Learn about Swaddling

We have just released a new DVD that is included with each SwaddleKeeper blanket on how to swaddle and how to get your newborn to sleep longer!  The DVD shows many pictures of newborns in the SwaddleKeeper, unique design features and video on how to swaddle your newborn.  FREE with each SwaddleKeeper blanket purchase!

I work as a labor, delivery and postpartum nurse in Oregon and love every minute of my job!  As I take care of new families after they have their babies, I am always impressed by the outpouring of care and attention they have for their baby. Learning so many new parenting tasks that are essential the first few days like feeding and diapering, make using a tool like the SwaddleKeeper that much more important.  The ease of getting the perfect swaddle in combination with the padded head support makes the newborn easy to handle and boosts everyones confidence in caring for the newborn.  The leg opening makes diaper checks and changes possible without unswaddling too!  My advice when packing your bag for the hospital:  bring your SwaddleKeeper!

The first few weeks you are home with your newborn are full of learning many parenting tasks! Feeding, changing diapers and making sure she has everything she needs can be exhausting. Unfortunately, the first few weeks are also when many newborns and their parents are sleeping for short periods of time potentially making these tasks more difficult.

Newborns are often easily awakened because they miss the security of being inside the womb. One way to replicate the security of the womb is keeping them tightly swaddled. Newborns instinctively struggle against the blankets and often try to get a hand to their mouth to suck. This was fine when they were inside the womb, but now that they are on the outside, it is important to provide that security with a secure swaddle. Successful swaddling with a standard receiving blanket require specific techniques and each blanket used swaddles differently depending on the thickness of the fabric and the size of the blanket.

A modified form of swaddling is still popular today as a means of settling and soothing irritable infants. The lengthy swaddling cloths of medieval Madonna and Child paintings are now replaced with receiving blankets or flannelette sheets. The confinement is supposed to provide warmth and security for a baby who has recently left the womb. Today, many midwives swaddle infants soon after birth and it is now a standard newborn care practice in many hospitals.

These looser wrappings, tucked but not tied, can generally be kicked off by a wakeful baby. They are still useful for keeping the baby warm, without increasing the SIDS risk, because the wrappings stay well clear of the baby’s face and airway. (This assumes that the baby is put to sleep on its back, as anti-SIDS precautions recommend.) By the time the baby is learning to roll over, often around 6 months, it should be sleeping in less restrictive coverings - so it has more freedom to respond when it succeeds in rolling over.

Some medical studies maintain that swaddling appears to be a positioning technique that can enhance neuromuscular development of the very low birth weight infant and that it might have a role in further lowering SIDS risk Research has also found that swaddling helps infants sleep with fewer awakenings and stay in REM sleep longer