What did you use to swaddle your baby?

[Dreamer_D]

Okay, another question for all those experienced moms out there: If you swaddled your baby, what worked best for you? From reading the experiences of moms on here I think it is a wonderful thing to help calm babies and would like to do it myself... but what type of swaddler do I buy? Any recommendations are greatly appreciated.

 

[Blenheim]

Not that I''m an experienced mom, but I''ve been given about five of these by multiple experienced moms who say that it''s a must for a newborn.

 

[puffy]

we used the swaddle me blanket for a bit. i LOVED those. they are big and they come with 1-2-3 instructions on how to swaddle, but swaddling is so simple. you'll have it down quick. and super cute prints cause that's all a new mom cares about right?!

we only used those for a few nights then we moved to the miracle blanket which we really LOVED. but that was short lived cause the little guy broke started to wiggle and broke out of it.
honestly looking back, as long as the receiving blanket is large enough, you should be fine. but of the two, we preferred the miracle blanket.
and a very belated CONGRATS...you are almost there.

ETA: it is pretty important to swaddle a newborn only cause they will startle themselves awake if not and as a new mom, you will want the sleep.

 

[neatfreak]

We have miracle blankets (which one boy LOVES and the other only tolerates since he likes to splay his arms above his head when he sleeps) and then just big, soft, slightly stretchy receiving blankets. Make sure they are at least 36x36 if not bigger, the smaller ones are crap even for my boys who are tiny as are the ones that don't stretch at all. We also have Halo sleepsacks, but they don't keep the feet swaddled so the boys don't like them as much.

 

[vespergirl]

I think that the brand I used was called "swaddle me" - it''s sold at babies r us. It looks like a little cocoon, and has velcro fasteners for a secure swaddle. They were great, and they come in a variety of fabrics for different times of year (cotton, fleece, etc.)

 

[snlee]

We used the miracle blanket at night, which we loved! However, you''re not supposed to wrap them longer than 10 or 12 hours in a day or 8 consecutive hours (can''t remember the exact numbers so double check). We used a blanket during the day. Make sure you get one large enough though. I liked 32"x32" or larger.

 

[ljmorgan]

dacshie we''re using these -- http://www.adenandanais.com/muslin-wraps.html they''re just plain large, stretchy muslin blankets. They''re a pain to find in the US but I''ve read that they''re very common and cheap in Australia and the UK.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Plain old waffle baby blanket. We tried a lot of things b/c our girl LOVED the swaddle. Those worked the best. You could get them really tight which is key.

ETA: swaddle mes were horrible for us. Too loose. She could get out of them VERY easily.

 

[diamondfan]

I used those thin receiving blankets and put them on the diamond angle (point down toward me, baby''s head, and right and left) and then I would fold the top point down so it was a straight line. I would lie the baby on it with that line about shoulder height, then put the bottom corner up and the right and left sides over. It was sort of like wrapping a burrito. We called all of our babies bundled burritos when I did that.

 

[misspinky]

The only ones that worked for me were the Beba Bean bamboo swaddlers. They were the only ones that I could get tight enough that she couldn''t wiggle her arms out of.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Date: 1/4/2009 8:33:57 PM
Author: diamondfan
I used those thin receiving blankets and put them on the diamond angle (point down toward me, baby''s head, and right and left) and then I would fold the top point down so it was a straight line. I would lie the baby on it with that line about shoulder height, then put the bottom corner up and the right and left sides over. It was sort of like wrapping a burrito. We called all of our babies bundled burritos when I did that.

We did that at first too (and called her our baby burrito!) the waffle ones have more stretch so really work better than the flannel ones IMHO.

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 1/4/2009 8:50:11 PM
Author: Tacori E-ring

Date: 1/4/2009 8:33:57 PM

Author: diamondfan

I used those thin receiving blankets and put them on the diamond angle (point down toward me, baby''s head, and right and left) and then I would fold the top point down so it was a straight line. I would lie the baby on it with that line about shoulder height, then put the bottom corner up and the right and left sides over. It was sort of like wrapping a burrito. We called all of our babies bundled burritos when I did that.

We did that at first too (and called her our baby burrito!) the waffle ones have more stretch so really work better than the flannel ones IMHO.

Ditto. Anything with stretch is the way to go.

 

[Dreamer_D]

As usual, thanks bunches!! I have seen those "swaddle me" ones locally, and obviously I have seen big receiving blankets so I may just stick with those until I see if something more fancy is required.

Questions: For those of you who "burritoed" your babies using regular receiving blankets, how did you keep it secured without velcro or something similar? Do they just stay wrapped?

AND

At what age dis you find that swaddling became less useful/necessary?

AND

If baby fusses at first when swaddled did you just persist and sooth them in the swaddle until them calmed down? I have a friend with a fussy abby who I thought should have swaddled but she said her baby didn''t like it, and I wondered if she should have just persisted a while before giving up...

 

[Tacori E-ring]

you just tuck the top in. The nurse will show you b/c they use just regular blankets. I think we stopped around 4-5 months. I know at 4 we stopped swaddling her arms (for development reasons). I bought this expensive receiving blanket that was suppose to be awesome (the reviews) and it was WAY too big I thought. I liked the plan old waffle ones from BRU (2 to a pack). Tessa always responded pretty quickly.

 

[packrat]

I found a link to the Miracle Blanket in one of the threads here (the bargain, must have kid item thread) and bookmarked it just in case we have another baby, or for any friends that have babies. I swaddled Trapper and he LOVED it. If he fussed and he was all burritoed, I just kept him that way while I rocked him-and he liked to be held sideways by my tummy if I was standing and swaying with him. But I didn''t have a cool Miracle Blanket-I just had the regular receiving blankets, so my swaddling attempts didn''t always last very long. The nurses at the hospital showed us how to do it but I swear they had to have taken classes in it..they''d be flipping him around like they were performing a magic trick-and he had a bit more difficulty getting out of it when they did it. London didn''t really care for the whole swaddling experience-but she was a waaaaay better sleeper than Trapper was!

When are you due?

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 1/4/2009 10:17:16 PM
Author: packrat
I found a link to the Miracle Blanket in one of the threads here (the bargain, must have kid item thread) and bookmarked it just in case we have another baby, or for any friends that have babies. I swaddled Trapper and he LOVED it. If he fussed and he was all burritoed, I just kept him that way while I rocked him-and he liked to be held sideways by my tummy if I was standing and swaying with him. But I didn''t have a cool Miracle Blanket-I just had the regular receiving blankets, so my swaddling attempts didn''t always last very long. The nurses at the hospital showed us how to do it but I swear they had to have taken classes in it..they''d be flipping him around like they were performing a magic trick-and he had a bit more difficulty getting out of it when they did it. London didn''t really care for the whole swaddling experience-but she was a waaaaay better sleeper than Trapper was!

When are you due?

Thanks for the tips! I will make note. I am pretty sure my midwives are experts at swaddling and they come to our house after the birth, so I will hold them hostage until they teach me how to do it

I am due in 8 weeks! I think that time is going to FLY by since I have so much work to get done in that time before my mat leave (I plan to take at least 10 months off)...

 

[lauralu]

another HUGE vote for waffle stretchy blankets! Luved them! My youngest came along 8 years after the first two. we tried other blankets but went back to the waffle stretchy ones. They were the only thing that stayed in place.

I just luved them. Oh I am having mommy flash back....such an awesome time of their lives when they are so little and wrapped and snuggled and so cute and adorable.

 

[packrat]

Wow-10 months off-that''s AWESOME!! The time will go fast, but in some ways, it goes so slow too..like a "hurry up and wait" thing.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 1/4/2009 10:51:24 PM
Author: packrat
Wow-10 months off-that''s AWESOME!! The time will go fast, but in some ways, it goes so slow too..like a ''hurry up and wait'' thing.

I may feel differently in the last 4 weeks, but right now I am hoping the time goes slowly! I am not *quite* ready to change my whole entire life as I know it!

 

[packrat]

Yes, enjoy your "alone" time and any little bit of sleep you can! I don''t think anyone can ever be prepared for how life changes when the baby comes. I adored being pregnant and feeling the baby kick and wondering what they would look like..but after a while I was so impatient-come ON, let''s get this show on the road! Then after London finally came, I thought oh crap, where''s the rewind button, I need a little more time! I''m excited for you-being a mommy is the most wonderful feeling!!

 

[somethingshiny]

Our son was a big baby, so all we were ever able to use was regular baby blankets. The nurses showed me how to swaddle with a receiving blanket (which was the same way my mom taught me when I was in my Cabbage Patch phase) Then, if it was colder, I wold loosely swaddle a fleece blanket around the receiving blanket. Also, because we just used blankets, it was easy to loosen or remove completely.

 

[qtiekiki]

We used regular receiving blankets. I was planning to get swaddleme or miracle blankets, but ended up not getting them. That was a good thing since M was only swaddled for the first 3 weeks. After that, she cried when she was swaddled.

 

[steph72276]

Ha, thought we were the only ones to calls ours a baby burrito! How funny! We just used plain blankets too, it''s easy to do, you will get it!

 

[mrssalvo]

I used the miracle blanket until Jake could bust out. Loved it. I swaddled my older two with regular blankets and those can work just as well if you are doing it correctly.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

We used regular receiving blankets. . .at my shower, I was given a ton of simple thin ones and we layered those depending upon the weather. My husband and I were so horrible and also took a couple of the recieving blankets from the hospital!

lol Once, I'm pretty sure a woman recognized the style/design on the cloth, and gave me a repremanding look!

ETA - I think it's better to have lots of cheap receiving blankets than it is to have one or two expensive ones because they can get messy VERY easily. Things get on them from every which direction! lol It's amazing how much laundry needs to be done with a newborn around and I loved having lots of back-up blankets.

 

[adrienneg]

Date: 1/4/2009 6:10:02 PM
Author:dreamer_dachsie
Okay, another question for all those experienced moms out there: If you swaddled your baby, what worked best for you? From reading the experiences of moms on here I think it is a wonderful thing to help calm babies and would like to do it myself... but what type of swaddler do I buy? Any recommendations are greatly appreciated.

Hi there!

Reading your question made me laugh out loud because it reminded me of my baby girl when she was so little. She''s not that much bigger now (only 16 months old). But we used the receiving blankets at first ... until we discovered SwaddleMe at babiesrus. It was so much easier wrapping her in them and it was fuss free. She wouldn''t go to sleep unless she was swaddled so we did it every night, until she was maybe 6 months old, when we checked on her and her arms were out of the swaddle! I was initially concerned about her being too old to be swaddled but the doctor said to keep it up for as long as she was comfortable. I think it helped her develop good sleeping habits because at 16 months old, she sleeps by herself in her crib in her room at 8pm and we wake her up at 7am to get ready every morning. Alot of my friends that have babies her age are still dealing with sharing their beds!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Thanks again guys for all tjhe suggestions! I think I will look for some of the larger waffle-type receiving blankets and will pick up a swaddleMe too, since it is pretty inexpensive. Then I will hold my midwife hostage until I know how to wrap the burrito properly!

 

[pennquaker09]

I used the swaddle me blankets also.

 

[qtiekiki]

Thought I would post a pic of my burrito M (when we first got home). This is such a funny pic.