Newborn in a sling/pouch - do you swaddle?

[JoyNChrist]

I recently purchased a secondhand SlingSet (pouch and one support) and can't wait to try it out with DS. I have a question for those of you who have experience wearing a newborn/young baby in a pouch or sling - do you put DC in there while swaddled? It seems like this would be easy for popping in and out and all that, but I'm wondering if there are any issues with it I'm not seeing (like overheating or something).

ETA - We plan to use a Miracle Blanket for swaddling, if that matters.

[JacksMommy]

Swaddling definitely works well. You can dress your ds in a onesie and the MB if you think he will be hot. The Slingset material is not too hot itself, so you will probably be fine. By the time it starts getting too hot, your DS probably won't need to be swaddled anymore.
Use your best judgement about the heat aspect, but in general, it is considered safe.

Laurel
Mama to Jack 6/02 and Maddy 12/04

Babywearing education in Napa, CA

[maestramommy]

Actually, when I asked someone this question, it was suggested that I not swaddle because of overheating. I was told that I could always dress Dora warmly if I was afraid of the cold, but swaddling was overkill when you consider all the bodyheat the baby would be getting. So we never swaddled, which was fine because Dora only wanted the tummy-to-tummy carry in the beginning. That wouldn't have worked with swaddling :-)

[JacksMommy]

I'm certainly not a medical person so you may want to consider pp's advice also. There seem to be different opinions about the safety issue re: overheating. You might consider checking with your ped.

What I can say is that many people find swaddling useful while slinging, although not always necessary. I sometimes swaddled my daughter and placed her in the tummy to tummy position in my pouch.

To me, swaddling is different from bundling. Swaddling is a soothing technique of wrapping the baby tightly in cloth to mimic the sensation of being confine, which is comforting to many babies. Swaddling can (and probably should) be done with very light material (the Miracle Blanket is not heavyweight) so that baby does not become overheated.

PPs statement that your baby will get a lot of heat from your body is definitely true and thus babies in slings may not need to be bundled, by which I mean dressed in lots of layers (be it clothing or blankets). Bundling is done with regard to the baby's warmth, as opposed to swaddling, which is done for baby's psychological comfort, if that makes sense.

I'm copying a LLL article about Cold Weather Concerns for Infants, which addressing the bundling issue.

Again, I'm not a medical person and can only speak mom to mom about this sort of thing.

HTH!

Mother (and Father) are the BEST HEAT for their babies!

Currently Solano County is experiencing a prolonged cold wave, and the cold is especially risky for our most vulnerable citizens - the very old and the very young.

Many recommendations have been provided for the elderly, including making sure safe heating methods are being implemented and someone is regularly checking on them.

Infants are at risk for two reasons: their bodies are not effective in responding to changes in temperature and they utilize a great deal of their calories maintaining their temperatures.

Unfortunately, parents only think of wrapping their babies in more and more blankets – putting them at risk for suffocation and requiring them to utilize their own calories to maintain their body temperature.

A better way parents can use to help keep their infants warm is by providing heat with their own bodies. Mothers, especially those who have recently given birth, have the ability to increase the skin temperature of their chest up to 2 degrees centigrade (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) when a cold infant is placed on their skin. This means that her baby would then not need to use his or her own calories to maintain its temperature.

This effect only works if the mother’s BARE skin is against her infants’ bare skin – so the baby and mother are touching. One way to accomplish this is to place the infant wearing only a hat and a diaper, vertically between mother’s breasts and use a cloth (a twin sheet folded in fourths lengthwise works well) to wrap and tie baby to mother. The wrap should only reach the bottom of the baby’s ear, so a hat should also be placed on the baby, as heat loss is very great though the baby’s head.

Fathers and other family members can also use this method, although their skin will not change temperature, but their ability to maintain the baby’s temperature will help a great deal.

Recent reports highlighted how a mother was able to keep her two children alive while stranded in the snow by breastfeeding them – this provided not only the nutrition, but also the heat through skin to skin contact that the children needed to survive.

Another important aspect placing infants skin to skin is the greater awareness to the infant’s hunger cues. Infant feeding, especially in cold situations, needs to follow infant cues. When the infant is skin to skin with mother, she will be more aware of the cues being given that say: “I’m hungry� than when the baby is heavily wrapped. It is important for mothers and others to accept these cues and feed infants when these signs are seen (sucking their hands, turning towards the breast – even when the infant is not breastfed) rather than on a schedule.

An added bonus comes from the benefits of bonding and reduction in stress for mothers and babies who are skin to skin. Babies have been found to have more stable respirations, blood pressure and reduction in stress hormones when held skin to skin. Let’s not forget: Babies CANNOT be spoiled! It is stress, separation and fear that “spoils� babies!


Laurel
Mama to Jack 6/02 and Maddy 12/04

Babywearing education in Napa, CA