Is swaddling still in?

A few years back a friend recorded a series off the Living Channel called “Bringing up baby” which followed 6 sets of British parents as they followed 3 different parenting gurus – Truby King from the 50’s, Dr Spock from the 60’s and the Continuum concept from the 70’s till now. The huge differences in the approach to parenting was really interesting as the programme followed the couples in the first 3 months of their baby’s lives. It is amazing that in just decades there were such huge differences in techniques and advice, I don’t know about you but I found there is a lot more acceptance nowadays of trusting yourself and being able to choose the approach that works best for you and your family. In fact, current advice seems to reinforce the attitude of babies settling well after 3 months but the degree to which the parents social and love lives got back on track really seems to differ!

Although sleeping bags are certainly a good idea and all the rage, swaddling/wrapping babies is one of several techniques still used and has been in and out of fashion right throughout history. There is well researched and documented evidence to show that babies respond well to the reassurance of boundaries and ‘nesting’. For centuries children in different cultures have been lovingly swaddled and wrapped in gauze, slings and in materials of different kinds.

Wrapping babies helps maintain womblike conditions and helps contain sudden involuntary movements which can often startle young babies awake, promoting safer and more restful sleeping. It can become part of the pre sleep association for babies; they associate being wrapped with the security of sleep. This is particularly the case if the wrapping experience is a pleasant one, accompanied by quiet soothing sounds of singing or shushing or soft music. It can be an empowering settling technique for both mother and baby.

However, a large controlled research project from the UK advises caution with swaddling especially with issues like the swaddling becoming loose and posing a suffocation risk; over-heating or on the other hand having the swaddling too tight may interfere with breathing or natural, necessary hip movement. Therefore, make sure that you use ‘breathable’ natural fabrics and consider using a Safe T Sleep Sleepwrap over any swaddling or sleepwear to reduce all these risks. Sleepwraps have a very low TOG rating and therefore are very ‘breathable’. I liked to wrap my children in cotton Muslin for the first 3-5 months but they were little Houdini’s and I found that the Sleepwrap helped to keep the muslin swaddling in place, which meant I didn’t need to be as firm with my swaddling technique and the swaddle wrap couldn’t unravel. When they were ready to have their arms out I simply ditched the swaddle and just put the Sleepwrap over whatever my babies wore to bed. Wonderful natural movement in a Sleepwrap as well at every stage of development and ahhhh the peace of mind for me!