Sleeping like in a baby's belly: security through confinement
In the womb it was very tight for the little ones towards the end. Arms and legs had hardly any space to stretch out. They felt a limitation all over their bodies. Hardly in the world, this limitation is gone from now on. Many babies cannot deal with this unfamiliar situation and cry a lot, even though they don't seem to be wrong. However, they long for the narrowness of the womb. This feeling should be recreated by swaddling.
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Table of contents: 1. What is swaddling? |
1. What does swaddle mean?
When swaddling, babies are wrapped very tightly in a cloth or swaddle. The arms are close to the body. The little legs are also wrapped loosely. With this technique, the feeling in the womb is simulated and often the effect of swaddling on parents and child is very positive and the children calm down quickly.
2. What is the reason for swaddling?
As already mentioned, swaddling mimics the feeling in the womb. Another factor is the Moro reflex. This reflex causes the little ones to stretch out their arms jerkily when they are laid on their back or when they are sleeping. If this happens while they are sleeping, it is not uncommon for babies to be awakened by this movement. Therefore swaddling is also used here, so that this cannot happen due to something being swaddled.
3. Criticism of swaddling
The swaddling doesn't just meet with approval. Various experts are critical of this technique. But why? The swaddling seems to be related to sudden infant death syndrome. The puck technique and the positioning of the child are particularly dangerous. Since not all parents know the right technique and when to swaddle, swaddling can then become a life-threatening hazard. Because if a child turns swaddled on its stomach, there is a risk of suffocation. Another aspect is that swaddling promotes hip dysplasia. The risk of overheating is also an issue, as is changing diapers that are too tight, which may prevent the children from breathing properly. If the wrap is too tight or wrong, nerves can also be pinched and the flattening of the back of the head is promoted by the motionless supine position.
4. Note the following aspects
In general, there are children who can't do anything with this technique and refuse to swaddle. Even children who don't have problems sleeping don't need swaddling. However, it can work wonders for children who are very restless and find it difficult to fall asleep, are whiny and also with cry babies. It can also be of help to children who wake themselves up several times during the night. It must therefore be decided individually for each child whether swaddling should be used. Parents can contact their midwife or they can simply try it out, success or failure will be noticeable.
4.1. Timely unpacking
The latest sources advise only swaddling the baby until the eighth week of life. Until then, swaddling was allowed up to the sixth month at most. The reason for the earlier swaddling is that some children start rolling very early and without warning. If the little ones swaddled and turn onto their stomachs, they can no longer turn back on their own. If this happens unattended at night, the child can suffocate lying on its stomach.
4.2. Supine position
Very important, swaddled babies may only be placed on their backs. When children are wrapped up and placed on their stomachs, it is often not possible for them to turn onto their backs due to the restricted freedom of movement. Babies are also not yet sufficiently able to turn their heads to the side, so the risk of suffocation is drastically increased.
4.3. The right equipment
There are special swaddles and swaddle bags. But no matter what you choose, the fabric should be elastic, breathable and not too thick.
4.4. Leg and hip freedom
When swaddling, it is important that the hips and legs are allowed sufficient freedom of movement. The hips should be able to move and the legs should be able to be straightened.
4.5. Beware of overheating
Most importantly, tight wrapping encourages overheating. Therefore, it is important that the children are not overdressed. However, this depends on the time of year and varies from child to child.
5. The right puck technique
There are different puck techniques. In the following video, therefore, a technique from the Goldenes Kreuz private clinic:
6. When the baby can no longer be swaddled, what then?
Very clear recommendation: Our Wombi 🙂 The Wombi combines the advantages of swaddling paired with sufficient freedom of movement. You can find them all here Advantages of the Wombi or Our Unpump Guide with the Wombi.
7. So much for the theory
I'm all for swaddling. But only for babies who really need it. Leon slept the first two nights without swaddling, then it became apparent that he wasn't a good sleeper. A friend gave me a swaddle bag when I was born. Honestly, I looked at this part and didn't know where up and down was 😀 So I grabbed the YouTube tutorial! So far so good, so I wrapped Leon in a swaddle. I have to say it looks a bit strange and as an adult you can't imagine that you can feel so good. The first attempt went straight into the pants, Leon screamed like crazy while wrapping and I was really excited too. I then stopped first. However, after a few hours and with more rest, I started trying again. Unfortunately, Leon screamed again, but I wrapped him up completely. I picked him up and calmed him down and after he calmed down and fell asleep he slept much, much easier, longer and better. As a very small baby, I sometimes swaddled him and sometimes didn't, because calming him down didn't always work out. When it generally got better with sleeping, I swaddled him every night. At that time it was still the case that babies were allowed to swaddle up to the sixth month. At around six months, I thought to myself, well, it's about time we had to stop swaddling.
So get to the unpump. Of course I then tried to put him to sleep in the classic way without swaddling, I can only say: pure disaster! He would not be calmed down, flailed his arms, scratched his face, rubbed his eyes. He just didn't know what to do with his arms. So it really didn't work. Then I slowly tried to unpull him, leaving one arm unpushed. It went so-so, you can do a lot of nonsense even with a free arm, but it was better. However, I could not and could not free the second arm and Leon was already spinning at that point. So I had to do something. I then met the Wombi via a forum. And to be honest, I was really skeptical, especially with Leon. I felt like I tried so many tips and tricks for better sleep and somehow nothing really helped. But, tada, the Wombi really helped us. Already in the first night with Wombi Leon slept as good as swaddled.
The bottom line for us was that we probably couldn't have got around it. However, it was really difficult to unpack. You are also under a certain amount of pressure, as the babies turning over by themselves is a very clear sign to stop swaddling. I have so easily suppressed the fact that unpulling doesn't happen overnight and takes weeks, if not months. So I can only advise you to start unpacking in good time
