How to wean a baby from swaddling: tips for parents

Modern recommendations of pediatricians force us to abandon the usual diapers. Today, in most maternity hospitals, the baby immediately after birth is worn sliders and vests. However, most mothers still try to swaddle their crumbs. Over time, parents are faced with such a problem as the unwillingness or inability of the child without a diaper. In order to determine what a diaper is - evil or manna from heaven, we suggest understanding its pros and cons.

Benefits of swaddling

1. Mothers who swaddled the baby from a very young age know that the baby is sleeping in a diaper much calmer. He is in his usual cramped state, as if in the womb. Therefore, his sleep is deep, long.
2. The babies of the first months of life still do not know how to coordinate the movements of the arms and legs, therefore, looming limbs are very afraid.So that the baby does not throw up arms and legs, do not be frightened of this and does not wake himself, they swaddle him.
3. Tight diaper often helps crumbs during colic - it eases his suffering during gas formation.
4. If a child has diaper dermatitis, his mother is forced to abandon diapers. Therefore, a baby with gauze diapers is much more convenient to swaddle than to keep in clothes.
5. For some children, swaddling is indicated by doctors - with various orthopedic problems, in violation of the tone of the limbs, with hip dysplasia. Tight swaddling allows you to gently but carefully fix the crumbs.
6. Our grandmothers are sure that swaddling can help straighten the legs of a newborn.

All these advantages, as well as the meaningful grandmother's “Everybody swaddled, and you too!” Tug the balance in the direction of swaddling. And young mothers wrapped their precious bags in calico and flannel diapers. However, you need to tell about the disadvantages of swaddling.

Lack of swaddling

Why modern doctors refused to swaddle? There are a number of reasons for this.

1. Tight swaddling disrupts limb circulation.
2. If you swaddle a child for more than three months, you can get a lag of his motor skills - he doesn’t train his arms and legs enough, his muscles develop worse.
3. In general, swaddling is the fixation of a child in an unnatural position for him. He cannot cross pens and knives, cannot roll over or curl up if necessary.
4. In summertime, swaddling can cause overheating, because the thermoregulation of a newborn baby is still imperfect.
5. Often, excessive swaddling can cause hypertonia in babies.
6. It so happens that children who are swaddled are forgotten or are not often spread on the tummy. And this, as you know, is a necessary condition for the health and development of newborn babies.

After learning about the pros and cons of swaddling, we can draw conclusions - you can swaddle, but you need to comply with two conditions. The first is to swaddle a child only for the first months of life, not longer than three months. Next, the baby must develop muscular skills and coordination of movements, even in sleep. A diaper him in this way. The second condition - swaddling should not be tight, so that the baby still had the opportunity to move.

If you have already gone this way, and want to get rid of the diaper (without prejudice to sleep and peace of mind), we will give you some tips.

How to wean a baby from a diaper

1. Try not to swaddle the baby completely, but only his legs. This will allow you to get rid of the diaper gradually, so to speak, in stages.
2. Often the diaper and the feeling of restraint give babies comfort and a sense of security. And when the arms and legs remain in a free position, the child begins to be frightened, it becomes alarming. It is this reason that makes him wake up and cry at night. In this case, it is worth thinking about a joint dream, at least for a while. When the child feels next to her mother, her warmth and breathing will be calm and he will fall asleep sweetly.
3. Swaddle your baby more and more freely each time. Over time, you can simply throw a favorite diaper over it, without fixing the baby’s legs and arms in any way.
4. If the crumb refuses to fall asleep without swaddling, do not deny him that. And after the baby falls asleep, relax the diaper slightly. So, gradually, you can abandon swaddling.
5. In order for a child to learn to fall asleep without a diaper, offer him an alternative way to sleep. You can shake the baby, offer him a breast, bear it, sing a lullaby. The bottom line is to change the habitual rituals of falling asleep.
6. You can replace the diaper with a regular blanket or bedspread. Lay the baby to sleep and cover him with a blanket, giving him the warmth and sense of tightness that is familiar to him.
7. In the process of abandoning the diaper, you can use special sleeping bags for children. They are made of soft material with a zipper in the middle. The child can be placed in the bag completely, leaving only the head or fix only the lower part of the calf - to the waist. So the hands of the crumbs will remain "free." Such a sleeping bag is a cross between swaddling and clothing. The baby will be fixed in one position, but it will still be able to move the legs and handles in this bag.
8. To the child fell asleep and without a diaper, it must first be "exhausted." To do this, you need to withstand the wakefulness gap for at least 3 hours. It is very useful for a child to bathe in warm water with a drop of essential oil of pine needles.This will allow the baby to sleep peacefully, even if he is not wrapped in his usual diaper.

Armed with these tips, you can give up the diaper and use it exclusively as bedding.

The process of weaning from the diaper is quite long, for this you will need more than one day. However, the patience, perseverance and unlimited love of the mother will do their work. Change your baby's habits if they interfere with his health and development.

Video: swaddle or not swaddle baby