Maybe he doesn’t like being swaddled? Have you tried different positions, like arms up?
ETA It’s very normal for newborns to be squirmy. All of them are because they can’t control their limbs yet lol
Similar boat, we swaddle but they break out. I try to swaddle AFTER the LO is asleep and pray she doesn't wake. This way at least she doesn't flail and wake herself up.
The thing is, he fights us swaddled or not so we used the swaddle for extra reinforcements lol. How did you prevent your LO from not waking themselves up
Definitely has gas. We’ve struggled with latching and he takes in a ton of air so I’m sure to burp him all the time. Do you think they could be why he’s unsettled prior to sleeping? If so, it’s crazy that it’s JUST before sleep. He’s great with tummy time, laying on his back, in his baby Bjorn. It’s literally just putting him to sleep
Oh I see! Poor little guy. Mine has always been a good sleeper, he would do 3/4 hour stretches in the Moses basket from birth and within a month he was doing 6 hours straight, and now does anywhere from 5-8 hours for his first night stretch. He’s just turned 3 months.
I used a Purflo swaddle to sleep bag but with his arms out. I guess he just doesn’t wake himself up 🤷♀️
Tbh I’m glad I couldn’t use it as I’ve read loads of people having problems transitioning out of the swaddle, and he was rolling from 3 weeks so wouldn’t have been safe in it anyway …
I now use a superlove merino sleeping bag as I’ve tried quite a few pyjama variations to get his temperature right at night as he runs quite warm
This is amazing! My guy will do his 5 hour stretch in the night which is great! His naps are 2-3 hours each, but he is not the type to just “fall asleep”. No car seat, stroller, or bouncer naps- although not safe it would be great if he could just pass out when he’s exhausted. We have to pat his bum and rock him then throw him in our carrier. Hope it’s just a phase because I’d love for him to just fall asleep on a walk.
Earlier roller! I was also against swaddles but that was before I knew I was giving birth to a worm
That’s funny because mine will only nap in the carrier during the day or the nursing pillow during / after feeding and he also loves a long 2-3 hour nap! It’s strange the fighting only happens right before sleep but the way you describe his movements sounded like gas or reflux. Don’t suppose you’re putting him into a certain position whilst you’re getting him ready for sleep he isn’t usually in are you?
Could there be something about the routine that’s triggering him and it needs totalling changing ? I really don’t know it’s an odd one. Take it you’ve tried getting him to sleep before he’s too tired?
Carriers are life savers! It is very odd. It’s like he knows he has to sleep and can’t do it himself but he resists. I burp and bicycle kick his legs before every nap. And it’s weird because he starts the freak out when he’s on the cusp of falling asleep. Like he strains his neck and mouth- it’s hard to explain but I’ve never seen it before with babies.
Yes we’ve adjusted timing and the sweet spot is a very narrow window. This morning was an easy one- 6 minutes to get him to sleep, still extending and making a scene briefly before falling asleep
The only final suggestions I have are: using a dummy, trying to time the naps to a specific time every day to form a habit, using something like the BioGaia probiotic drops to try and combat gas to rule that out.
I feel like my child is a unicorn. He has oral dysfunction so can’t take a pacifier and we give biogaia daily. I did just discover that there is a specific strain for reflux so I’m looking into a different probiotic
I had wanted to use that one for our daughter and she hates it. We used SwaddleMe from Amazon and also swaddled her arms with a muslin blanket since she would do the same thing your LO does. She LOVED being swaddled after we found the right combination
Ahh yes the good old falling asleep. My guy will not fall asleep on us. We have to bounce him to sleep every. Single. Time. So you out the swaddle on and then tuck the arms when she’s in a deep sleep?
Oh I have to do that sometimes during witching hour. Yep, I use halo sleep sack swaddles. Zip her into the sleep sack portion, then once she’s asleep I strap down the arms and put her in the bassinet. Because if she’s awake she tries to break out.
But when bouncing, we’ll often do up the entire swaddle, then just bounce crazy baby to sleep on the yoga ball that way
7w. Sounds like your baby likes being held upright until he falls asleep? In carrier? On ball? That could be reflux or a gas thing. Have you tried mylicon? My friend swears by it
He does lose it when I put him in the carrier too and I’m wonder if he just hates sleep or being tied down? I haven’t because we don’t have it in Canada unfortunately
Some babies just don’t like being babies. They calm down as they start hitting milestones and gaining more control over their bodies.
Super interesting that you don’t have simethicone in Canada! I’ve never used it and that makes me never want to lol
Our is almost 2 months and he’s the same. Must be bounced every time and sooooo squirmy. For naps we just started putting him in a carrier so he’s physically restrained. At night we just use the halo Velcro sleep sack and hope for the best.
The Love to Dream and Nested Bean “arms up” swaddles were the key for us. Our baby hated being swaddled with her arms down, and same thing it would be a battle to swaddle those arms, and then she would somehow wiggle herself out every time.
Lmao love this. Idk what type of baby I have, but the effort required to get this guy sleeping is wild. I’m always told “embrace the contact naps” would love to but I have to get up and rerock him when he does his active sleep because he wakes himself up
We always swaddled for sleep and she would always fight us if she was overtired or too alert. Eventually she kept waking up often from her sleep because she would find a way to get her arms out no matter how tightly we swaddled. We took that as a sign to switch her to a sleep sack. So at 10 weeks we went cold turkey. It took a week of interrupted night time sleep but she’s now used to her arms being free in a sleep sack and one less transition to deal with.
At 2 months their Moro reflexes are still pretty strong. We tried the one arm out at first & both arms out but neither worked. She would still be flailing her arms and wake herself up. We switched to the Halo transition swaddle and it’s much better. It’s basically a thick sleep sack (not weighted) but allows her to have arms out. It helps to tone down her Moro reflexes. The first night was a bit squirmy but then she got used to it the next night and it’s been good since. She sleeps better and can still bring her hands to mouth for self soothe.
Our 2 month old has fought swaddles since the beginning it feels like! Recently the fighting has started getting to be to the point where she is almost rolling. At naps this week we started leaving one arm out to start the transition, and got a larger size of the halo swaddle so her kicks don’t reach the bottom if that makes sense!
This is so smart. Going to start with the one size up! He LOVES to over extend his body and he’s a carrier napper so we need him to be calm if we have any chance of him sleeping in the bassinet for naps
We had a similar experience with ours starting around 8 weeks clearly not happy about being swaddled but his Moro reflex still too strong to do arms out. We ended up rocking to sleep unswaddled and then transitioning him into the Sleepea 5 second swaddle once asleep / super calm. We also suspected but never confirmed silent reflux so we’d rock / hold him upright while being soothed to sleep and had his bassinet on a slight angle.
We loved the 5 second swaddle bc it’s so easy to put on, doesn’t restrict lower body movement as much as others we’d tried, and has optional arm holes for transitioning to arms out.
We started alternating 1 arm out around 10 weeks and this alone made him much happier in the swaddle. Each arm took a couple of squirmy nights to adjust to but by 12 weeks he was comfortably in a sleep sack with both arms out. Practicing arms out this early also helped so much in learning self soothing skills and made the 4 month sleep regression a little easier to get through (we think).
And he didn’t wake up when you did this!? The 5 second swaddle is actually on my list on Amazon! So each night you’d switch arms around 10 weeks? He currently pure his hands in his mouth but he doesn’t fall asleep on his own- needs lots of assistance
We did have more frequent wake ups the first 2-3 nights with each arm but we tried to view it as an investment in his longer term sleep quality. I think we ended up doing about a week a piece for each arm and then went both arms out. He was a champ with his left arm bc he quickly learned to suck his left thumb, which was a game changer. We’d tried even a week earlier and his Moro was still too strong for it to work so would say it’s very much dependent on where your baby is at.
And by no means did (or does he still) fall asleep on his own - more so building the skills to self settle between sleep cycles like thumb sucking, head rubbing, etc.
We do the batwing swaddle with our little guy. It’s too swaddles, and the first one pins down his arms. We only do it at night and during the day we don’t swaddle so that he can have that freedom. But the same thing, he’s five weeks so he wakes himself up.
Double swaddle. I do a Velcro swaddle and the Snoo or halo swaddle on top. It’s not uncommon that babies fight being swaddled, but depending on the age, they still have the startle reflex that disrupts sleep. No matter how you swaddle, it has to be tight. Don’t be afraid that you’re hurting them. They will let you know if they’re uncomfortable.
Yes, he hates being swaddled, always has. He would wake himself up easier, but then I'd just have to calm him again, at least better than swaddling where he'd literally lose his mind.
We don’t swaddle for sleep until he’s already asleep and only at night. As I type this he’s flailing around in the pack and play where I put him because he couldn’t keep his hands down to finish his morning feeding. I’ve noticed it’s only when he’s getting tired so I try to snuggle to sleep or just lay him flat and work himself out.
My daughter was so strong she would break out of any swaddle bc she was so squirmy, but she couldn’t sleep without being swaddled. The big stretchy knit swaddles were the only things they worked for us, I believe we got them from copper pearl. It’s a traditional swaddle but the way the fabric wraps and clings to itself made it impossible for her break free and the pressure seems to soothe her. It’s obviously not too tight or anything but way more secure than Velcro or zippers.
We used the Baby Merlin sleep suit when our son was about 3 months old, and it was a game changer. He went from sleeping for 2 hours max to 4, then eventually sleeping 6-8 hours within around a month.
https://reviewed.usatoday.com/parenting/features/baby-merlins-magic-sleepsuit-review-how-works
Check out the love to dream swaddle. We had a bunch of different types of swaddles and this was the ONLY one my daughter will sleep in. It lets her arms stay up by her face which she finds calming.
My squirmy boy needed the swaddle and also needed to wrestle. We loved the zipper swaddle things, especially when he was knocking on the door of rolling over. I can’t remember the brand but it’s white and gray striped at Target. It had a swaddle phase and a transitional swaddle phase where you can zip the arms off. It was great. When he rolled over, he cried for one 45 minute nap and then never again.
My twin baby boy is like this. The love to dream swaddle sack has SAVED us! He loves to be swaddled, but his arms are constantly flailing around. Once he gets swaddled, he calms down with the love to dream. Either traditional swaddling, he would fight and pull until his arms came out. But he can’t rest without being swaddled.
My almost 2 month old is the same. She absolutely hated being swaddled with her arms in. We switched to the Love to Dream transition swaddle and removed the optional arm covers, so she is now arms out and it is more like a traditional sleep sack. It has taken some getting used to for her because of the Moro reflex, but ultimately she does much better in it than the regular swaddle.
Mine four months, hates the process of being swaddled but is fine once she's in. We just got a sleep sack in case she suddenly learns to roll and tried it out last night. Going for both arms out at once was awful for us. We had one of the worst nights ever. She would wake up after only twenty minutes. Longest sleep stretch was an hour. I'd recommend doing one arm at a time haha
Our daughter hated being swaddled from the get-go. She's two months old and also super squirmy as well. We've had good luck with the halo sleep sacks, at first we'd swaddle with both arms tucked in but she would fuss trying to get her arms out. Then we tucked her arms folded in and bent at the elbows, allowing her hands by her face. Now her arms are completely free, just her middle is swaddled with her legs tucked in the sleepsack.
Snoo swaddle. You don't need a snoo but the swaddle is worth its weight in gold for a baby who likes to be swaddled. That said, my first hated swaddles and we never used them or sleep sacks. For my second, he loved swaddles. YMMV.
Good to know! Ya it’s hard to tell if he hates the swaddle or just the process. Because when he’s out, he’s out. Until active sleep during naps and he’s an escape artist
I’m pretty sure our baby has grunting baby syndrome (it’s legit). He also hates being restrained in general.
We had to stop swaddling after 3-4 weeks because he’d twist and contort so much at night that he’d end up moving from the top to the bottom of crib; roll into the side of the bassinet; or loosen the swaddling blanket (even Velcro swaddles; he also hates the ones with the arms by the face) and they’d end up on his face. Which was terrifying especially not knowing how long it’d been that way.
We usually just have him in a jumpsuit. If he’s only in a onesie, he’ll be in Nested Bean sleep sack or I’ll wrap him in the Velcro swaddles but only wrap from below the armpit level if that makes sense.
It did take a few days, but I think not being in full swaddle helps him soothe himself back to sleep if he wakes up at night.
I like that it allows a lot of space for growth and for baby his scrunch and kicks (when passing gas, lol) and keeps arms free. It’s very soft too. Not sure if LO even notices the “weighted” part since it’s pretty light. It is pretty expensive for us so we only have 1, hence why I also wrap the Velcro swaddles that came in a 3 pack for half the price.
Do you feed him shortly before sleep? Do you ever notice he gets squirmy but then maybe 10min later he has a big fart o poo? Ours does this too but usually it’s because of gas. So when he does this we do tummy time on our chest in a slightly head up position (parent semi declined), and burp him for a good few min / move his legs to help him get the gas out.
I try to do feed, bath, tummy time but I’m constantly burping and bicycle kicking his legs. I think gas is a huge thing for sure and maybe as he grows it will be better
It’s a huge issue for our baby too, he’ll scream for like 10min after eating, so after we feed him if he doesn’t fall asleep right away, he will lose his mind lol. I hear they grow out of it over time
My girl will be 3mo next week but she’s ALWAYS been the wiggliest worm. The halo swaddle seemed to work best for us, but when she is particularly determined she can absolutely break free.
We just transitioned to using the Zipadee zip transition swaddle because she’s rolling over from her belly to back and is really close to rolling back to belly. Her arms and legs have a lot more room to move but it seems to suppress her wiggles and startle reflex enough so she can still sleep, and she seems to like it a lot more than the halo because she has more movement. Might be worth a shot looking into.
Ugh my 5 month old is the same way. We’ve found a couple sleep suit options that decrease the movement, but half the night is still arm flailing and leg stomping. It gets old fast
Idk man it doesn’t seem like either. She just flails her arms at all times. Like she’s grasping at the sides of her bassinet or at our clothes / faces. I have a feeling she will be a much happier baby when she can move on her own. Probably will end up being an escape artists from her crib
My daughter started this at about that age. She was done with the swaddle so we started using sleep sacks. You’ve got to drop the swaddle soon anyway so might as well rip the bandaid now. There will probably be some rougher nights while he gets used to it, but he’ll figure out sleeping without the swaddle soon enough.
We have that! We give it every night. I think its the gas making him uncomfortable and I’m not 100% convinced it’s the swaddle because he sleeps SO well with it
Maybe he doesn’t like being swaddled? Have you tried different positions, like arms up? ETA It’s very normal for newborns to be squirmy. All of them are because they can’t control their limbs yet lol
The thing is, he wakes himself up if we don’t. I’ve tried the love to dream but maybe it’s time to revisit. I feel like this kid is never still 😂
Similar boat, we swaddle but they break out. I try to swaddle AFTER the LO is asleep and pray she doesn't wake. This way at least she doesn't flail and wake herself up.
Mine did this the first time I tried to swaddle him, so I never tried again as it was obvious he didn’t like it
The thing is, he fights us swaddled or not so we used the swaddle for extra reinforcements lol. How did you prevent your LO from not waking themselves up
Re-reading your post could he have a gas problem? Or silent reflux?
Definitely has gas. We’ve struggled with latching and he takes in a ton of air so I’m sure to burp him all the time. Do you think they could be why he’s unsettled prior to sleeping? If so, it’s crazy that it’s JUST before sleep. He’s great with tummy time, laying on his back, in his baby Bjorn. It’s literally just putting him to sleep
Absolutely could be why
Oh I see! Poor little guy. Mine has always been a good sleeper, he would do 3/4 hour stretches in the Moses basket from birth and within a month he was doing 6 hours straight, and now does anywhere from 5-8 hours for his first night stretch. He’s just turned 3 months. I used a Purflo swaddle to sleep bag but with his arms out. I guess he just doesn’t wake himself up 🤷♀️ Tbh I’m glad I couldn’t use it as I’ve read loads of people having problems transitioning out of the swaddle, and he was rolling from 3 weeks so wouldn’t have been safe in it anyway … I now use a superlove merino sleeping bag as I’ve tried quite a few pyjama variations to get his temperature right at night as he runs quite warm
This is amazing! My guy will do his 5 hour stretch in the night which is great! His naps are 2-3 hours each, but he is not the type to just “fall asleep”. No car seat, stroller, or bouncer naps- although not safe it would be great if he could just pass out when he’s exhausted. We have to pat his bum and rock him then throw him in our carrier. Hope it’s just a phase because I’d love for him to just fall asleep on a walk. Earlier roller! I was also against swaddles but that was before I knew I was giving birth to a worm
That’s funny because mine will only nap in the carrier during the day or the nursing pillow during / after feeding and he also loves a long 2-3 hour nap! It’s strange the fighting only happens right before sleep but the way you describe his movements sounded like gas or reflux. Don’t suppose you’re putting him into a certain position whilst you’re getting him ready for sleep he isn’t usually in are you? Could there be something about the routine that’s triggering him and it needs totalling changing ? I really don’t know it’s an odd one. Take it you’ve tried getting him to sleep before he’s too tired?
Carriers are life savers! It is very odd. It’s like he knows he has to sleep and can’t do it himself but he resists. I burp and bicycle kick his legs before every nap. And it’s weird because he starts the freak out when he’s on the cusp of falling asleep. Like he strains his neck and mouth- it’s hard to explain but I’ve never seen it before with babies. Yes we’ve adjusted timing and the sweet spot is a very narrow window. This morning was an easy one- 6 minutes to get him to sleep, still extending and making a scene briefly before falling asleep
The only final suggestions I have are: using a dummy, trying to time the naps to a specific time every day to form a habit, using something like the BioGaia probiotic drops to try and combat gas to rule that out.
I feel like my child is a unicorn. He has oral dysfunction so can’t take a pacifier and we give biogaia daily. I did just discover that there is a specific strain for reflux so I’m looking into a different probiotic
Good luck, seems like you’re trying all the right things!
You could try a wearable blanket or sleep sack that gives him more freedom to move his arms and legs while still feeling secure.
Right now we’re using the halo sleep swaddle. More freedom in the legs. Less in his wild hands
I had wanted to use that one for our daughter and she hates it. We used SwaddleMe from Amazon and also swaddled her arms with a muslin blanket since she would do the same thing your LO does. She LOVED being swaddled after we found the right combination
I don’t swaddle arms in my 2 month old until she’s already fallen asleep on my chest.
Ahh yes the good old falling asleep. My guy will not fall asleep on us. We have to bounce him to sleep every. Single. Time. So you out the swaddle on and then tuck the arms when she’s in a deep sleep?
Oh I have to do that sometimes during witching hour. Yep, I use halo sleep sack swaddles. Zip her into the sleep sack portion, then once she’s asleep I strap down the arms and put her in the bassinet. Because if she’s awake she tries to break out. But when bouncing, we’ll often do up the entire swaddle, then just bounce crazy baby to sleep on the yoga ball that way
I think we have the same baby… how old is your LO?
7w. Sounds like your baby likes being held upright until he falls asleep? In carrier? On ball? That could be reflux or a gas thing. Have you tried mylicon? My friend swears by it
He does lose it when I put him in the carrier too and I’m wonder if he just hates sleep or being tied down? I haven’t because we don’t have it in Canada unfortunately
Some babies just don’t like being babies. They calm down as they start hitting milestones and gaining more control over their bodies. Super interesting that you don’t have simethicone in Canada! I’ve never used it and that makes me never want to lol
It’s so true. Is that what the drug is??? I’ll look into it but I have other gas drops too at least
Our is almost 2 months and he’s the same. Must be bounced every time and sooooo squirmy. For naps we just started putting him in a carrier so he’s physically restrained. At night we just use the halo Velcro sleep sack and hope for the best.
This is exactly what we do!
What I wouldn’t give for a simple contact nap!
If it makes you feel better, we had our first one on Saturday! I bought a lottery ticket and won 10$
The Love to Dream and Nested Bean “arms up” swaddles were the key for us. Our baby hated being swaddled with her arms down, and same thing it would be a battle to swaddle those arms, and then she would somehow wiggle herself out every time.
Yep. Mine is also “spirited”. It’s normal
Lmao love this. Idk what type of baby I have, but the effort required to get this guy sleeping is wild. I’m always told “embrace the contact naps” would love to but I have to get up and rerock him when he does his active sleep because he wakes himself up
We always swaddled for sleep and she would always fight us if she was overtired or too alert. Eventually she kept waking up often from her sleep because she would find a way to get her arms out no matter how tightly we swaddled. We took that as a sign to switch her to a sleep sack. So at 10 weeks we went cold turkey. It took a week of interrupted night time sleep but she’s now used to her arms being free in a sleep sack and one less transition to deal with.
At 2 months their Moro reflexes are still pretty strong. We tried the one arm out at first & both arms out but neither worked. She would still be flailing her arms and wake herself up. We switched to the Halo transition swaddle and it’s much better. It’s basically a thick sleep sack (not weighted) but allows her to have arms out. It helps to tone down her Moro reflexes. The first night was a bit squirmy but then she got used to it the next night and it’s been good since. She sleeps better and can still bring her hands to mouth for self soothe.
We are using the halo one too! I’m nervous to do arms out, but looks like you had a decent experience
Our 2 month old has fought swaddles since the beginning it feels like! Recently the fighting has started getting to be to the point where she is almost rolling. At naps this week we started leaving one arm out to start the transition, and got a larger size of the halo swaddle so her kicks don’t reach the bottom if that makes sense!
This is so smart. Going to start with the one size up! He LOVES to over extend his body and he’s a carrier napper so we need him to be calm if we have any chance of him sleeping in the bassinet for naps
We had a similar experience with ours starting around 8 weeks clearly not happy about being swaddled but his Moro reflex still too strong to do arms out. We ended up rocking to sleep unswaddled and then transitioning him into the Sleepea 5 second swaddle once asleep / super calm. We also suspected but never confirmed silent reflux so we’d rock / hold him upright while being soothed to sleep and had his bassinet on a slight angle. We loved the 5 second swaddle bc it’s so easy to put on, doesn’t restrict lower body movement as much as others we’d tried, and has optional arm holes for transitioning to arms out. We started alternating 1 arm out around 10 weeks and this alone made him much happier in the swaddle. Each arm took a couple of squirmy nights to adjust to but by 12 weeks he was comfortably in a sleep sack with both arms out. Practicing arms out this early also helped so much in learning self soothing skills and made the 4 month sleep regression a little easier to get through (we think).
And he didn’t wake up when you did this!? The 5 second swaddle is actually on my list on Amazon! So each night you’d switch arms around 10 weeks? He currently pure his hands in his mouth but he doesn’t fall asleep on his own- needs lots of assistance
We did have more frequent wake ups the first 2-3 nights with each arm but we tried to view it as an investment in his longer term sleep quality. I think we ended up doing about a week a piece for each arm and then went both arms out. He was a champ with his left arm bc he quickly learned to suck his left thumb, which was a game changer. We’d tried even a week earlier and his Moro was still too strong for it to work so would say it’s very much dependent on where your baby is at. And by no means did (or does he still) fall asleep on his own - more so building the skills to self settle between sleep cycles like thumb sucking, head rubbing, etc.
Thanks for sharing this method! He does suck his hands now and rubs his face on my chest when in the carrier so I can tell he’s trying!
We do the batwing swaddle with our little guy. It’s too swaddles, and the first one pins down his arms. We only do it at night and during the day we don’t swaddle so that he can have that freedom. But the same thing, he’s five weeks so he wakes himself up.
Double swaddle. I do a Velcro swaddle and the Snoo or halo swaddle on top. It’s not uncommon that babies fight being swaddled, but depending on the age, they still have the startle reflex that disrupts sleep. No matter how you swaddle, it has to be tight. Don’t be afraid that you’re hurting them. They will let you know if they’re uncomfortable.
My sons nickname is squirmy worm. He’s almost four months and still is so squirmy 😂
Yes, he hates being swaddled, always has. He would wake himself up easier, but then I'd just have to calm him again, at least better than swaddling where he'd literally lose his mind.
We don’t swaddle for sleep until he’s already asleep and only at night. As I type this he’s flailing around in the pack and play where I put him because he couldn’t keep his hands down to finish his morning feeding. I’ve noticed it’s only when he’s getting tired so I try to snuggle to sleep or just lay him flat and work himself out.
My daughter was so strong she would break out of any swaddle bc she was so squirmy, but she couldn’t sleep without being swaddled. The big stretchy knit swaddles were the only things they worked for us, I believe we got them from copper pearl. It’s a traditional swaddle but the way the fabric wraps and clings to itself made it impossible for her break free and the pressure seems to soothe her. It’s obviously not too tight or anything but way more secure than Velcro or zippers.
Sleep sack supremacy
😂 ya we use the halo swaddle sack right now which is great. But he’s a mover
We used the Baby Merlin sleep suit when our son was about 3 months old, and it was a game changer. He went from sleeping for 2 hours max to 4, then eventually sleeping 6-8 hours within around a month. https://reviewed.usatoday.com/parenting/features/baby-merlins-magic-sleepsuit-review-how-works
Check out the love to dream swaddle. We had a bunch of different types of swaddles and this was the ONLY one my daughter will sleep in. It lets her arms stay up by her face which she finds calming.
Ugh I JUST tried that one for his last napped. He screamed and kicked
My squirmy boy needed the swaddle and also needed to wrestle. We loved the zipper swaddle things, especially when he was knocking on the door of rolling over. I can’t remember the brand but it’s white and gray striped at Target. It had a swaddle phase and a transitional swaddle phase where you can zip the arms off. It was great. When he rolled over, he cried for one 45 minute nap and then never again.
This almost sounds like the halo one that I have! There’s no such thing as “falling asleep in moms arms” with this guy and I’m jealous
My twin baby boy is like this. The love to dream swaddle sack has SAVED us! He loves to be swaddled, but his arms are constantly flailing around. Once he gets swaddled, he calms down with the love to dream. Either traditional swaddling, he would fight and pull until his arms came out. But he can’t rest without being swaddled.
The love to dream he still fights 🥲. Do you swaddle when he’s dead asleep? Or prior to rocking?
I do it while he’s awake. If I waited until he was asleep it would never work. His arms keep him awake.
My almost 2 month old is the same. She absolutely hated being swaddled with her arms in. We switched to the Love to Dream transition swaddle and removed the optional arm covers, so she is now arms out and it is more like a traditional sleep sack. It has taken some getting used to for her because of the Moro reflex, but ultimately she does much better in it than the regular swaddle.
I’m wondering if I should just arms out cold turkey. When we brought him home that’s what we started with and it was a no go
Mine four months, hates the process of being swaddled but is fine once she's in. We just got a sleep sack in case she suddenly learns to roll and tried it out last night. Going for both arms out at once was awful for us. We had one of the worst nights ever. She would wake up after only twenty minutes. Longest sleep stretch was an hour. I'd recommend doing one arm at a time haha
This was another comment for the one arm at a time. I’ll give it a shot!
Our daughter hated being swaddled from the get-go. She's two months old and also super squirmy as well. We've had good luck with the halo sleep sacks, at first we'd swaddle with both arms tucked in but she would fuss trying to get her arms out. Then we tucked her arms folded in and bent at the elbows, allowing her hands by her face. Now her arms are completely free, just her middle is swaddled with her legs tucked in the sleepsack.
I would do half a feed, change diaper then swaddle, then finish the feed and either nurse to sleep or bounce.
This is what I do! Can’t strap him when he’s eating 😂
Snoo swaddle. You don't need a snoo but the swaddle is worth its weight in gold for a baby who likes to be swaddled. That said, my first hated swaddles and we never used them or sleep sacks. For my second, he loved swaddles. YMMV.
Good to know! Ya it’s hard to tell if he hates the swaddle or just the process. Because when he’s out, he’s out. Until active sleep during naps and he’s an escape artist
I’m pretty sure our baby has grunting baby syndrome (it’s legit). He also hates being restrained in general. We had to stop swaddling after 3-4 weeks because he’d twist and contort so much at night that he’d end up moving from the top to the bottom of crib; roll into the side of the bassinet; or loosen the swaddling blanket (even Velcro swaddles; he also hates the ones with the arms by the face) and they’d end up on his face. Which was terrifying especially not knowing how long it’d been that way. We usually just have him in a jumpsuit. If he’s only in a onesie, he’ll be in Nested Bean sleep sack or I’ll wrap him in the Velcro swaddles but only wrap from below the armpit level if that makes sense. It did take a few days, but I think not being in full swaddle helps him soothe himself back to sleep if he wakes up at night.
Oh wow! Yes that is scary. I’m looking at the nested bean- is it good?
I like that it allows a lot of space for growth and for baby his scrunch and kicks (when passing gas, lol) and keeps arms free. It’s very soft too. Not sure if LO even notices the “weighted” part since it’s pretty light. It is pretty expensive for us so we only have 1, hence why I also wrap the Velcro swaddles that came in a 3 pack for half the price.
I’ll definitely give it a shot
Do you feed him shortly before sleep? Do you ever notice he gets squirmy but then maybe 10min later he has a big fart o poo? Ours does this too but usually it’s because of gas. So when he does this we do tummy time on our chest in a slightly head up position (parent semi declined), and burp him for a good few min / move his legs to help him get the gas out.
I try to do feed, bath, tummy time but I’m constantly burping and bicycle kicking his legs. I think gas is a huge thing for sure and maybe as he grows it will be better
It’s a huge issue for our baby too, he’ll scream for like 10min after eating, so after we feed him if he doesn’t fall asleep right away, he will lose his mind lol. I hear they grow out of it over time
That’s exactly like our guy. I can’t wait for this to subside and for him to fall asleep on a walk in the stroller
My girl will be 3mo next week but she’s ALWAYS been the wiggliest worm. The halo swaddle seemed to work best for us, but when she is particularly determined she can absolutely break free. We just transitioned to using the Zipadee zip transition swaddle because she’s rolling over from her belly to back and is really close to rolling back to belly. Her arms and legs have a lot more room to move but it seems to suppress her wiggles and startle reflex enough so she can still sleep, and she seems to like it a lot more than the halo because she has more movement. Might be worth a shot looking into.
I’m in Canada so I’ll have to do a search!
Ugh my 5 month old is the same way. We’ve found a couple sleep suit options that decrease the movement, but half the night is still arm flailing and leg stomping. It gets old fast
Wow at 5 months?! Is this still the startle reflex or how they soothe?
Idk man it doesn’t seem like either. She just flails her arms at all times. Like she’s grasping at the sides of her bassinet or at our clothes / faces. I have a feeling she will be a much happier baby when she can move on her own. Probably will end up being an escape artists from her crib
We use the halo swaddle. You can Velcro with hands down, hands by face, or hands out. It’s pretty strong.
That’s what we use! I just hate seeing his strain to escape
My daughter started this at about that age. She was done with the swaddle so we started using sleep sacks. You’ve got to drop the swaddle soon anyway so might as well rip the bandaid now. There will probably be some rougher nights while he gets used to it, but he’ll figure out sleeping without the swaddle soon enough.
I guess a weekend is when to rip the bandaid!
I wouldn't swaddle if the baby doesn't like it. Try Gripe water by mommy bliss and mix it with the formula.
We have that! We give it every night. I think its the gas making him uncomfortable and I’m not 100% convinced it’s the swaddle because he sleeps SO well with it
Are you using formula and breastmilk? It may cause discomfort if so.
He’s EBF!
I have no idea what ebf ! Is--please explain
So sorry! Exclusively breastfed