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Article: Swaddling Your Baby

Article: Swaddling Your Baby | Style: Wraps

Written by Louise Tanguay of The Sleep Store

The benefits of swaddling your baby:

Swaddling enables you to quickly soothe uncontrollable crying from colic.
Swaddled babies generally sleep an extra hour to two per sleep.
Swaddled babies stop crying quickly and settle down to sleep easily.
Swaddled babies often learn to sleep through the night earlier, from as early as six weeks.
Other settling and sleep techniques, such as rocking, hammocks and pacifiers, are far more effective when combined with swaddling

Why is swaddling so effective?

Swaddling prevents babies waking themself up (from their startle reflex)
Swaddling reminds babies of the warm, snug environment they enjoyed for nine months.
Swaddling gets your baby ready for other calming techniques to work, such as rocking, ssssshing and sucking.

But my baby doesn't like being wrapped!

If your baby is crying or wriggling, this doesn't usually mean she doesn't like to be swaddled.
Your newborn baby is used to be wrapped tight inside your womb!
She may just be protesting that you are likely to be taking too long or aren't doing it firm enough.
Often by the time a baby is being wrapped she is over-tired, and it is this which is causing the crying.

And if you can't keep their arms and legs contained, then you won't experience the great benefits of swaddling!

Choosing the right wrap for your baby

The choice of which wrap to use for your baby is crucial if your swaddling is to be effective. If the wrap is the wrong fabric or too small, your baby will easily wriggle out of it and wake up.

What size should I buy?

The standard size for baby wraps sold in baby shops is about 80cm x 80cm. We believe this is too small to wrap even a newborn baby, and is the main reason most babies escape from their wrapping and wake up.

Newborn - we recommend a minimum size of 1m x 1m. This will enable you to use our swaddling instructions effectively and wrap your baby securely.
Over 3 months - if you are buying new wraps once your baby is over 3 months, choose at least 120cm x 120cm.
Over 6 months - buy a giant wraps, which measure approx 140cm x 140cm.

Which fabric should I buy?

The most commonly used fabric for wrapping is light weight muslin. While this is very cool, it's also the hardest fabric to wrap effectively with, as the loose weave seems to slip open as soon as baby wriggles.

Stretch cotton - this is the easiest fabric to wrap securely with. Stretch cotton is suitable for use year-round and for babies of all sizes.
Flannelette - this is most suitable for the cooler months, as the brushed cotton is very snuggly feeling. However as flannelette is 100% cotton it can be used year round. It has very little stretch however, so it's best for newborn babies who are not very wriggly.
Muslin - ideal for babies who don't escape from their wrapping or for using when it is very hot. There are different types of muslin, and we highly recommend the fabric used by Babe Mode for their large muslin wraps. It is a much tighter weave than normal, with a good amount of stretch when wrapped using our instructions.

Baby Origami or an easy wrap?

It all depends on your wrapping ability! If you are following The Sleep Store's instructions and can wrap your baby securely, then you don't need to use an easy wrap such as SwaddleMe. But if baby is constantly escaping, then an easy wrap will be worth it's weight in gold.