Inside: Tips for swaddling your baby at night to avoid night wakings. You already know the must know newborn swaddling tips, but here are some more specific ways to help your baby sleep well at night with the swaddle.
I held my breath and prayed.
Every single time I changed my baby girl’s diaper at night.
I’d unswaddle her, change her diaper put on a new one, and pray I could wrap her back up without waking her up too much. None of us want a wide awake baby multiple times per night, do we?
Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t, and soon I realized… this was not going to fly. That’s when I found this swaddle and never looked back.
It met all my requirements for nighttime swaddling:
- kept baby snug but didn’t constrict movement
- it allowed me to change diaper without removing the swaddle from the arms
Newborn Sleep Schedule: Week by Week
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Tips for Swaddling Your Baby at Night
We all want our babies to be warm and cuddly and safe. It’s the joy of a mother to take good care of their little ones and help them to sleep as well as they possibly can.
Even if their days and nights are confused. Hands down, swaddles are great for baby sleep.
Use the right size but not too tight
One of the reasons babies love to be swaddled is because the swaddle prevents them from waking up every time they have the startle reflex.
You’ll notice your baby jerks his arms every so often and, if unswaddled, this is often enough to wake them from a sound nap.
Swaddling helps prevent this.
That said, it’s important the swaddle isn’t so tight it restrict movements. Because babies sleep so much during those first months, much of their time will be spent swaddled.
You still want baby to be able to move arms and legs freely, so finding a swaddle that doesn’t leave them completely immobile is a must.
Swaddle where you can change diaper without removing whole swaddle
When feeding babies at night, the goal is this: feed them while they’re half asleep and put them back down without ever fully waking.
The enemy of this is a cold bottom.
The way to prevent this?
Change their diaper when you get them from their crib immediately – without removing the swaddle from their arms – then get them snug again and feed.
This means they’ll continue to feed while sleeping and you can usually put them back in the crib asleep.
Read: Must Read Swaddling Tips for Babies
Feed while swaddled
It’s important babies aren’t woken up in the night much. This a major cause of day and night confusion as well as overtiredness.
Nights are made for sleeping and babies are no exception. Sure, they need to feed since their bellies are so tiny, but that doesn’t mean you need to turn lights on and start playing patty cakes.
When the baby stirs to feed, undo the bottom of the swaddle, change diaper, re-swaddle, then lay down to feed (if you’re able.
By laying down to feed you will rest better, baby will remain in sleeping position similar to theirs in the crib, and you’ll be able to transfer them back to their resting place with ease.
Read: 28 Things To Do If Baby Won’t Sleep
Snuggle and swaddle as positive association
Swaddling is a positive sleep association.
A sleep association is something good baby associates with going to bed.
Swaddling baby is a great wind down routine because it helps baby know they’re about to take a nap or a sleep. When it’s time for bed, change diaper give snuggles, cuddles, then swaddle with care. Or a song. :)
As you begin swaddling for every nap and bedtime baby will understand what they need to do. Meaning, they’ll learn to go to sleep better because they understand what’s expected of them.
The more they sleep – interestingly enough – the more they want to sleep!
Read: Positive Sleep Associations and Why You Need Them
Those cold nights…
After I found my favorite swaddle I’ve never looked back. I’ve fed all 5 babies this way with great success and with great sleep.
Baby will sleep.
You will too.
Happy zzzzz’, mama.
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I’ve created a free email series just for you! There are truly only a few reasons why babies and toddlers have struggles sleeping… really, I mean it. I am going to teach you the main 3 reasons and how to start making small changes to help your baby go from:
- fighting sleep to embracing it
- night wakings to sleeping through
- needing you to jump through hoops to going to sleep on their own
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Rachel
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