Swaddling your baby

Swaddling is necessary for our newborn babies. When our babies are born they cannot control their hands or arms. Sometimes those arms are flying around and they even hit themselves in the face. Uncontrolled arms will upset your baby and cause them to cry.

Swaddled arms bring security and calmness. There are various ways to swaddle our babies. There are many swaddle blankets available on the market because babies are very good at escaping the swaddle.  If your baby only naps in your arms you are providing that swaddle by containing the baby’s arms.

Swaddling our babies is the first step in teaching them how to sleep. Your baby may resist as you are wrapping them up in the swaddle but in a few minutes your baby will relax when they can feel those safe boundaries around them. When you swaddle, your newborn will be able to sleep longer because flying arms will not waken your baby. The baby will learn to anticipate sleep when you start wrapping them in the swaddle.

As your baby grows and develops, they will learn how to roll over. It then becomes necessary to remove the swaddle. The best way to discontinue the swaddle is to do it gradually. First, unswaddle one arm. Let your child get accustomed to this new freedom and then gradually unswaddle the second arm.

Learning to sleep without the swaddle happens around the same time as several other developmental changes to sleep. This time period is known as a SLEEP MILESTONE because the brain growth alters the previous sleep patterns. For parents it can be difficult to figure out the best way to deal with all these changes in your baby. The method you were using to get your child to sleep might not be effective any more.

Let me help you navigate this challenging time to teach your child to become a great sleeper. When your child is a great sleeper,  you get the freedom to sleep too.
Contact me for a FREE 15 minute “Get Acquainted” call to answer any questions about the process and how I can help you.

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