) to being put in a swaddle but it instantly calms him being swaddled. Seriously, it's sort of bizarre. Like an off switch. Calm, looking around, very chilled out. Definitely echoes of the womb state methinks.

We have a sleep sack for night time which he is far calmer in than attempting bedsheets. But, as I said, it's not as effective as swaddling. Which calms him instantly and sends him out for the count.

@ Captain Morgan: Did the Coombe specifically mention swaddling at night?!

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

How Strange

From what I can remember the coombe told us to swaddle in a cellular blanket folded over once. They used 2 blankets after birth but down to one once we went home.

I used to swaddle up to 11 weeks or so and then put him in a sleep bag. To be honest while it helped him sleep i found it a nuisance for cosleeping and night breastfeeding. The sleep bag was better as he didn't notice a difference in temperature and its easier to take him out and put him back in his cot.

January

My first daughter was swaddled until she was nearly 5 months old

Her startle reflex was really strong and it was the only thing that sent her off to sleep at night, we used a special swaddle blanket that we bought in Smyths and then one light blanket over that.

Hannibal Smith

I never swaddled...not for any SIDs reason, but because I could never flippin figure out how to do it...by the time I picked him up and put him in the cot it would all unravel.

Anyhow...we got the gro-bags, and have never looked back since! He's 2.5 now and we're still using them (not the same ones obviously). They come in different togs. Some of them have buttons at the top, others zip from the top down to the bottom which means if it was really warm, you could open the bottom of the zip and let a bit of air circulate. As he got older I started putting a light blanket over him. Not for any practical reason, there was no heat in it, just as an attempt to make him feel snug and to get him used to bed clothes for when he moves on.

We've used them for 2.5 years now, through all types of weather and have never had a problem with them, so I couldn't recommend them highly enough.

cynder

no idea about sids and swaddling, i tried it but non were too happy with it, i would stick to the sleeping sack!

cynder

stupid internet reposting!

Moonbeam

We found rolling the blanket tightly around her worked wonders,swaddling gets a bit complicated when you try to perfect it!!


I am sure they used to say it lessened the chances of sids.

The one thing I have learned about sids is even if you do everything correctly and by the book,it is still a risk even when they are toddlers.

qwertytlk

Biggest problem i had with hospital staff was that they all gave different information, often contradicting each other. I.e one will tell you to do something and another tell you never to do it! My baby was swaddled in the hospital, i did it for a few weeks at home, but dont bother now. The hospital staff advised it as they said it helped baby to feel more comfortable as sawddling them gives them comfort, an makes them feel like they did in the womb-snuggled up tight. The reference to sids and swaddling is probabbly more to do with baby over heating, as that can cause sids, but thats just my opinion. How old is your baby? Mine is 8weeks and untill he was 4 or 5weeks he was sleeping all day and up most of the night,as you said yours is. I was wondering at the time how to change his sleeping pattern so he would sleep at night, but he actually just did it naturally himself. Now he sleeps from about 10.30pm-2am, has a bottle, then sleeps untill about 7.30am, so if your baby is only a few weeks old, then just give it time as s/he will prob just work it out naturally. If you dont feel comfortable swaddling just invest in one or two sleep sacks. Also im sure swaddling is safe enough, other wise they wouldnt sell swaddle blankets etc, would they? Anyway good luck with it all!

Gandhi

Our first lad responded fantastically to swaddling. He was an awful sleeper but swaddling completely relaxed him. We cheated and used a swaddling-specific blanket with wings.

His little brother is the opposite. Hated being swaddled and slept much better when he was free to move around.

Never heard anything about a connection between swaddling and SIDS.

The only anti-SIDS thing we did (outside the usual ones) was the New Zealand mattress wrap.

http://www.babymattresscovers.com/