Keep calm and soothe on!
Many babies seem to hate sleeping on the back. If your baby fights and fusses you may get so dismayed (and exhausted!) you simply give up and lay your babies on the stomach. (Tummy-down babies fuss less. In fact, we used to tell all parents to boost sleep by letting the baby stomach sleep. But we stopped that when we discovered stomach sleeping was causing SIDS…killing thousands of babies!) Or, overcome with fatigue, you may accidentally fall asleep with the baby on a risky surface, like your bed, a sofa, etc. Either way, you don’t want to be tempted to do something that might boost your baby’s risk of SIDS and suffocation. Fortunately, you have some easy tools to help reduce your baby’s fussing and keep your baby safer at the same time —swaddling. When done well swaddling:
- Encourages back sleeping. (Wrapped babies sleep so well on the back you’re not tricked into trying the stomach.)
- Reduces the temptation to bedshare.
- Reduces your baby’s rolling into a pillow, against a wall or onto the stomach.
- Increase breastfeeding success. (Crying is a key reason moms give up on the breast. But, wrapping reduces crying…boost nursing success…and cut SIDS by 50%!)
And, when combined with white noise, swinging motion and sucking, snug wrapping works even better!
Like infant car seat use, you want to swaddle correctly.
Watch Dr. Harvey Karp on How to Swaddle Your Baby>
Find out more at: www.happiestbaby.com