Hi Nancy,
I had to smile at your description of the baby that's a "real arm flailer".
 I've certainly seen a few of those.  You said you felt like swaddling the
baby.  Go with your instincts.

One of the first things I like to do with newborns is UNswaddle them.  I feel
like babies are bundled up like little packages and placed comfortably in
bassinets where they can sleep for hours looking cute.  I like to see a baby
stimulated and touched and spoken to by UNwrapping baby and placing in
mother's arms where baby can wrap his whole body around mommy's tummy.  It
usually perks 'em up a bit.

Then, occassionally, there's a baby who protests all the extra space and
activity.  These "flailers" are sometimes calmer and more cooperative when
wrapped back up.  So, we get back to something Chloe Fisher said in one of
her videos, "We need to learn baby-watching."  I think when we verbalize our
thought process to parents when we are determining what a baby needs in order
to feel comfortable and cooperative, we are teaching parents the art of
"baby-watching", too.

How is this baby doing now, by the way?

Jeanne Fisher
Austin, TX