Swaddling
Swaddling was a one of those things I had heard about but somehow thought it had gone out of fashion somewhere around the Middle Ages.
But when our daughter arrived, screaming her head off for what seemed like an eternity, we were willing to try anything to soothe her. A friend of ours gave us the Happiest Baby on the Block DVD by Harvey Karp. (Courtney wrote a review about his follow-up book, the Happiest Toddler on the Block).
The basic idea behind Harvey Karp’s theory is that a newborn is disoriented for the first 12 weeks after she comes out of the womb; he calls this the 4th trimester. What he tries to do is recapture some of the feelings a baby would get inside the womb, i.e. being tightly wrapped in a swaddling blanket, gentle rocking, listening to white noise etc.
I am not completely convinced by all of the ideas on the DVD, but the swaddling was a lifesaver. It could transform my daughter from a screaming red bundle to the most serene looking little newborn. (My husband became such an expert in swaddling that friends of mine would be begging me to send him round to swaddle their screaming babies)!
This time round I am prepared. I even have a beautiful little swaddling sheet from an Australian company called Bholu. It is made out of beautiful soft thin cotton and has a hand-embroidered image of an elephant on it.
Let’s hope it does the trick!
-Emilie
LEAVE A COMMENT
10 COMMENTS - Add your own
Ilearned about swaddling in London with my first baby and we did it with the second one. Here most people look at us as if we were members of some weird tribe!!!
I swore by swaddling with both my babies. I also liked the 100% cotton blankets called Swaddle Me by Kiddopotamus. They have velcro so it’s easier to keep them bundled up.
I really liked to swaddle my babies in the 123 Swaddle blankets. Super cosy, and so cute!
I agree with Esther. I LOVE the Swaddle Design swaddling blankets. They’re cute, cozy and are the perfect swaddling size!
Our daughter slept MIRACULOUSLY long periods of time in the Miracle Blanket (http://www.miracleblanket.com). I have given this to several friends and family expecting their first babies because it’s the only blanket I found (and I tried many) that was easy to use for swaddling and stayed on through the night – it’s nearly impossible to wriggle out of it because of the little arm flaps.
Wow, what a great little film! I haven’t heard of this blanket before, but I agree it does look miraculous!
(Oooohhhh, how cute is that little swaddled baby!)
no kidding our infant son liked to be swaddled until he was 8 months old !!! We did it right from the hospital .(he slept like a dream with it too, and couldn’t sleep unless swaddled).
I second the miracle blanket. Both my boys lived in those until they were done being swaddled. Also my boys LOVED white noise!! I just bought a travel clock with white noise on it from sharper image. It worked like a charm!
The miracle blanket saved our lives. I don’t think my husband or I would have survived without it. My son was a very difficult baby, cried ALL the time. The miracle blanket soothed him instantly. We used it until he outgrew it and then we panicked because we couldn’t use it anymore!
Great post. I swear by swaddling. I am putting together a blogroll of swaddling moms for my blog. If you would like me to add your blog drop by and give me a comment or send me an e-mail at anyelday@aol.com.