Swaddling
When I first became a doula, I felt very conflicted about the whole swaddling thing. I had read some articles by people who were vehemently against the practice and I also had talked with some professionals, in particular a lactation consultant and a sleep consultant, who both strongly recommended against swaddling. Their reasoning was that swaddled newborns are unable to cue because they are kept so warm and snug, so then they aren’t fed when they need to be, and then they lose weight and the breastfeeder’s supply will go down, and eventually both the newborn and nursing person will suffer and the breastfeeding relationship has the potential to fall apart.
And that is absolutely true if newborns are kept swaddled and are only fed every 5-6 hours for the first few days or weeks of their lives. Have I ever seen this happen? No, not really.
And I say not really because I actually have seen really sleepy babies whose parents struggle to wake them up and babies who will sleep five to six hours at a time. But if this happens, the first check-up on day three with either the midwife, family doctor or pediatrician will show that the baby will have lost a lot of weight so then their care providers begin monitoring them very closely. They will always recommend supplementation and a breastfeeding clinic, where baby are monitored daily for weight gain. The breastfeeding clinics give lots of great suggestions and tips for pumping, formula feeding, feeding schedules, etc. There are also incredible private lactation consultants that you can have in your home to get even more personalized care and who are willing to help. I think I’d be hard-pressed to find a family who doesn’t actively seek support for their baby if feeding seems minimal or a family who wasn’t intercepted by a care provider because there is a concern with the amount of food being taken in or supply being created by the person nursing -- and all of this, in my experience and from where I stand, is really independent of swaddling.
Of course swaddling can make a sleepy baby even sleepier, but swaddling a baby doesn’t necessarily mean there are going to be feeding or supply issues.
So, all of that being said, I, Janalee, a doula, do suggest swaddling to get longer stretches of sleep out of babies. Sometimes newborns wake themselves up if they are scratching themself or if they stretch their arms and legs out and don’t feel that they’re in the womb anymore -- you might have seen a baby do the big shake, which is a falling reflex triggered by not feeling an ‘edge’ or limit anymore of being inside a belly.
My protocol is baby sleeps skin-to-skin with someone or is held by an adult until there are no adults around who are able or willing, because it’s okay to be exhausted and need to put the baby down, and then it’s time to swaddle. So it’s not skin-to-skin or swaddle, it’s skin-to-skin and then swaddle. Holding a baby is the number one way to get long stretches of sleep and still see the feeding cues (plus other bonuses like healthy attachment, relaxed nervous system or milk supply if it’s the nurser doing the holding), and the number two best way is swaddling.
Not all swaddles and not all swaddle methods are created equally.
In general you can either use muslin or flannel blankets to swaddle, or you can use the swaddle sleepers that have velcro or are zip-up. Both are great options and the number of layers totally depends on both what you decide to use and the temperature of your home. I do review the layers in another video so I’ll link that one below if you want to take a peek at that too.
If you’re using the zip-up or velcro swaddles then it’s pretty straight-forward in terms of methodology, but swaddling with muslins is definitely an art.
There are two main options, the traditional swaddle and the super swaddle. The traditional swaddle uses one muslin and the super swaddle requires two. I managed to record myself swaddling a newborn with both different ways and they’re both below.
Also, on the topic of swaddling, there’s quite a big discussion sometimes with parents about their babies wanting and liking having their arms free. Some will assume the newborn wants their arms up and out because they’re so squirmy and eager to get those little hands free. I remind parents that that’s exactly what babies were doing while still in the womb; they were constantly squirming and stretching their arms and legs, trying to see what their world is all about.. And they found deep comfort in knowing that you were always there. So same thing with swaddling, yes the babies are trying to wiggle around and it looks like they’re trying to ‘get free’ but they’re just repeating some of the only movements they know and there truly is a sense of relaxation that comes from testing and feeling that same resistance and push-back that they’ve known for the last ten months of their lives. When parents are trying to get sleep, I like to swaddle the baby so they can help with Operation Get Some Rest: the swaddle helps there be a squirm-squirm-back-to-sleep rather than a squirm-squirm-stir-need-to-be-soothed.
If you are swaddling a newborn, I always suggest unwrapping them every 2 to 3 hours if they haven’t woken up to offer them a feed. Once they’re released from their cocoon, can move their arms and legs and feel that temperature change, then they’re often ready and looking for a feed. We want to still try and respect and mimic a normal, healthy feeding schedule of a newborn which is at least every 2 to 3 hours which will help baby’s weight stay on track, which will help to stimulate breast milk production and swaddling can just help eeveryone get a little bit of rest in between when needed.
When I first became a doula, I felt very conflicted about the whole swaddling thing. I had read some articles by people who were vehemently against the practice and I also had talked with some professionals, in particular a lactation consultant and a sleep consultant, who both strongly recommended against swaddling. Their reasoning was that swaddled newborns are unable to cue because they are kept so warm and snug, so then they aren’t fed when they need to be, and then they lose weight and the breastfeeder’s supply will go down, and eventually both the newborn and nursing person will suffer and the breastfeeding relationship has the potential to fall apart.
And that is absolutely true if newborns are kept swaddled and are only fed every 5-6 hours for the first few days or weeks of their lives. Have I ever seen this happen? No, not really.
And I say not really because I actually have seen really sleepy babies whose parents struggle to wake them up and babies who will sleep five to six hours at a time. But if this happens, the first check-up on day three with either the midwife, family doctor or pediatrician will show that the baby will have lost a lot of weight so then their care providers begin monitoring them very closely. They will always recommend supplementation and a breastfeeding clinic, where baby are monitored daily for weight gain. The breastfeeding clinics give lots of great suggestions and tips for pumping, formula feeding, feeding schedules, etc. There are also incredible private lactation consultants that you can have in your home to get even more personalized care and who are willing to help. I think I’d be hard-pressed to find a family who doesn’t actively seek support for their baby if feeding seems minimal or a family who wasn’t intercepted by a care provider because there is a concern with the amount of food being taken in or supply being created by the person nursing -- and all of this, in my experience and from where I stand, is really independent of swaddling.
Of course swaddling can make a sleepy baby even sleepier, but swaddling a baby doesn’t necessarily mean there are going to be feeding or supply issues.
So, all of that being said, I, Janalee, a doula, do suggest swaddling to get longer stretches of sleep out of babies. Sometimes newborns wake themselves up if they are scratching themself or if they stretch their arms and legs out and don’t feel that they’re in the womb anymore -- you might have seen a baby do the big shake, which is a falling reflex triggered by not feeling an ‘edge’ or limit anymore of being inside a belly.
My protocol is baby sleeps skin-to-skin with someone or is held by an adult until there are no adults around who are able or willing, because it’s okay to be exhausted and need to put the baby down, and then it’s time to swaddle. So it’s not skin-to-skin or swaddle, it’s skin-to-skin and then swaddle. Holding a baby is the number one way to get long stretches of sleep and still see the feeding cues (plus other bonuses like healthy attachment, relaxed nervous system or milk supply if it’s the nurser doing the holding), and the number two best way is swaddling.
Not all swaddles and not all swaddle methods are created equally.
In general you can either use muslin or flannel blankets to swaddle, or you can use the swaddle sleepers that have velcro or are zip-up. Both are great options and the number of layers totally depends on both what you decide to use and the temperature of your home. I do review the layers in another video so I’ll link that one below if you want to take a peek at that too.
If you’re using the zip-up or velcro swaddles then it’s pretty straight-forward in terms of methodology, but swaddling with muslins is definitely an art.
There are two main options, the traditional swaddle and the super swaddle. The traditional swaddle uses one muslin and the super swaddle requires two. I managed to record myself swaddling a newborn with both different ways and they’re both below.
Also, on the topic of swaddling, there’s quite a big discussion sometimes with parents about their babies wanting and liking having their arms free. Some will assume the newborn wants their arms up and out because they’re so squirmy and eager to get those little hands free. I remind parents that that’s exactly what babies were doing while still in the womb; they were constantly squirming and stretching their arms and legs, trying to see what their world is all about.. And they found deep comfort in knowing that you were always there. So same thing with swaddling, yes the babies are trying to wiggle around and it looks like they’re trying to ‘get free’ but they’re just repeating some of the only movements they know and there truly is a sense of relaxation that comes from testing and feeling that same resistance and push-back that they’ve known for the last ten months of their lives. When parents are trying to get sleep, I like to swaddle the baby so they can help with Operation Get Some Rest: the swaddle helps there be a squirm-squirm-back-to-sleep rather than a squirm-squirm-stir-need-to-be-soothed.
If you are swaddling a newborn, I always suggest unwrapping them every 2 to 3 hours if they haven’t woken up to offer them a feed. Once they’re released from their cocoon, can move their arms and legs and feel that temperature change, then they’re often ready and looking for a feed. We want to still try and respect and mimic a normal, healthy feeding schedule of a newborn which is at least every 2 to 3 hours which will help baby’s weight stay on track, which will help to stimulate breast milk production and swaddling can just help eeveryone get a little bit of rest in between when needed.