As it turns out, and I’m sure you are already much better informed than I was, swaddling means wrapping your baby up in a particular way so that they feel soothed and comforted.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t much good at wrapping, and nor was my partner (as I think I saw Jason Manford talking about this subject on Live At The Apollo the other day - you only had to see the way he wraps presents to see that wrapping a baby was going to be a challenge)
However, doing my reading, like a good mother-to-be, I discovered that swaddling was a pretty vital component in the armoury of a lazy (sensible?) parent wanting to get as much sleep as possible in the post-birth period.
Apparently a practice as 6000 years old, parents have been swaddling their babies to keep them happy since, well, ever. And with good reason, as swaddling keeps babies feeling secure and safe, as in the womb.
Until my first little girl was born, I also had no appreciation of how scary she would find these strange limb-things that were attached to her, but which she had no control over, and that occasionally she would even accidentally hit herself in the face. As soon as I realised this, suddenly the swaddling thing made a lot of sense.
Additionally, I found out that swaddling is scientifically proven to help babies sleep for longer, and to have better quality sleep too, which helps their brain development.
Swaddling isn’t actually that difficult – there’s a more detailed explanation on our site here, but basically, you just turn fold a square blanket into a triangle, and wrap it round the baby, securing their arms by their side, or slightly bent on their chest.
Back in the day though, the only things available to swaddle in were cellular blankets. They sort of worked, but were pretty tricky – not really wide enough when folded to tuck securely under her body, and quite bulky, so that when I did manage to tuck them underneath her, I worried about her having a big uncomfortable lump under her back. I also worried, as it was a very hot summer, if the layers of blanket around her were making her too hot, and ended up dressing her only in her nappy, or just a short-sleeved babygro and nappy to adjust for it. Neither of which was ideal, since the too-short swaddle often unravelled, and she woke up feeling too chilly.
Since then, I have had two more babies, and tried each time to find something better to swaddle with: slightly stretchier knitted organic cotton cellular blankets, thin jersey cotton blankets and so on, but none were really big enough, stretchy enough or lightweight enough, and certainly none of them had cute and funky prints on.
So, I’m a little bit jealous of everyone having a baby now, as they have the opportunity to use these brand new gorgeous Aden + Anais stretchy muslin wraps that are exactly what I have been looking for all these years. Launched only this year, at the Bubble Trade Show, these wraps are lightweight, thin and breathable, and huuuuge enough for even my inept partner to successfully swaddle with. Plus fantastical prints.
If I had another baby I think I would buy the lot.
You can view the new Aden + Anais range of muslin swaddles at Cheeks and Cherries here
Plus a little video by the founder of Aden + Anais, on swaddling and its benefits is here:
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