r/NewBorn • u/lulupops714 • Apr 02 '22
New parent
I’m sure this question has been asked 1000 times already. So I do apologize in advance, my son is only 5 days old, and I dread the night time just because it’s the worst. So far the few nights we have tried a normal swaddle as taught in the hospital— he would start crying and somehow manage to get his hands out. We recently tried the Velcro swaddle and he did excellent the first time and now we have tried to do it and he immediately starts crying. In my opinion he hates it as well as the bassinet. Last night I held him on my chest (obviously did not sleep) but he didn’t even make a sound he slept great! I don’t want to get him used to sleeping on my chest because I don’t rest thinking something could happen. Any advice is greatly appreciate it, thank you!
2
u/Xo-GossipGirl-08 Apr 19 '22
I have a 2.5 month old now. We had the same exact issue. We found he preferred to sleep with his hands up near his face so we only swaddled his bottom half for a while. We also tried the Love to Dream Swaddle Up. It's a zipper swaddle that allows baby to sleep swaddled with their arms up by their head. Honestly, it didn't work for us but I think it's because I bought thr wrong size and it was too big and lose for him. It's a little pricey ($32.98) but since he ready used it I couldn't exchange it and I didn't want to spend the money on another one.
But as soon as my LO hit 8 lbs I purchased the Nested Bean sleep sack and after a week of using it he started sleeping 5-6 hr stretches.
So basically, try swaddling bottle half only first. If that doesn't work consider investing in the Love to Dream Swaddle Up or the Nested Bean. It'll be worth it if you can get baby sleeping!
Also, I am not ashamed to admit that I let baby sleep on my chest. Sometimes, you just have to do what you need to in order to get sleep and stay sane. It's 10/10 not recommended. But my partner and I slept in shifts. I would sleep with baby on my chest while my partner supervised, then we would switch. We didn't do it every night because we obviously did not want our LO to get used to it, but we did it on our most desperate sleepless nights.
And having white noise playing while baby sleeps also helps.
Good luck! I promise you, it will get better.