In the hospital you may have been encouraged to swaddle your newborn. If you think about it, it makes sense as they feel snug and secure, as they had been in the womb. In my experience, swaddling kept our newborn feeling safe and secure up until he began to understand that his hands belonged to him and we had evidence that he was trying to struggle out of the swaddle. We then swaddled under the arms from 3 months onwards, when the startle reflex had almost stopped and it became impossible to keep baby's arms in the swaddle. This left his arms free and acted like a light sleeping bag.

We stopped swaddling completely at around just under 4 months and moved to a baby sleeping bag. From my experience, swaddling under the arms is a good idea to do once they have lost the "startle reflex", that way they don't wake themselves up all the time. Another idea is also to use a sheet to tuck them in this helps to keep them snug. As you continue to swaddle with the arms out, they will begin to move around in the cot, it might be a sign that they are ready to transfer to a baby sleeping baby.

‘Comanche’ Indian Swaddling
It is believed that the art of swaddling was adapted from the 'Comanche Indians', who developed ways to transport their young and swaddle them to help them sleep. It appears to be an age old parenting technique, which worked wonders for our 7-7, and sometimes 8am son.

What to swaddling in?
Up until you sense it is time to not be swaddled anymore, swaddling with muslin wraps appropriate to the weather is sensational for a sleeping peaceful baby and keeps their startle reflex from waking them up and you constantly.

Mitts for the hands
Once you are swaddling under the arms and the arms are free, babies like to protest before and after sleep it is also especially good if their hands are protected to prevent terrible scratches to their face with mittens. In my experience Codi would eventually work out how to pull these off. I worked out that socks that he had outgrown were great for Codi's hands at night, when he made the transition from swaddling to the gro bag. It also kept his hands warm in the colder months.

4 months onwards: Sleeping bag (Gro Bag)
Once baby has outgrown swaddling completely, a baby sleeping bag continues the process of what swaddling provided. You don't need to have anything in the cot at all, in fact it is reccomended that you don't. Baby Sleeping bags, nicknamed 'Gro Bags' (thanks to the brand becoming a huge hit), are all the rage nowadays with many mothers swearing by them. Infants don't get cold as they can't kick off the covers and are designed based on the same principals as swaddling. They come in different types according to the temperature in the room or weather.

Gro Bags are also designed to progress in line with your infant's development as they begin to move around in their cot. My son Codi, is now a toddler and loves his grobags, he has three different types or rather "tog" thickness. There are many different brands and styles but all perform the same function and it is recommended for use up until your toddler is ready to make the transition to a toddler bed or kids bed.

As Codi progressed past 12 months, I felt he needed bumpers in his cot and a teddy bear to comfort himself back to sleep. Cot bumpers are not recommended until your child prefers to sleep on their bellies and they really begin to move around the cot. I found that at 12 months this was useful to prevent nasty bumps to the head whilst moving around and he was old enough to instinctively move out of any trouble whilst half asleep. Before we went to bed (hubby and I) would go into his room and check on him. Just so we could move him back into the middle of the bed if needed to encourage middle of the bed sleeping. This all works for us and have had many many months of peaceful sleeping.

Toddler Bed
After asking around and hearing mother's experiences, I plan to transfer Codi to a toddler bed (his cot can be changed into one) when he figures out how to climb out of his cot. Any earlier and a sound night's sleep will be disrupted. I will definitely see how this goes and update my experiences on this.

More on Baby Sleeping Bags
My advice would be to not buy a baby sleeping bag that is made of fleece as I would be concerned with overheating your baby, unless you are in extreme cold conditions. I would make sure I researched the most appropriate baby sleeping bags for your child. The primary goal for swaddling and baby sleeping bags is a 'sound and safe nights sleep' and I swear by them. Many manufacturers also donate to SIDS charities as they are approved product that minimizes the chances of SIDS occurring, ie. not sinking down into the sheets, a gro bag prevents this.

I would go with your instincts and learn about how your baby sleeps. If certain aids are not suitable, like cot bumpers then don't use them, if you are worried about your baby's sleeping habits. For myself, 12 months was okay and worked well. I recommend go with what works.

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