My new DD (11 days) is a MUCH better sleeper than my son was, and took right to co sleeping and nursing lying down.  However, the last couple of nights, she has started to get "grunty", with her arms flailing, and stops and starts nursing frantically ... unless she is swaddled.  I swaddled DS, but to get it right I ended up using a giant piece of fabric and (at the suggestion of a book) a couple of pieces of tape on the fabric to hold the end in place.  It worked okay, but was a pita.

This time, my sister passed me some First Years swaddling blankets she had with her son.  I scoffed, but turns out they aren't too bad, with one problem:  the velcro is in the wrong place.  (you put babe in the pocket, fold one side over and tuck, then the other, and that end has 2 velcro tabs, and there is an opposite side of velcro on the back of the blanket)  I think maybe it's because she's so small, but I can't use the Velcro and keep it tight enough to keep her arms in.  When she wiggles them out, she gets upset.

Does anyone have any tips on how to swaddle so their arms stay in?  Or want to have a playdate with the bonus of showing me how?  Haha !

Huh. I've never used one of those kind of things. I just (accidentally - heh) took home a few of those larger newborn blankets from the hospital. Those worked better than the baby blankets you can buy from the store.

Can you tape it like you did for your son? Maybe that would work until she's a little bigger.

Congrats on your new little one. I love the sweet newborn stage.

there is a swaddling blanket called the miracle blanket and it does not have velcro and it works wonderful!! I used it with my son until he was about 5-6 months old. the key is tucking there little arms to the side and pulling the blanket snug around them so they cant pull them out. let me see if I can find that blanket and you are more then welcome to see if it works before buying one! Ill get back with yah!

I second the miracle blanket for swaddling blankets, works wonders! I bought mine on ebay for cheaper than I could find it anywhere else, even including shipping.

I did learn how to swaddle really good with a non baby straight jacket type blanket though. You need to use a blanket with a little bit of stretch. They say use a square, but I don't think it matters.

Fold top down for baby's head. Put baby down. Left side (your left) under right side first. Take the bottom, and wrap it under the top of baby's left shoulder (would be your right) tightly. Then if the blanket is big enough, you should be able to wrap the last arm around and tuck it into the top. This makes it more diagonal and harder to break free from I think. Stretchy blanket makes a world of difference, but it is hard to find a good one I think. I have one I'd let you borrow if you want, just let me know. I'd of course be glad to demonstrate as well.

I ended up buying a Kiddopotamus SwaddleMe blanket for $10 from Babies R Us.  It's working like a charm thus far.  They come in three different sizes, so the Velcro is in the right place.  And if we dress her in a gown or t shirt, you can do diaper changes without taking the arms off, which is especially nice since DH sometimes has trouble getting her in there (and he's in charge of ALL nighttime diaper changes, lol!).