Swaddling in the hot weather

[~kellie~]

Hi everyone,
Does anyone have any suggestions about how to swaddle a baby in the heat? Even using a cotton muslin wrap she gets too hot when I swaddle her in the traditional way, but if I don't, she wakes herself up when her fists move.

Any suggestions would be very appreciated!

[*LovemyKids*]

sorry i have no suggestions i was just reading your post and you daughter is gorgoues!!!
Maybe try cooling with air conditioning if you have it my son was a january baby and we lived in it as it was really really hot that year.

Nikki

[Erin_25]

Do you have your air cond on?? just wondering as we live in one of the hottest places & Charlie was still being swaddled until about 6months & I worried about him sweating, but with a very thin wrap & the air cond on it's not a prob at all. Or perhaps you could use a fan in the room, also would just put bubs in short sleeve suit & no singlet. Some people suggest just a singlet, but I find the suits better as they don't ride up.

[Celsie]

I've heard of a product called a Bubbaroo Joey Pouch. I found some info about it from the Natures Cradle website... this is what it said:

Swaddling is made easy with the Joey Pouch, a unique Swaddling Bag. The Joey Pouch is used to safely and simply swaddle baby and is similar to a baby sleeping bag.

Joey Pouch Swaddling Bag is made from quality 100% knitted cotton waffle rather than
synthetic man-made fabrics which are not breathable such as polar fleece, polyester, nylon etc. Cotton is a natural fiber which allows air to circulate and prevent your baby from overheating. The 100% knitted cotton waffle is a high quality fabric with a beautiful hand-feel.

The Joey Pouch has the following features:

Safety

Wrap around and v-neck design to ensure baby doesn't slip down inside the Joey Pouch.
Lightweight breathable knitted cotton waffle fabric to prevent baby overheating.
No excess fabric providing safer handling of wrapped baby.

Comfort

Designed to comfortably fit baby.
Simulates the security of a mother's womb and prevents baby's startle reflex.
The knitted cotton waffle allows baby to move his/her arms without being able to break free and startle.
Sufficient leg room for baby to move his/her legs which is beneficial for hip socket development.
Baby is unable to kick off his/her covers guaranteeing a better night sleep for the whole family.

Ease

3 simple steps to swaddle baby properly with no excess fabric.
No need to unwrap baby to change their nappy or to place in a pram or car seat.

I have never used one, but they sound good.

HTH

Celsie. xoxox

[~kellie~]

thanks celsie - I'll check those out!

We only have a split system aircon unit in our lounge room, so were she sleeps doesnt have aircon, only a fan, and she still seems to get really hot with the fan on, especially on days like today when it got to 37 degrees

[Gigi]

hi kellied,

i read your topic heading with interest, as we have the same issue, swaddle baby in muslin and she still sweats, in a room with a fan, there is an a/c in the main living area only. I also thought "oh, we have a baby around the same age, so you're still swaddling too" as i wondered what age people STOP swaddling, but i must be so TIRED! cos your bub is TWO WEEKS OLD, and mine is ONE YEAR OLD.

We haven't swaddled her the last week and it has been a disaster getting her to go to sleep, and she is tummy sleeping now, which gives me the chills.

Your photo of Tahlia is beautiful, and i think the name you chose, is beautiful too.

[Snacks]

I know you're not supposed to have a fan blowing directly on your baby, but I did this in the early days when Natalie was still swaddled tightly. I figured the air wasn't blowing directly onto her skin anyway because of the muslin.
Can you use a port-a-cot in a different (cooler) room? I used to sleep Nat downstairs when she was little and able to sleep through a bit of noise...
Babies can just be sweaty little creatures. You may find that she would sweat even if she wasn't wrapped. I really loved the wrap (or more importantly, Natalie did ) for ages. She goes to sleep in a sleeping bag now, but holds a wrap for comfort. I'm glad we held onto it...

[bridee]

I have to swaddle my daughter differently due to her being in a harness for hip displacia, however, it is good for hot weather because it only covers her arms, hopefully I can explain it. You lay baby on top of wrap, then bring wrap over 1 arm and then place the wrap underneath her bottom (arm will be beside body), do the same with the other side. Because the wrap is underneath their bottom it is very difficult for them to get out of coz they would need to lift there bottom to release the wrap.

[Roryrory]

Wow Bridee, I didn't realise that form of wrap was actually recommended for kids with hip displacia! We thought our mate's DH invented it - we even call it the "Wally Wrap" after him LOL!!

The type of wrap Bridee described is perfect even when the weather isn't hot because the kids just can't wriggle out of them....

[Snacks]

We used to do that too It was how we transitioned to the sleeping bag too - Put DD in the sleeping bag on top of the wrap, then wrapped over her arms and under her bottom

[Erin_25]

That is the way we have always wrapped too, but only because we were not shown properly so we just did what worked for us. I too was going to suggest leaving the legs out & perhaps you could avoid things such as socks & singlets. Bubs just might be a sweaty baby. It's been 45 here for the past week, so I'm very glad we have air cond in every room here.

[bridee]

Roryrory - not sure the wrap is recommended for kids with hip displacia, at mothers group MCHN was showing us ways we could wrap bubbs coz everyone was saying babies arms were getting out. I adapted what MCHN was saying to what I throught would work for us.

[~kellie~]

thanks everyone for the suggestions... we tried the wrap mentioned by bridee and it worked! I had been using that wrap style for feeding, cause she was always waving her arms about and they were getting in the way, never thought it would be useful for sleeping too! Don't know why the thought didn't occur to me, must still be suffering from baby brain!