It is no secret that newborn babies crave the close tight space they had in the womb after they are born. The best way to recreate that feeling of safety and warm is through a swaddle. As a first-time mom I tried different kinds of swaddles until I found what worked best for my baby. In this blog I will discuss the benefits and negatives of each one, saving our favorite for last!
Muslin Swaddle Blankets
These are similar to the blankets the nurses swaddle your baby in at the hospital. It's essentially a soft and stretchy blanket that you can fold around your baby into a burrito. The pros are that it can double as just a regular blanket if you are out to eat and have your newborn in the car seat sleeping or out shopping and want to keep your baby nice and cozy. They make a great accessory for a newborn photo shoot! The only con is the technique of swaddling. As a first-mom I watched the nurses swaddle my baby and tried to replicate their technique but was never quite successful. After a lesson from my sister-in-law (mom of 4) I finally got the hang of it, but it still took lots of practice!
Which leads us to the next type of swaddle...
SwaddleMe Easy Change Swaddle
Now this is just one example, but these swaddles are user-friendly. You stick the baby's feet into the bottom of the swaddle and simply use the velcro tabs to wrap it around the baby. The pros to these products are that they are so easy to use! My daughter personally loved them as a newborn. I was able to adjust the tightness of the swaddle as she grew, providing her with the needed comfort to have a good sleep. The con to these types of products is it really only worked for my daughter as a newborn. When she started to get stronger and roll over her arms would come out of the velcro tabs, causing her to wake up during the night or naptime.
Which is when we found the swaddle that was able to provide comfort, but also grow with her and our personal favorite...
Love to Dream Swaddle
This by far the best swaddle we have used since my daughter was born. Each baby is different and will benefit from each of these swaddles, truthfully. From her ultrasound pictures, my daughter always had her hands by her face. It must be a comfort thing, but she still continues to sleep her hands by her face as a one-year-old. That is one of the biggest pros of this swaddle is that it has arm sleeves for your baby to keep his/her hands up when sleeping instead of snug around their bodies like the other swaddles. When she was a newborn, I would still wrap a muslin blanket around her for the extra coziness, but she started sleeping through the night when we switch to the Love to Dream swaddle.
When babies start to roll over experts recommend, they transition out of a swaddle for safety reasons. Love to Dream has different swaddles that grow in size and also features. When my daughter started to roll over we bought the Love to Dream UP swaddle that had removable arm sleeves to help transition her. The only con is that she loved it too much it was hard to transition her! When she began to roll over she could still move because her arms were not stuck close to her body. It took some time, but she no longer sleeps with her arms in the sleeves, but still wears the Love to Dream sleeveless as a wearable blanket -- another pro it doubles as a wearable blanket!
So regardless of which type of swaddle works for your baby, they are all great and provide the comfort and closeness your baby needs to sleep. As a first-time mom I used trial and error, but I wish I had found something that did the work for me!
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