26 January 2026 · Nina Aramway
People & Culture · Grandmother of ten
Baby Hates Being Swaddled: Is That Normal?
Yes, and far more commonly than the serene photographs suggest, and I've never once seen a serene photograph taken at the actual moment of wrapping.
An enormous number of babies object loudly to being swaddled and then sleep beautifully in it, which is bewildering the first few times and mildly funny by about week three, and I've watched it in a great many households including my own, where the loudest objector was also the best sleeper.
What counts isn't whether she protests. It's whether the protest survives the wrap.
The swaddle, or the wrapping?
These are two different complaints with two entirely different answers, and almost nobody separates them, because at eleven at night they sound identical.
Wrapping a newborn means straightening arms she'd much rather keep bent, and holding still a body that's already objecting to the whole enterprise, and most babies dislike that part regardless of how they feel about the result, in the same way most of them dislike having a vest pulled over their head and then forget about it instantly.
So run the two-minute test. Wrap her, pick her up, hold her against you, and count.
If the crying eases and she softens into it, she never hated the swaddle at all, she hated the ninety seconds of being handled, and if she's still fighting hard at five minutes, arching and working her arms with real force, that's real and it needs a different answer, and there's no shame in either.
Wrap, hold, count to a hundred and twenty. Most parents who believe their baby hates swaddling discover she hates the wrapping.
Why the wrap is meant to help
What else it might be
Before you decide she hates swaddling, rule out the things that look identical from the outside, because half the time the answer is on this list and has nothing whatsoever to do with the muslin.
| What you see | Likely cause | What to try |
|---|---|---|
| Fights during wrapping, settles after | Dislikes being handled | Nothing. This is normal |
| Red face, damp neck, kicks free | Too warm | Fewer layers underneath; check the back of the neck |
| Arches and strains at the hips | Wrapped too tight at the legs | Loosen the lower half so knees can bend and fall open |
| Roots, sucks, cries within minutes | Hungry, or hands taken away too soon | Feed first; try a hands-to-face wrap |
| Squirms and grizzles after a feed | Wind, or reflux | Wind her upright before wrapping; ask your doctor if it repeats |
| Was fine, now suddenly furious | Startle reflex fading, or rolling coming | Check for rolling, and it may be time to stop |
Good to try before you give up
Any one of these turns a fair number of swaddle-haters into swaddle-tolerators, and they cost nothing to attempt, and I'd try them in roughly this order. Wrap her after a feed and a change, in the lull before sleep, and not in the middle of a protest that's already under way, because you can't wrap your way out of a protest. Try her hands up near her face, with her arms no longer straight at her sides, because a great many newborns settle far better with their hands where they can find them, and two of mine would accept nothing else. Try one arm out, which is a perfectly legitimate way to swaddle a newborn and not a failure state, whatever the diagram says. Some babies will only accept the wrap on exactly those terms and there's no reason on earth not to give it to them. Loosen the hips before you loosen anything else, because leg restriction produces more fight than arm restriction does, and it's also the part that has to be loose for her hips anyway, so you lose nothing. Drop a layer underneath, because in a warm bedroom a nappy alone is very often the correct answer and overheating is a common cause of a baby who won't settle wrapped, and change the fabric, since a stiff or heavy cloth feels quite different against newborn skin than an open bamboo weave, and some babies are unmistakably particular about it, in the way some adults are about sheets.
Mentioned above
Bamboo Swaddle Single (Solid Colours)S$26.00Shop now
Swaddle Wrap with VelcroS$55.00Shop nowAnd if she really does hate it
Then don't swaddle her.
Nothing about this is compulsory, and that needs saying by somebody of my generation, since we're the ones who tend to insist. Some babies want their arms free from the very first night, and swaddling is a tool that helps most newborns and that a small number find intolerable, and she's allowed to be one of those, and you're allowed to stop trying. I'm not sure I'd have believed that in 1988.
A well-fitted sleep sack is safe from birth and does the covering job without any wrapping at all, and she'll startle more, and that's a real cost which I'm not going to pretend away, but a baby who fights the muslin for forty minutes every evening was never getting the benefit of it in the first place, and neither were you.
Mentioned above
Sleep Sack (6-12M)from S$49.00Shop nowYou haven't done anything wrong, and you haven't wasted the swaddles.
A 120cm bamboo square becomes a pram shade, a nursing cover, a changing mat on somebody else's sofa, and eventually the thing she won't go on holiday without, and very little bought for the newborn weeks earns its keep that easily, or lasts that long.
Keep going
The questions I get at lunch
Is it normal for a baby to hate being swaddled?
Yes. Most babies protest during the wrapping itself and settle within a minute or two afterwards. A small number dislike being wrapped and do better with arms free.
How do I know if my baby dislikes the swaddle or just the wrapping?
Wrap her, hold her, and wait two minutes. Settling within that window means she objected to being handled. Still fighting hard at five minutes is genuine dislike.
Can you swaddle a baby with one arm out?
Yes. One arm out is a normal way to swaddle a newborn and often suits babies who resist a full wrap. Both arms must be free once she starts rolling.
Why does my baby cry when I swaddle her but sleep well after?
Because the wrapping involves straightening her arms and holding her still, which she dislikes, while the result is the even pressure that calms the startle reflex.
What can I use instead of a swaddle?
A well-fitted sleep sack, which is safe from birth, but she'll startle more without the wrap, but a baby who fights swaddling every evening isn't getting its benefit anyway.
What I read before I wrote
This guide is general information, written to help you understand a topic and ask better questions. It is not medical advice and does not replace your own doctor, midwife or paediatrician. Anything that worries you about your baby belongs with them.