Is it safe to swaddle your newborn at night?

Yes, it is safe to leave your newborn in a swaddle blanket at night to sleep. By having your newborn swaddle, it is potentially safer for your baby.

The benefits of swaddling is the blanket will keep your newborn properly insulated. Especially in the early days outside the mother womb. They have less body fat, so having a blanket to keep them warm is important.

Second, pediatricians recommend having newborns sleep on their back and not on their side or stomach. By having newborns sleep on their back, the occurrence of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) drops significantly.

Swaddling your newborn becomes un-safe when they are able to roll. When they roll over and are swaddle, they have less mobility to get themselves out of a un-safe position. Typically, parents should stop swaddling around 2-3 months after birth.

When will my baby outgrow swaddling?

Swaddling is usually recommended up to four months but depends largely on your baby?s needs. Some babies show readiness to stop as early as two months even though some continue even after four. Your baby will let you know when he/she is ready to stop. Nonetheless as your baby moves his/her limbs more and can struggle free or turn over on his/her own, swaddling may well lead to issues of loose coverings acquiring in the way causing entangling and suffocation.

Can swaddling cause my baby to overheat?

This is definitely a concern and the reason which you must appear for a swaddle blanket made of lightweight, breathable fabric. This assists regulate temperature and prevents your baby from overheating. You need to also be mindful that thermostat temperatures aren’t too high and that your baby doesn’t have too a lot of layers on, feel warm for the touch or start to perspire.

Hip Dysplasia and swaddling

The occurrence of Hip Dysplasia is making the headlines news.  Parents should be concern if they are not familiar with swaddling because improper swaddling can trigger Hip Dysplasia.  Here are some things parents need to pay attention to when swaddling.

1. Swaddle with enough room for hip to move
2. Do not straighten the newborn's leg from the frog position
3. If you are still unsure about swaddle, then I recommend getting some swaddle sacks. These sacks will create a nice swaddle for the chest and arms, while leaving enough room for the legs and hip to move without much restriction.

Source:
http://www.abc2news.com/dpp/news/swaddle-your-baby-but-do-it-safely

Another study printed in the Turkish journal of Pediatrics found swaddling to be helpful in keeping babies asleep for longer periods.  

Daytime sleep and wake periods of ten swaddled infants were periodically recorded by their mothers. The babies were swaddled above the waist for the first four days of the second, third and fourth months of life. During the next four days of the same months, the same infants were monitored with no swaddling. Comparison of the two sleep situations (swaddled and unswaddled) demonstrated that the increase in the total daytime sleep was statistically significant when the baby was loosely swaddled above the waist.

Give swaddling a try and see if it will benefit your newborn!

Safe swaddling to prevent Hip Dysplasia

Parents who swaddle their newborn need to practice the proper swaddling techniques to prevent the occurrence of Hip Dysplasia.  Watch the video and learn from Dr. Price (International Hip Dysplasia Institute - IHDI).

Another study agrees, swaddling is helpful

Doctors in Belgium conducted a study title, Influence of Swaddling on Sleep and Arousal Characteristics of Healthy Infants and the reports outlines some great reasons to swaddle your newborn.


The purpose of the study was to systematically examine the benefits of swaddling and identify if swaddling favor babies to sleep and reduce crying among irritable babies. The impact of environmental sound was used to test the impact of sleeping babies that are swaddle and non-swaddle.

The studies clearly showed, 
“swaddling was associated with increase in the infant’s sleep efficiency and in the time spent in non-rapid eye movement sleep.”

The impact of swaddling on reducing crying was less conclusive in this study, but if babies are able to sleep for a longer time, then I’m sure more parents would still be overjoy. So, if you are a parent who has a baby that doesn’t like to sleep, then give give swaddling a try.

Read the full journal article at PubMed.

Swaddling improves comfort!

As a parent, I want my son to be as comfortable as possible.  In the first few days after birth, nurses would come by and regularly poke my son in the heel to draw some blood. He was premature and had jaundice, so doctors wanted to investigate his jaundice level in order to get a better idea on how to treat him.  He was poke numerous times and eat time he would cry for a good 20 minutes after the blood draw.  Then, one nurse re-swaddle the baby with his leg sticking out for the blood draw.  My son was so relaxed in the swaddle that when he was poked, he didn't respond with crying.  It was amazing to see him relaxed during the process because it makes my heart ache every time I see him cry.

I found this journal article on PubMed that supports what I noticed in the hospital that day.  When newborns are swaddle, it will help reduce their crying and screaming when they are poked in the heel for blood draws.  This is a great news because I want my son to be as comfortable as possible and I know he's comfortable when he is sleeping soundly and not crying. When he wakes up he will give me the lovely smiles that I appreciate so much!

Why I swaddle my baby !

I started to swaddle my newborn because it helped him sleep for a longer time. After I brought him home from the hospital, we stopped swaddling him because we didn’t have any blankets on us. My son would wake up every hour after each feeding and even that one hour, it was difficult to get him to fall asleep. 

As a sleep deprived mom and dad, we went searching for answers. We immediately found stories of moms and dads using a swaddle blanket to help their newborn sleep. A lot of parents were adamant about swaddling and recommended it without hesitation. We quickly purchase some swaddle blankets and started swaddling our son.

The impact of swaddling wasn’t immediate, but over the course of a week, I found swaddling to be effective as people described. Why swaddling helps? First, I notice how swaddling creates a steady routine for the baby. We un-swaddle my son for feeding, diaper change, or baths. After any of these events, we immediately swaddle him again. In the swaddle state, my son knows its time for sleep and does not create much of a fuss because of it. A routine schedule a practice keeps newborns in sync with what is expected of him.

Secondly, a swaddle baby is inhibited from moving around too much. The restraint reduces the chance a baby will wake himself up when he gets into an uncomfortable position.    Additionally, babies have quick movements when something loud is echo in the background.  These loud noises instigate a quick reflex movement that tends to wake up the newborns.  When swaddle, babies do not startle themselves awake and are able to sleep longer. 

Take advantage of swaddling and find the right swaddle blanket for your newborn!

Reason #2 to swaddle your newborn

Why do I swaddle my baby?

The first reason is swaddling lower SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) because swaddling helps infants sleep in the supine position. But, the benefits don’t stop there. Moms already know another benefit when they first held their swaddle baby.


As I rewind thru the video of my son’s birth, I can see how stunned and distressed he was as he entered into this world.  He was shouting his poor lungs out and did not yield at all as the doctors checked him up. His howling subsided only after he was wrapped in a swaddle blanket.

I'm not happy! - Swaddle me please

Thanks for swaddling me!

 A newborn has hibernated in the mother’s womb for almost 9 months (mine stayed in there for only 34 weeks, 6 days) and has developed a comfort level there. While in the womb, the newborn does not weep or shed any tears because it’s guarded in its very own Eden. Swaddling will aid a newborn to re-create this amazing moment in his life; where he has nothing to fret about. In the womb, he is provided for, kept warm, and shielded by the mom. A swaddle blanket will answer two of those  frustrations.

First, infant are not use to the cold surroundings when they come out. The human body temperature averages 37 degrees Celsius and he comes into a world that averages 23 degrees Celsius. Additionally, a babe do not have much body fat for insulation and this is especially true for premature babies. A tight swaddle around the babe will help protect the baby and keep him comfy as he enters a cold world.

Second, the blanket will work like a shield to assist decrease strange hands from roughing him up. The swaddle blanket will help keep bacteria away from the body.  Now, individuals might come and stop by to see and touch the newly delivered infant and having him wrapped in a clean blanket will help keep bacteria off his skin.  The swaddle blanket is habitually changed out out and clean to lessen the possibility of germs infecting the baby.

Overall, the noticeable advantage for moms and dads is witnessing the newborn yell less when he is swaddle. As the environment of the womb is re-created, the little one will remember the good times and will relax down from their uneasy states.

My research into swaddling brought me to Wikipedia and this is the first image that caught my eye.  This is a painting depicting a swaddle Jesus in the arms of  Mary. It shows swaddling has been around for ages and as early as the time of Jesus' birth.  In these days of increase knowledge, technology, savy, newborns are still swaddle in hospitals.  Nurses wrap babies in burrito shape rolls for parents to hold right after delivery. While wrapped up the mom gets to hold their newborn in her arms for the first time.

I know there are people who are concern that swaddling might be harmful for kids and they are right to be concerned because swaddling can be harmful if not done correctly. When babies are swaddle parents typically are not actively being watch because babies are put to sleep and parents go to sleep themselves during this time.  Thus, swaddling newborns correctly is vital for baby safety and I'll list the benefits of swaddling in a later post.

If babies have been swaddle for generations, then your baby can be swaddle too.
My new mantra; Swaddle your baby like Jesus.