After having a baby, for new parents, it is difficult to sleep a full night. However, the most devastating thing is not that adults do not sleep enough, but that children do not want to sleep.
In the face of how to coax and not sleep, as soon as you put on the bed to wake up "grinding essence", many parents play a fantastic idea. Some parents fill the disposable gloves with rice and put it on the baby's waist, so that the baby thinks that the mother's hand is still touching him. Some parents use fishnet socks that they do not wear to put on their babies and wrap them tightly around the baby... Although many methods of coaxing sleep are very strange, they really work, the baby sleeps more soundly, and the parents are more worry-free.
In fact, many times it is difficult for babies to sleep and sleep unsteadily, all because of lack of security. From birth to half a year old, even more than one year old, babies are prone to jumping reflexes when sleeping, which is manifested as twitching of hands and feet, and frightens themselves to wake up. The key to solving the problem is to create a warm and comfortable sleeping environment for the baby, and the swaddling can play an effective soothing role and improve the baby's sleep.
Why does it enjoy your baby to be wrapped up while sleeping?
When adults sleep, if they are wrapped up, they will feel very uncomfortable and uncomfortable, but babies enjoy it.
This is because when the baby is in the mother's belly, it is always in a curled position, with bent limbs. Not long after birth, babies have a deep fascination with the curled position. Swaddling is to simulate the baby's feelings when in the mother's womb, which can give the baby a sense of security, alleviate the anxiety of leaving the mother's body, reduce crying, and improve sleep; on the other hand, it can also activate the baby's proprioceception, including the tactile and thermogenic system, to help the baby adapt to the state of limb conformity and promote development.
Therefore, after the swaddling, the baby will feel more relaxed, more comfortable, and sleep more peacefully, and it is not easy to be awakened by external stimuli.
The risks of swaddling should also be known
However, there are also views that swaddling creates certain risks.
It is precisely because swaddling will make babies sleep more deeply and respond more slowly to external stimuli, so it may increase the risk of sudden infant death syndrome. Especially when babies stay in a prone or side-lying position, they are more likely to block the airways, causing suffocation.
It should be noted that sudden infant death syndrome is a common cause of death in infants aged 2 weeks to 1 years, accounting for about 30%. A study published in Pediatrics showed that swaddled infants were significantly more likely to have sudden infant death syndrome when they were lying prone or on their sides. In particular, when infants up to 6 months of age are wrapped and maintained in a prone sleeping position, the risk of developing sudden infant death syndrome is increased by 1 times.
In addition, if the swaddle is wrapped too tightly, it can cause the baby's legs to be overextended, and it may also cause hip dysplasia and hip dislocation. If it is not found and treated in time, the baby will have leg pain, lameness and other conditions when toddler, and severe may even lead to disability, affecting lifelong.
A related survey conducted by the Tianjin Children's Hip DevelopmentAl abnormalities screening center found that the proportion of infants with abnormal hip ultrasound screening after birth was higher than that of infants who were not swaddled. Among the 10,262 infants under the age of 6 months, 26 cases of abnormal hip ultrasound screening in the unsuited group, accounting for about 0.5%, and 57 cases of abnormal hip ultrasound screening in the swaddling group, accounting for about 1%.
So, should babies be swaddled?
American parenting expert Sears believes that although swaddling can calm the baby, it is not encouraged to wrap for too long, otherwise it will cause related risks.
In 2020, the American Academy of Pediatrics also issued new guidance: parents should ensure that their swaddled babies stay in a supine position when they fall asleep. When your baby wants to turn over, you should stop using swaddling in time. When using swaddling, pay close attention to whether the baby is overheating, so as to untie the swaddle in time to help the baby dissipate heat. The method of wrapping the swaddling should be correct so as not to affect the development of the baby's limbs.
How to wrap the swaddle correctly so that the baby can sleep soundly?
In general, swaddling is good for babies, but the premise is that parents learn the correct swaddling method to minimize the risk of sudden infant death syndrome and avoid hip dysplasia.
The steps to wrap the swaddling are as follows:
In the first step, the quilt is laid flat on the bed, the upper corner of the quilt is folded down by about 15 cm, and then the baby is placed on the back of the quilt, making sure that the baby's head is in the folded position.
In the second step, pull up a corner on the left side of the quilt, cover the baby's body, and tuck the corner from under the baby's right arm into the baby's back.
In the third step, pull up the bottom corner of the quilt and cover it below the baby's chin. If it is longer, the excess can be tucked from your baby's left shoulder into the back.
In the fourth step, pull a corner on the right side of the quilt towards the baby's left shoulder and tuck the corner from under the baby's left arm into the baby's back.
Note that swaddling should not be wrapped too tightly, and it is recommended to tighten up and loosen down. The purpose of tightening is to prevent the baby from breaking free of the swaddle, causing the quilt to cover the mouth and nose, causing suffocation. The purpose of the lower pine is to allow the baby's legs to be freely flexed and extended, without affecting the development of the hip joint.
Some parents in order to prevent the baby from breaking free of the swaddling, will be tied two or three circles of rope outside the swaddling, it is best not to do this, it is easy to affect the baby's limbs activities, so that the baby's limbs can not touch the surrounding objects, inhibit the development of touch.
So, how old is your baby to not need to use swaddling? Generally speaking, when the baby learns to turn over, you can replace the swaddling with a pacifier to soothe and coax the baby to sleep.
Today's topic: Have you ever swaddled your baby? Are there any experiences or opinions? Welcome to communicate together in the comments section!