Nurturing Warmth
How to Swaddle your Baby
Baby swaddling is a child-care practice that has been used for centuries over most of the world. It consists of snugly wrapping your baby in a blanket for a feeling of warmth and security, similar to what they experienced in their mama's womb.
You'll quickly see that a secure and cozy swaddling wrap will comfort and calm your newborn. It helps contain baby's own jerky movements that often startle themselves.
We recommend swaddling for the first 3 months. When its time to help your baby transition from swaddling, simply swaddle baby with one arm out of the swaddle for a few nights. Then swaddle with both arms out. A baby who is able to roll over should not have their arms inside a swaddle.
Step 1
Begin by placing a rectangular blanket on a flat surface in a diamond shape. Take the top corner and fold it down a few inches.
Step 2
Place your baby on top of the blanket with shoulders just below the fold
Step 3
Pull the left side of the blanket across baby's body so that it is comfortably holding baby's arms on her chest. Keeping the blanket taut, tuck it under her buttock and lower back.
Step 4
Bring up the bottom corner of the blanket and tuck it snugly behind her left should (if the material won't go quite that far, tuck it into the V at her neck)
Step 5
Tuck in the material at the top right a little bit just so it is out of the way. Take the right side of the fabric and bring it all the way over, under and back around your baby.
Step 6
How tight should the blanket be? You should barely be able to slide your hand between the blanket and the baby's chest. So be sure that with each pull and tuck you are wrapping baby tightly. Also, your baby arms should be bent at the elbow, knees and hips bent as well. Let them be in their natural position rather than trying to straighten out their arms and legs. If baby's hands are placed on their chest, within reach of their mouth, they can still suck on their hands and fingers.
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