Introduction

Imagine – a baby in a burrito. Well that’s exactly what swaddling looks like.

Swaddling is the practice of wrapping a baby in a long cloth. Basically, only their heads are visible, while the rest of the body is wrapped snugly inside the blanket. While it is a cute picture, swaddling has some real benefits for your baby.

It allows your baby to feel secure like they’re still inside the womb as well as keep its normal startle reflex in control.  This startle reflex is present at birth, which lasts between 12 weeks and 6 months of age, and causes baby to startle with loud noises or large movements. This startle reflex may wake a baby up from their sleep.

It also keeps the baby's temperature in a comfortable range and can be used for infants with low birth weight and also for a cranky infant who needs calming.

Wrapping babies to sleep has been around since ancient times. Swaddling is one of the best ways to help your baby feel secure and fall asleep.

How to swaddle?

First things first - always use a thin blanket or cloth so that your baby doesn't overheat.

• Lay your swaddle cloth out onto a flat surface so it makes a diamond shape and fold down the top corner.
• Gently place your baby on the cloth — face up — with their head above the corner you just folded down.
• While holding your baby in place, straighten their right arm and then bring the same-side (baby’s right) corner of the blanket over their body. Then tuck the blanket between the left side of their body and their left arm.
• Securely fold the bottom of the swaddle up toward the body. Be sure to leave plenty of space for your baby’s legs to move and groove.
• Then grab the (baby’s) left corner of the blanket and bring it around the right side of their body to snug them in.
• Now you’ll want to check to see if the swaddle is too tight or not tight enough. To do this, try slipping your hand between your baby’s chest and the blanket. Note how it feels.
• Experts advise leaving two fingers of space between baby’s chest and the swaddling blanket.

Learning to swaddle the baby is a good thing for new parents. Either you can learn how to swaddle a baby or with the grace of capitalism buy a swaddle blanket.