Swaddles

In general, I hate transitions because babies and kids hate transitions. Therefore, I try to avoid any unnecessary transitions if possible. This means that I never had my kids sleeping in my room with me or in anything other than their own crib from day one. This means that my kids slept in a sleep sack until they asked for a blanket, which was basically when they moved to a bed. This means that my kids slept in cribs for as long as possible. 

However, the swaddle was something that I chose to use even though I knew that the transition out of the swaddle was only a couple of months away. Even though I knew that the transition would impact sleep later on, I decided that this transition was worth it. And honestly, for the most part with my two full term early rollers, the transition wasn’t as bad as I anticipated. With my preemie it was a little more difficult because of the moro reflex sticking around longer, but it also wasn’t really that bad. 

The benefits of swaddling

According to research, swaddling is hugely beneficial for newborns and infants for a number of reasons.

• mimics the womb making baby feel safe and secure

• muffles the moro/startle reflex

• can improve sleep and make it easier to place baby on their backs for sleep

• keeps them warm when they are too young for a blanket but need help with temperature regulation

Here are a few quotes from the research:

“In general, swaddled infants arouse less and sleep longer. Preterm infants have shown improved neuromuscular development, less physiologic distress, better motor organization, and more self-regulatory ability when they are swaddled.”

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17908730/

“Parents often use swaddling to comfort the infant, and most find it effective. Parents who routinely use swaddling are more likely to place their infant supine if swaddled. Swaddling may be a strategy for parents of infants who have difficulty sleeping in the supine position.”

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21903621/

“If a few precautions are taken, such as swaddling securely to minimize risk of unwrapping, avoiding overheating, placing infants to sleep supine, and discontinuing swaddling when infants first show signs of rolling over, swaddling presents minimal risk.”

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28394766/

But is there a right or wrong way to swaddle? Is there a better or worse type of swaddle? How long is it REALLY okay to swaddle for? In this blog I’m going to cover the answers to these questions and provide some information about transitioning out of the swaddle.  

Is there a right or wrong way to swaddle?

With most parenting questions I don’t tend to think there’s a right or wrong way to do anything. However, in the case of the swaddle, the answer to this is actually yes. The swaddle should be tighter around the arms/chest, but not so tight that is restricts breathing. You should be able to fit two fingers into the top of the swaddle. And it should be loose around the hips and legs. This will give your baby the benefits of that snug feeling which helps them feel safe, mimics the womb, and keeps that Moro (startle) reflex from waking them up, while also keeping their hips safe and preventing hip dysplasia. 

Is there a better or worse type of swaddle?

In general when it comes to anything sleep related, I do not believe you have to buy special/expensive products to help your kids sleep better. Swaddles are not an exception. However, I do not like blanket swaddles because first of all, I can’t successfully wrap them. Eric’s pretty good at it but in general all of the kids I’ve seen swaddled in a blanket have easily broken free, especially when they start moving a bit more. This is annoying because it minimizes the effects of the swaddle “hug”, but also it can be dangerous as it can fall off leaving the baby in a crib with a loose blanket.

When someone recently asked me what type of swaddle to get, my response was “the cheapest thing you can find with velcro” and I stand by this. I would also probably get a velcro swaddle with the little tabs rather than the big velcro section because it’s just less noisy to open and close, so less disturbing during a sleepy diaper change or something. So basically what I’m saying is that if I were to start over I would get the exact same swaddle that I got almost 6 years ago. This one here:

I don’t know what brand this is and it doesn’t matter. We had a few different brands and they all looked the same and did the same thing, and they were all safe for the hips. Seriously, the cheapest one you find on Amazon is perfect.

There are also some zipper swaddles out there. I personally have never used one or even touched one, so don’t take my review too seriously, but I don’t love the idea of these. I do like the ease and the almost noiseless application of this product. However, every kid is a different size. If I tried to swaddle kids 2 and 3 in the same zipper swaddle as kid 1, they’d be swimming in it eliminating the impact of the tight swaddle. Also, I think lengthwise many of these don’t have as long of a life as the velcro swaddles because babies get too long for them too fast. Personally, for a product that I’m only using for 2 months, 3 max, I don’t want to have to spend money for the next size up. 

When I asked my friends what swaddles they used, every single one of them had a different answer (seriously no two answers were the same) and every single one of them said “I loved it”. To me this says (based on my very very small sample size because I don’t have a lot of friends) that the act of swaddling was helpful, not the specific swaddle used.

How long is it really okay to swaddle for?

The official recommendation from the AAP is that swaddling is stopped at the first *signs of attempting to roll*. This means before they actually roll because you don’t want their first actual roll to be in the middle of the night while they’re swaddled and you’re sleeping. Things like lifting their head more, scooting in a circle while on their back, kicking legs from side to side, rolling to the side, or even rolling from belly to back are all signs of rolling back to belly. These are all reasons to stop swaddle use or begin the transition, and it usually happens by around 3-4 months but can definitely occur earlier. Some people say 8 weeks is when the signs will be clearer and you should stop swaddling. 

My advice is that at the very first sign of rolling, you can try a few sleeps without a swaddle. This will give you a good idea of if your baby will transition seamlessly or if they might need more support BEFORE you actually have to make the transition. That way, if you do determine that they need more support, you have that information. 

How to make the transition:

Like I said, just give a sleep sack a try. They may be totally fine with it!

If not, there are a few ways you can transition more slowly. 

First, try just one arm out for a few days. Then take the second arm out but keep the snug part tight around the belly. Finally, get rid of the swaddle and switch to the sleep sack. 

Another option is to discontinue swaddling at night when the presence of sleep hormones makes it easier for babies to sleep, while continuing to swaddle for naps to ensure good day sleep and avoid baby becoming overtired. This will let them practice without impacting your night too much. You can also be more attentive during the day to make sure they don’t roll, but at night you might be sleeping and not notice.

There could also be an argument made for the opposite. If your baby is NOT rolling yet, you can discontinue swaddle use during the day just to get them used to sleeping without it, and continue to use it at night to avoid disrupting restorative night sleep. You may then want to do a slow transition out at night as well instead of dropping the swaddle cold turkey. 

A note about the Merlin Sleep Suit and other “Gray Area” products:

There are a few products that obviously list themselves as safe because they want you to buy them, but it’s unclear if they really are. One of these products is the Merlin Sleep Suit. I used this sleep suit for Landen for maybe 6-8 weeks, and I used it for Joey and Graham for probably less than a week each. Why? Because they didn’t need it. They transitioned seamlessly into a sleep sack at a very very young age since they both started rolling very early. Technically, they were both too small for the Merlin anyway, so I was a little nervous about it and tried to use it sparingly and then not at all. 

Landen was premature. The benefits of swaddling full term infants are clear, but the benefits of swaddling premature infants are even greater. It was hard for him to be without the swaddle and the Merlin was really helpful when he still needed that extra time to grow and transition.

Side note: every blog I write I’m enlightened by all of the clues into Landen’s SPD that he gave me from literally the minute he was born.

So why is this a gray area product? A few reasons. First, in a way, it inhibits rolling. We don’t want to inhibit a babies natural growth and strength for a number of reasons, most notably that it can increase the risk of suffocation if they can’t get into a position that is safe. It is also unclear if the Merlin fits the definition of a “weighted” sleep product based on how thick it is, and we now know that weighted products are not safe.

Another gray area product is the zipadee zip. It states on their website that it should not be used for babies under 3 months or 12 pounds. However, by 3 months and 12 pounds many babies are already rolling so many parents are using this product before it is technically safe, making it a gray area product. If used properly though, this is a safe product. However, if you have to transition before that then going to a sleep sack will be safer and save you a transition later on.

For all of these products though, you have to weigh the benefits and the risks. If I knew what I know now would I have used the Merlin for Landen? I honestly have no idea, but I do know that at the time it felt hugely beneficial for him.