Baby Swaddling pro’s and Con’s

So a pregant friend of mine sent me a youtube video about how to swaddle a newborn baby.

Heres the video:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4SnaQ1DVJM

How cute is that?? After i had recovered from the overload of cuteness i got to wondering how easy swaddling could be.

The man in the video did it like a pro! But when its your first baby your going to have the worry of hurting your little one or not wrapping her/him up right!

Then checking every 2 minutes to see if he/she is still wrapped up? did you wrap it to tight? is the child happy?

I guess after some practise you would become a pro to and could probably swaddle with your eyes closed.

So then i got to chatting with the pregnant friend who sent me the video over the option of swaddling or non swaddling. We both agreed the baby in the video looked very happy once it was finally all wrapped up like a little pink burrito.

But how many attempts would it take for a first time parent to get something like that right? Would all babies enjoy to be swaddled?

would swaddling be for us? was it completely safe? would both parents be able to pick up the art of swaddling? Do you swaddle all the time?

So i spent a week mulling over the idea of swaddling vs normal blankets. The baby in the video did look very comfy and happy at the end.

I havent seen many babies swaddled here in Roma, Italy so im not sure if its a big thing here or not. Although i have read that Others think its not a big thing done here but apparently it was very popular back in ancient Roman times.

Saying that i havent been around alot of babies here. So i guess its just down to the decisions of the parents in the end what they want to do (and of course the Italian Grandparents who usually take a big step into their new Grandchild’s life lol).

Then today while googling baby blankets i actually stumbled across these ready made swaddling blankets! Basically there already made to just wrap around your baby and secure in place. You dont actually need the blanket in the video i watched or to sit there for goodness how long figuring out how to wrap your baby burrito!

You just wrap and go within a minute or two and both you and baby are comfortable!

Finding these i did some more googling to see what are available and found some really cute ones in different colours and patterns. Different ones for winter and summer.

So after a bit i decided to order a few summer light ones as Peanut will be born begining of september here in Italy which will still be hot. So i want her to be comfortable as possible and they sound like the perfect idea for just that!

I will see how it goes when shes born and see if she likes the idea of swaddling or not at the end of the day its down to her and if shes comfortable.

The Benefits of Swaddling

Babies sleep longer: Babies are used to being snuggled tight in the womb. While being wrapped tightly in a blanket doesn’t sound great to most adults, it is for a new baby. Hospital nurses, friends and your mother will all tell you that babies do sleep better when they are wrapped.

Less crying: The movements of his arms and legs cause the baby to startle. This is upsetting to the baby and causes over stimulation. When they are over stimulated, newborns cry in an attempt to block out the stimuli. When they are swaddled, the jerky arm and leg movements are kept to a minimum, resulting in less crying.

Fewer scratches: Newborn nails are sharp and grow fast. Nearly all babies scratch their faces with those jerky movements in their sleep. When the baby is swaddled, she is less likely to scratch up her face the night before you have her portraits taken.

Update

A very nice commenter made me aware that you have to be careful with the child’s legs when swaddling as well!

Improper swaddling can lead to hip dysplasia or developmental dysplasia of the hip so this is why you have to be careful. This helpful link provided by the commenter i mentioned explains all and how to Swaddle safely! 🙂

http://www.hipdysplasia.org/developmental-dysplasia-of-the-hip/hip-healthy-swaddling/