swaddling

[grace]

Ami is 7 months old but only 4 months corrected and at the development stage of a 3 month old, still with me?

right, i have read that you shouldnt swaddle after 1 month old as it can effect development of motor skills but the ONLY way we can get her to fall asleep and then stay asleep is to swaddle her. putting her arms at the sides and wrapping her up firmly.

am i doing a bad thing? i dont want to suppress her development as she is already behind and i forgot to ask the physio on monday.

 

[Sammystar]

I've never heard that one before, it must be one of those new guidlines

I swaddled Sam until he was old enough to start moving about on his own. He too wouldn't go to sleep otherwise.

His motor skills seems fine to me now

 

[leckershell]

We swaddled ryan until he was too big to fit in a moses basket/pram cellular blanket and he was 4 months or so old..? That was probably too long but we couldn't get him to sleep any other way... we've never been told he has any motor development problems.

 

[LucyBee]

We swaddled Tom until he was 5 months. Lx

 

[trixiehunnybun]

Think i understood that, so techically shes only 1 month behind then? i still swaddle scarlett now if she wont sleep.I dont understnad how it can cause problems unless you swaddled them in a metal blanket. Ami

 

[Fiona]

Not heard that one before .......... I swaddled Grace until she was nearly 5 months old.......... like Ami it was the only way she slept.... then I put her straight into a grobag ......... she just loves those too ...

by the way .......... it is so lovely to see you posting about Ami... she is such a little fighter and it is wonderful to hear how she is doing... and she is always in our prayers

well done Mummy and Ami

 

[NooNoo]

never heard of that though and i cant see that being true

 

[Kelly G]

Hi

I have never heard of that before, but when Olivia was born she her temp went down so the midwife swaddled her.

She did say that they dont tend to swddle babys anymore because they cant cool down!

Brooke and Olivia was always of swaddled tho

HTH

 

[kalia]

Hmm... there's lots of conflicting views out there. Here's quite a good summary.

What Are the Benefits?
Swaddling can be a helpful tool in settling infants and enhancing health. Specifically, swaddled infants arouse less and sleep longer. Additional benefits have been found in preterm infants, including:

* Improved neuromuscular development
* Less physiologic distress
* Better motor organization
* More self-regulatory ability
* Pain relief
* Better temperature regulation

Benefits have also been seen in infants who cry excessively, who cried less when swaddled, and in infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome and neonatal brain lesions.

What Are the Risks?
Unfortunately, swaddling has some risks. When it is done improperly, swaddling can cause infants to become overheated, which can in turn increase the risk of SIDS. The risk of SIDS is also increased if a swaddled baby is placed in the prone position.

Another risk of swaddling is hip dysplasia, when the infant’s legs are incorrectly positioned. In addition, the tightness of the swaddling does seem to be related to a higher risk for respiratory infections. Swaddling may lead to delayed weight gain for some infants, perhaps by limiting tactile stimulation and thus the release of gastrointestinal hormones.

Parents who decide to swaddle should be aware of the risks. To mitigate the risk of hip dysplasia, parents can wrap the infant’s legs loosely. They can take care to monitor their infant so as to prevent overheating. They can keep the infant with the mother to hopefully address the delay in weight-loss recovery caused by swaddling. Finally (and perhaps most importantly), because of the increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome for a swaddled baby in the prone position, parents must stop swaddling their infants when they start attempting to turn.

That's from http://www.babygooroo.com/index.php/200 ... swaddling/
It seems to sum everything up.

Elsewhere there's stuff about swaddling impairing motor function but as there are other studies showing that swaddled babies quickly catch up once they are no longer swaddled and this is a temporary thing I don't think it is something to worry about.

One very personal opinion I would like to make is that based on a list of benefits vs risks of crossing the road with a baby you might decide never to cross! I'm going to swaddle as long as it is effective and though I will take in to account the risks I think the above suggestions tell you how to avoid them.

 

[Red_Fairy]

i still swaddle... (have to use a massive sheet like) but she always knows its bed time when she gets wrapped into it.

 

[grace]

very informative article Kalia.

if i didnt swaddle she would wake too much during the night, she would be exhausted and so would i. i dont wrap her legs and i have a saturation monitor as she is already at high risk of SIDS and i have to keep an eye on her heart rate so i would know immediately if her breathing slowed.

so, weighing up the plusses and the minuses im gonna keep swaddling until she can turn.

thanks guys.xx

 

[kalia]

Glad it helped

 

[Squiglet]

Swaddling is one of those things that flits in and out of fashion depending on the current parenting mood... I was swaddled, but when Tia came along, swaddling apparently was responsible for damaging babies and killing them... now its back in fashion again.

I swaddled Tia for a long time, until 6 month... and even after I stopped swaddling her, I still needed to tuck her in snuggly at night to get her to sleep. I'd never make it constrictive and what would happen as she got old enough to move on her own, by the morning the swaddling had vanished. When they are tiny... then they are not able to kick the swaddling off.

The over heating I can understand.. in the same way that using any kind of blankets can cause over heating... but as for damaging the babies phyically... we know the swaddling shouldn't be tight enough to constrict the body movement completely... but to give the illusion of security. Generally make the swaddling tight enough so that general tiny baby movements can't kick it off.. but that as they get bigger their movements can.