For those who didn't wrap bubs from a young age?

DS 2 Archie is almost 2wks old, I have not been wrapping him during his day sleeps as a way of teaching him difference between day & night amongst other things & also I think it will help when I stop wrapping him at night.

My question is, it's very hot here & the room he sleeps in is prob the hottest in the house. He has a ceiling fan but it just pushes around the heat & the cool air from the air cond just reaches his room. He was (I know its early days) sleeping longer stretches at night & I'm wondering if he's waking up thirsty as he's hot. So I'm thinking about not wrapping him tonight.

My question is, those who didn't wrap from an early age did you find bubs slept better? or woke frequently due to waking themselves up?

Sorry I don't have any advice but just wanted to say that bubs will sort out the day & night difference on their own. My DS was up all night in the early weeks but slept all day!! He turned his body clock around eventually.
That being said I've tried not wrapping DS in these hot days but he won't have a bar of it!! Refuses to settle until I've bundled him up - don't know how he can sleep like that :shakehead:
Hope someone comes on who can answer your original question.

Just noticed you have an older DS - you probably knew all that I said already :lol:

Ummm, well jazz hated being wrapped, from day one, and in fact even at almost 18 months she refuses any blanket or top sheet, I guess she just doesn't like it.
It was hard because she'd sometimes wake herelf up throwing her arms up and smacking herself in the head (Moro reflex) if she heard a noise and a rustle (which is another reason why we ended up co-sleeping, she didn't startle if she was with us). Something she wouldn't be able to do if she was wrapped with her arms in.

But I think she slept alright up until 4 months (sleep regression) average for a newborn. So I don't think it made a difference to us.

Oh, I know they also say bubs get a lot colder than us, so they need an extra layer. BUT I don't know where you are: if you are in the southern states, I would probably not wrap him overnight, 33 degrees is a bit much overnight! Even in a light summer wrap with nothing underneath, that is extreme for overnight temps!

I stopped wrapping DD2 a while back - she sleeps on her tummy - and she sleeps a lot better for that reason.

I'm not suggesting of course that you do this, but that was the only reason I stopped wrapping her.

i wrapped DD the first night back from the hospital and havent since and she is fine, she used to wake once a night (around 2am) and thats its. i never had issues with settling her. but my GF on the other hand her DS is 2 months older than my DD and she still wraps him, if she doesnt he doesnt sleep well (wakes himself up ect) i guess all you can really do is give it a try.
GL xx

I tend to think if your DS doesn't need to be wrapped to sleep then stop now. I wrapped mine religiously and weaning him from it was really hard. We basically had to stop when he started rolling because he would roll onto his tummy in bed and get stuck, so it had to be done quickly and caused quite a few weeks of bad sleep. Next time around I plan on stopping very early on (providing of course bubs sleeps ok without it, DS did in the early days).

My DD wasn't real fussed about being wrapped from a few weeks old so I didn't wrap her. She slept the same length of time whether she was wrapped or not.

At about 4-5 months she was smacking herself in the head and waking herself up at night so I started wrapping again. What they prefer or need can chop and change. If it is hot and you think you can get away without it give it a go, it might just work.

I was the same as Sagres.

DD was wrapped for the first couple of weeks. She was a very colicky baby and wouldnt settle from age 2weeks till around 11weeks sowould often be rocked to sleep from a struggling, flailing stage. There was no way she would let me wrap her when like it so I stopped at around 3weeks of age.

Anyway, I began wrapping her again from age 3months. She did sleep much better and I kept doing it till the warmer weather came at around 9months. I had no problems with stopping either.

Hope you get a good sleep from him tonight.

LOL my DD went into a sleeping bag at 4 or 5 days old. She hated being wrapped and in the middle of the night, she was fighting it and I thought hmmm....dug out a sleeping bag, stuck her in it and she settled like a dream. MCHN was MOST disapproving but the proof was in the pudding. DS - he was escaping from his wrap by 8 weeks of age so he went into a sleeping bag then, and I just used a very light blanket to tuck him in over the top of the bag...he liked that. DD wasn't into that.

I'd say he is waking up thirsty...not only is it hot but the fan will be probably be drying him out too. I know having the fan on has that effect on me...but you've gotta have it on just to make it cool enough to sleep. Until the heatwave dies down, you might just have to give him an extra feed or two.

FWIW I'm personally a fan of ditching the wrap as soon as possible, just because I've heard too many mums having trouble weaning their babies off it at 5-6 months of age, when they start rolling in their cots...the babies need it to go to sleep but then being restricted wakes them up.

We had the exact same thoughts as you. We did the same thing with Mitchell initally.

However we found that he did settle better when he was wrapped, irrespective of whether it was day or night.

I agree with the other comments. Our little man is slowly working out day from night and we haven't really done anything different. In fact, we are now very consistent with our sleeping locations and routines and have found that easier as he knows it's sleep time. We thought it was a little too much for Mitchell to understand the difference between day sleeps and night sleeps as that's two things to remember!

My third dd was only wrapped in the hospital, and by day 2 that stopped she would scream and scream when wrapped, she hated being confined like that. She didn't self settle for awhile but later learnt and has never really had a problem with waking herself up with hands. I also think she hated wrapping as she is a thumb/finger/fist sucker.

But I say do what works.

We've had the same with our lad during this heat especially.

He is a real gadget hands, and since at home he has gotten out most times!

WE cover him and he tends to like a firm muslin or blanket over him.

I think his NICU and subsequent readmission to SCN left him starkers and now he likes being uncovered.

We practiced wrapping like the Dr does in "Happiest Baby on the Block" with arms down by the sides, but had to give up until after the heat!

He's nearly 3 weeks and we haven't given up yet, but find it's more about security in sensation for him than anything.

I only wrapped my wee one in hossie but she hated it as soon as I brought her home. Would fight and scream as soon as I started wrapping her. Friend spent $80 on a grow bag to try wean her son from wrapping and he went nuts as soon as she tried putting him to sleep unwrapped. Every baby is different. Oh and the MCHN snorted her disgust at me until i demonstrated how badly my baby got upset when I went to wrap her.... she'd make herself vomit as she was so distressed

i wrapped ds for 5 weeks and after that i put him in a sleeping bag.
in the current weather though, as we have no air con only pedestal fans, hes been sleeping in a nappy and singlet suit and nothing else. He took a bit longer to settle and woke up around 1 hour earlier than normal.

Its very possible they will have shorter feeds more often when its hot

I just wanted to pop in as say congratulations Erin...I must have been away when you had your little man. Well done:)

We swaddled DD until 10 weeks when we popped her in a Gro Bag and in her cot for the first time and she slept 9 hours straight! She'd slept through a few times already but obviously the lack of swaddling didn't bother her :)

DD hated having her arms confined so I semi-wrapped her by just wrapping the muslin under her arms like a 'tube' before losing it all together and just tucking the sheet in firmly over her and yes, she slept better because she was determined to paw at her face for comfort. Now she will not sleep under covers or sheets ever kicks till they come off so have to sleeping bag it up in winter. Bub could be waking up more thirsty but could also just be a growth spurt regardless of the weather KWIM? My mum said when we were bubs in the Penrith summers in an uninsulated house she'd put the fan on in our rooms but with a damp/wet towell in front which stopped the draft and also helped cool and keep air moist?? Never tried it myself but might help if really hot room.

I stopped wrapping my DS at 6 weeks. It made no difference to his sleeping but a big difference to his waking up. When wrapped he would scream when he woke up. Unwrapped, he would just call out gently as if to say "mum where are you? I'm awake". He was a summer bub too & seems to feel the heat. Even now, he won't have a sheet or blanket over him.

Thanks for all the replies, still not sure what to do LOL.

We lived in remote WA with DS 1 when he was born & it was very hot but we had ducted cooling that never got switched off (we didn't pay the bills lol) & he was a screamer from day 1 anyway!

This time round I'm totally confused, his room gets most the sun so when I went to put him in bed last night it was still around 30 in his room & dropped to 26 over night. We have an aircond going a couple rooms away with all the ceiling fans going. But as I'm bf I'm so darn hot anyway I can't tell if it's comfy or not. grrrrrr. I'm soooo confused as to what to even put him in to sleep. I don't want him getting his arms out & getting cold, but I don't want him too hot....far out this parenting stuff is hard, even the second time around!