Swaddling Debate - Your input would be appreciated
Hello, everyone...
I'm sorry I haven't added to this blog in a while. It was not my intention to ever get into this situation where I go so long without posting... I didn't want to lose our captive audience by letting the site go stale. There may be some way to get auto-notified when I add a new post... lemme check... well, it looks like you can set this up at www.weblogs.com, but I'm having trouble getting it to work... I'll update you on that later if it's something you're interested in.
But enough about anything unrelated to Tali ;)
So lots has gone on in her development since last we spoke. She lost her umbilical cord stump, weeks ago (seems like ages ago). It's still sitting here on my computer desk :) Gotta find something to do with that. It's nice, because now we can give her legitimate baths instead of lame "sponge baths". It's become her nightly ritual before bedtime and by-and-large she seems to enjoy the warm water. The last couple of times she's gotten grumpy in the tub... I think we may have gotten some shampoo in her eyes and she's still freaked out about that. She certainly doesn't like the getting-out of the tub and being slightly chilly, but few of us like that, huh?
She's such a cutie. Lately she is much more aware of people and objects... she'll fix her gaze much more than she used to, and she's much more apt to clench onto you or your shirt when you try to move her. She's on the brink of real smiling... I cannot wait for that! It is quite hard, particularly for the Dad, to not get much feedback from the baby.
Oh... so the swaddling thing. Here's been the progression:
1) Since the start, we've been swaddling her at bedtime and some naptimes, using the standard blankets from the hospital. They are just big enough to swaddle, but not perfect, so she often gets out when she tries hard enough. It's common to hear her make loud straining sounds as she tries moving her arms in her Houdini bit. Sad, cute, but in the end it keeps us all in control and getting more rest. She can escape from this situation 40% of the time. I'm kindof proud of her when she escapes, although escape inevitably leads to her crying.
2) As mentioned in the swaddling bible, The Happiest Baby On The Block, it can be more effective to secure one's swaddle with duct tape :) Although it sounds wacky, since we started using tape (just on the blanket), Talia's gotten great sleep. She escapes from the tape system 15% of the time.
3) I was procrastinating from doing schoolwork (like I'm doing now) and I found a product called The Miracle Blanket. It arrived yesterday. This thing is insane in how effective it is at swaddling securely. I don't think there is a chance she can escape from this thing. So far, it seems to work.
So here's the debate: Are we teaching Talia beneficial lessons by giving her swaddles that are escapable, or should we consistently use this 100% effective "Miracle"? It seems to me that she gets great exercise fighting against our traditional swaddles, and, even though there is crying involved, she must be getting some sense of accomplishment when she escapes. Like I said, I'm somewhat proud of her when she escapes, although when she's really fussy it can be taxing to constantly have to re-wrap her and watch her get herself overwhelmed by too much arm-freedom.
I think we'll end up rotating the Miracle Blanket with our older solutions, to let her have some escapes. What do you think?
Okay... I do have schoolwork to do. Here's another dilemma: how do I go to school tomorrow and miss the Yankee/Red Sox Game 7 ?!?
Go Yanks!
I'm sorry I haven't added to this blog in a while. It was not my intention to ever get into this situation where I go so long without posting... I didn't want to lose our captive audience by letting the site go stale. There may be some way to get auto-notified when I add a new post... lemme check... well, it looks like you can set this up at www.weblogs.com, but I'm having trouble getting it to work... I'll update you on that later if it's something you're interested in.
But enough about anything unrelated to Tali ;)
So lots has gone on in her development since last we spoke. She lost her umbilical cord stump, weeks ago (seems like ages ago). It's still sitting here on my computer desk :) Gotta find something to do with that. It's nice, because now we can give her legitimate baths instead of lame "sponge baths". It's become her nightly ritual before bedtime and by-and-large she seems to enjoy the warm water. The last couple of times she's gotten grumpy in the tub... I think we may have gotten some shampoo in her eyes and she's still freaked out about that. She certainly doesn't like the getting-out of the tub and being slightly chilly, but few of us like that, huh?
She's such a cutie. Lately she is much more aware of people and objects... she'll fix her gaze much more than she used to, and she's much more apt to clench onto you or your shirt when you try to move her. She's on the brink of real smiling... I cannot wait for that! It is quite hard, particularly for the Dad, to not get much feedback from the baby.
Oh... so the swaddling thing. Here's been the progression:
1) Since the start, we've been swaddling her at bedtime and some naptimes, using the standard blankets from the hospital. They are just big enough to swaddle, but not perfect, so she often gets out when she tries hard enough. It's common to hear her make loud straining sounds as she tries moving her arms in her Houdini bit. Sad, cute, but in the end it keeps us all in control and getting more rest. She can escape from this situation 40% of the time. I'm kindof proud of her when she escapes, although escape inevitably leads to her crying.
2) As mentioned in the swaddling bible, The Happiest Baby On The Block, it can be more effective to secure one's swaddle with duct tape :) Although it sounds wacky, since we started using tape (just on the blanket), Talia's gotten great sleep. She escapes from the tape system 15% of the time.
3) I was procrastinating from doing schoolwork (like I'm doing now) and I found a product called The Miracle Blanket. It arrived yesterday. This thing is insane in how effective it is at swaddling securely. I don't think there is a chance she can escape from this thing. So far, it seems to work.
So here's the debate: Are we teaching Talia beneficial lessons by giving her swaddles that are escapable, or should we consistently use this 100% effective "Miracle"? It seems to me that she gets great exercise fighting against our traditional swaddles, and, even though there is crying involved, she must be getting some sense of accomplishment when she escapes. Like I said, I'm somewhat proud of her when she escapes, although when she's really fussy it can be taxing to constantly have to re-wrap her and watch her get herself overwhelmed by too much arm-freedom.
I think we'll end up rotating the Miracle Blanket with our older solutions, to let her have some escapes. What do you think?
Okay... I do have schoolwork to do. Here's another dilemma: how do I go to school tomorrow and miss the Yankee/Red Sox Game 7 ?!?
Go Yanks!
posted by Adam at 1:05 AM
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