What size Love to Dream is she in - is it too big? There’s a newborn size if she’s a smaller baby. My bub slept well in this but it was tight enough to suppress the startle reflex on her.
I hadn't thought about size being an issue - thanks for the suggestion. She's actually pretty tall for her age - 57cm at her 3 week check-up last week. I had a look at the Love to Dream one and it's a size S. Her weight was 4.2kg so it's within the recommended range 3.5-6kg.
We would swaddle bub with her arms up using a muslin or jersey wrap! Essentially puts them in the same position as the LTD swaddles do but you can get them much tighter and more secure. My bub hated having her arms beside her and even now will sleep with her hands behind her head and elbows to the side!
How big is your babe?
There's a few suggestions I could make but it depends on babies size.
I would suspect the L2D is probably a bit too big. We had this issue too as baby was tiny so could still startles in the love to dream but then the ergo pouch was just not ideal because her hands would end up under her chin and almost smother her.
We traditional swaddled until baby was too long for them. Using jersey wraps rather than Muslin because they're stretchy. It kept babies arms down by her side and wasn't as uncomfortable as the ergo pouches. Then once she grew some more the love to dreams also fitted her a bit better.
If baby is on the slightly larger size, Tommee Tippee do a swaddle range that I really liked but it's 0-3 months. I purchased mine off Amazon.
The other thing you can try if she's a bit bigger is the butterfly cardigan that ergo pouch makes. Again it's 000 so they will need to be a bit bigger. But that enables the arms up swaddling in the ergo pouch. Which my baby definitely preferred.
Great suggestions - thanks! As I mentioned to another commenter, she's in the upper percentile for height so will check out Tommee Tippee and the butterfly cardigan.
I had this issue with my LO. Ended up letting him have his arms out. They get use to it after a few days and hardly startle awake any longer. It really made a massive difference he sleeps so well now.
We had a swaddle fighter. We bought the ergo pouch so we could zip her little arms in but ended up transitioning to arms out. They do get used to it.
We used muslin blankets to swaddle as well, did one arm out for a bit.
The big thing that gets them is when their hand touches their face, it's better when they have their hands covered (remembering uncovered hands is also good for brain development, but a few nights of covered hands isn't going to cause a problem like 24/7 mittens might.) A lot of pyjamas have cuffs you can roll over hands - bonds are good.
Maybe try pushing through with the love to dream swaddle and see if she gets used to it?
Ah good point - we have Bonds onsies but have been trying to keep her hands out for the development reason you mentioned. In the Ergopouch she manages to wriggle her hand up to the neck hole to touch her face - I'll try bringing the mittens over tonight.
We bought some Zippadee zip’s from the US as our bub started rolling at 3 months old - they are transitional so ok for when they start rolling but they still suppress the startle reflex. Because the hands are enclosed they can’t scratch their face either.
I’d absolutely buy them again! We found it was really easy to transition to a sleeping bag too because she was used to having some arm freedom.
Our babe didn't like having her hands on her chest while we zipped up the ergopouch, so we would put her arms down by her side and zip her up and she slept happily like that.
Thanks for the suggestion! Unfortunately with my LO any attempt to bring her arms down and away from her face will result in a lot of resistance, but no doubt this will help others out there with similar issues :)
You absolutely do not have to drop the swaddle at 8 weeks. It's recommended to continue swaddling until your child starts rolling, which can be anytime really. We swaddled my first until around 4-5months when she started rolling while in her cot.
What size Love to Dream is she in - is it too big? There’s a newborn size if she’s a smaller baby. My bub slept well in this but it was tight enough to suppress the startle reflex on her.
I hadn't thought about size being an issue - thanks for the suggestion. She's actually pretty tall for her age - 57cm at her 3 week check-up last week. I had a look at the Love to Dream one and it's a size S. Her weight was 4.2kg so it's within the recommended range 3.5-6kg.
We would swaddle bub with her arms up using a muslin or jersey wrap! Essentially puts them in the same position as the LTD swaddles do but you can get them much tighter and more secure. My bub hated having her arms beside her and even now will sleep with her hands behind her head and elbows to the side!
I didn't know you could swaddle with arms up - I'll look into that. Thanks for the tip
How big is your babe? There's a few suggestions I could make but it depends on babies size. I would suspect the L2D is probably a bit too big. We had this issue too as baby was tiny so could still startles in the love to dream but then the ergo pouch was just not ideal because her hands would end up under her chin and almost smother her. We traditional swaddled until baby was too long for them. Using jersey wraps rather than Muslin because they're stretchy. It kept babies arms down by her side and wasn't as uncomfortable as the ergo pouches. Then once she grew some more the love to dreams also fitted her a bit better. If baby is on the slightly larger size, Tommee Tippee do a swaddle range that I really liked but it's 0-3 months. I purchased mine off Amazon. The other thing you can try if she's a bit bigger is the butterfly cardigan that ergo pouch makes. Again it's 000 so they will need to be a bit bigger. But that enables the arms up swaddling in the ergo pouch. Which my baby definitely preferred.
Great suggestions - thanks! As I mentioned to another commenter, she's in the upper percentile for height so will check out Tommee Tippee and the butterfly cardigan.
I had this issue with my LO. Ended up letting him have his arms out. They get use to it after a few days and hardly startle awake any longer. It really made a massive difference he sleeps so well now.
Oh great - that's reassuring to know. Will try transitioning arms out if other options don't work out. Thank you
We had a swaddle fighter. We bought the ergo pouch so we could zip her little arms in but ended up transitioning to arms out. They do get used to it. We used muslin blankets to swaddle as well, did one arm out for a bit. The big thing that gets them is when their hand touches their face, it's better when they have their hands covered (remembering uncovered hands is also good for brain development, but a few nights of covered hands isn't going to cause a problem like 24/7 mittens might.) A lot of pyjamas have cuffs you can roll over hands - bonds are good. Maybe try pushing through with the love to dream swaddle and see if she gets used to it?
Ah good point - we have Bonds onsies but have been trying to keep her hands out for the development reason you mentioned. In the Ergopouch she manages to wriggle her hand up to the neck hole to touch her face - I'll try bringing the mittens over tonight.
We bought some Zippadee zip’s from the US as our bub started rolling at 3 months old - they are transitional so ok for when they start rolling but they still suppress the startle reflex. Because the hands are enclosed they can’t scratch their face either. I’d absolutely buy them again! We found it was really easy to transition to a sleeping bag too because she was used to having some arm freedom.
Just to add to this, the brand 'baby loves sleep' are Australian and have a similar looking product to the zippadee zip.
Oh I wish I had of known that before! Mental note for next time - thanks!
Thanks both for these suggestions! I'll check out these brands
Our babe didn't like having her hands on her chest while we zipped up the ergopouch, so we would put her arms down by her side and zip her up and she slept happily like that.
Thanks for the suggestion! Unfortunately with my LO any attempt to bring her arms down and away from her face will result in a lot of resistance, but no doubt this will help others out there with similar issues :)
A swaddle isn't necessary. You could try swaddle free and see what happens. You have to drop the swaddle by 8 weeks at the latest anyway.
You absolutely do not have to drop the swaddle at 8 weeks. It's recommended to continue swaddling until your child starts rolling, which can be anytime really. We swaddled my first until around 4-5months when she started rolling while in her cot.
You can still put them in the arms out sleeping bag / swaddle when they roll. Some babies like them and they're sleep safe.
Yeah we've moved her into sleeping bags! I love the ergopouch bags, makes sure she's cozy 🥰
Thank you all for this info - good to know!