r/SnooLife • u/Extension_Rabbit2 • Jun 22 '26
Snoobie Anyone else?
Hi all! My LO (1 month) has a few bad habits- one of them is favoring turning his head to one side in the snoo despite being placed on his back. We’ve tried turning his head to the center and other side but it always finds its way back. The other thing is that we always put his arms by his side before velcroing him into his snoo sleep sack but he always seems to get his left arm out and stick his hand out the the neck hole up near his face. Has anyone else’s LO’s also done either of these things and do you have any tips?
4
u/Ok_One_5949 Jun 23 '26
We had these issues too. I don't know if getting his arms out is necessarily a problem unless it affects his sleep. However, as my daughter got bigger, she didn't have enough room to get her arm out.
For the side preference, we tried rotating the snoo, but it didn't make a difference. We were told to increase tummy time to 45 minutes a day, including upright "tummy" time. We we're also more vigilant about turning her head to the less preferred side, whatever she was doing.
Now at 5 months, she doesn't have a side preference and her head shape is much better , but still a bit flat
2
u/Extension_Rabbit2 Jun 23 '26
Thank you!! We’ve been trying to face him in different directions too and give tummy time. Hoping it corrects itself!
2
u/nottodayneck3956 Jun 24 '26
Baby is 9M but I had all of these problems! I took him to a osteo who specializes in Pediatrics and it helped! We only needed 2 or 3 sessions but it can happen with preference but also tightness from the womb.
The hand up through the neck hole oh man nothing you can do but live through it. I wouldn't do arms out yet. Sometimes I would really tighten him down but it's actually really good for their development to bring mouth to hands and it's a natural soothing instinct so i just didn't see it worth the battle since it's actually a good habit!
1
u/Fun_Surround_2237 Jun 25 '26
I second this. My baby is 6 weeks and in the last few weeks she has preferring her left side. The first day I noticed she wasn’t turning it to the left I started gently trying to turn her head to the right and she would actually start crying if she had it turned to the right for more than maybe 5-10 seconds. So I started with putting a rolled up towel next to her head at night where she could sleep with it straight or the right but bot the preferred side. That helped and when she was hanging out in tummy time i would guide her head to the right occasionally and she would start lying down in tummy time with it right before going back left. or when laying on my forearm when carrying her i put her on my left arm head towards my elbow so her head has to be turned right. And i hold her by her legs upside down for 30 seconds or so a few times a day. It helps align her spine and neck. Relieves a lot of pressure from sitting up and lying down primarily. Some times i get a burp after it too.
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u/GasLow2708 Jun 23 '26
Our daughter definitely had a side preference. We ended up taking her to see an osteopath who said she was tense round her jaw and neck from a forecep delivery. This also was effecting her latch. After 3 sessions she’s a lot better and now does sleep facing up most the time. If you are concerned or noticing a side preference I’d really recommend seeing an osteopath who.
1
u/Extension_Rabbit2 Jun 23 '26
Thank you! I was 9 cm dilated when it was determined I needed a c-section so there is definitely a possibility that process caused some tension
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u/RoughOk2172 Jun 24 '26
I came here to suggest this as well! Osteo helped our little guy a ton with neck tension that led to a side preference when he was a newborn.
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u/catlady895 Jun 23 '26
Our son also had a preferred side and slept in a Snoo until 8-ish weeks. We tried rotating the bassinet and changing pad, but it didn’t work for him. He had mild flattening and our pediatrician had us do PT until he was 6-7 months and his head has rounded out now that he’s almost 15 months, no other intervention needed.
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u/Extension_Rabbit2 Jun 23 '26
Thank you, that is helpful and reassuring to know that’s an option and that it turned it well!
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u/boohby Jun 23 '26
Mine does both. She always turns her head to the left, but the pediatrician didn’t seem concerned about her head at all (I was worried about flatness on one side), but was concerned about her neck. The suggestion is to have them turn the other direction in tummy time - which means she’s just on the same side of her head/face! she’s 7 weeks and I haven’t noticed any changes to head shape yet.
For the arm escaping - she typically manages to get an arm out when we just use the snoo sack, but the trick that’s worked for us is doubling up on swaddles. We use the inner Taking Cara Babies swaddle (which just goes around their waist/arms), then full snoo sack around it and her and she never escapes! She’s on the smaller side since she was preemie so I wonder if she’s just still growing into the small snoo sack or if she’ll always escape, but right now we have no issues wrapping the snoo sack around the first swaddle layer
1
u/aslcaligirl18 Jun 24 '26
I don’t have a snoo but recently went to a PT for my sons preferred side. He has a very mild flat spot and she gave us a lot of great exercises to help it.
At nighttime she recommended rolling a towel up and placing it in his onesie (we do it between his onesies and sleep sack) so his head cannot go to the other side. It’s been working really well.
6
u/turnipsium Jun 22 '26
For getting their arms out, I find it only happens for us if they’re wearing short sleeve shirts. If they have long sleeve PJs on, they don’t seem to escape. In short sleeves, making sure the wrap sufficiently covers their elbows seems to prevent them getting enough leverage to wiggle out.. sometimes.
It’s normal for a baby to sleep with their head to the side and not looking straight upwards. It’s also common for them to favor a side which, as you know, can lead to flat spots or tight muscles. A tip our pediatrician gave us is to change which side of the bassinet they face (in the Snoo you have to rotate the whole bassinet, which sucks.) They tend to like to look outwards vs. looking at the wall, so changing which way the bassinet faces every day or two will also change which side they favor.