Emily Clarke

How to Safely Swaddle Your Baby

Swaddling is an age-old practice that helps your baby feel safe and secure as they adjust to life outside the womb. It also prevents your baby from flailing their arms and legs (as they tend to do), which can disturb their peaceful slumber. Swaddling babies also keeps them warm and comfortable as their internal thermostat kicks into action after birth.

In this article, we'll describe how you can safely swaddle your baby and suggest some of the best swaddles if you decide to use a wrap instead of a traditional swaddle blanket.

Is it safe?

Although swaddling your baby isn't 100% risk-free, experts say it's very safe when done correctly and used with other safe sleeping practices, like not giving your infant a pillow and putting them to sleep on their back.

To ensure your baby's safety, you'll also want to make sure a swaddle isn't too loose or too tight. If you wrap a swaddle too loosely, it could be a suffocation risk. On the other hand, one wrapped too tightly around your baby's hips could interfere with your baby's ability to keep their legs bent and flared out while they sleep.

How to swaddle with a baby blanket

Swaddling isn't too difficult once you get the hang of it, but it takes practice! You'll also need to make sure you have the right materials to create the best swaddle for your little one. To start, you'll need a lightweight and breathable swaddle blanket. Then, follow the steps below.

1. Lay the blanket out on a flat surface in the shape of a diamond. Fold the top corner down about six inches.
2. Lay the baby down face up with their head above the folded edge of the blanket and their body extended straight down toward the opposite corner of the blanket.
3. Straighten out your baby's left arm and take the left side of the blanket and wrap it over their arm and chest. Tuck the blanket underneath their right arm and behind their back.
4. Bring up the bottom corner of the blanket and tuck it under your baby's chin.
5. Straighten your baby's right arm and pull the right side of the blanket over their right arm and your baby's body. Tuck it behind the left side of your baby's body.
6. Secure the blanket by loosely twisting the blanket and tucking it under your baby.

Best swaddles for babies

Once a baby can break free of their blanket, it's time to stop swaddling or invest in a swaddle wrap. Swaddle wraps have velcro tabs and zippers and don't require any tucking or folding. They are easier to use for first-time parents, and they don't come untucked like a swaddle blanket often does. So what are the best swaddles for babies? Here are three of the best swaddles to try:

• Halo Sleepsack Swaddle
• SwaddleMe Original Swaddle
• Woombie Original Baby Swaddle

If you decide to stick with traditional swaddle blankets, these are great, lightweight options (plus, they're adorable!):

• Aden + Anais muslin swaddle blankets

Keep in mind, finding the best swaddles for your baby can be challenging. You never know what they will or won't like, so it's a good idea to try several different types of swaddle wraps to find what works best for you.

Author Resource:-

Emily Clarke writes about social networking apps, connecting women across fertility and motherhood. You can find her thoughts at parenting advice blog.