Do You Swaddle Your Newborn?
What Is Swaddling?
It means to wrap your baby up in a cozy manner. When you carry your baby around or are just sitting down with them, they can get cold. Baby is used to the warmth of your womb. Inside, they were enclosed in a membrane filled with fluid. As the baby grew, they took up more and more of the sac until it was time to be delivered.
That same warmth and coziness is good for baby even after they are out of the womb. Have you seen a baby on the couch or in their crib? We lay them on their back because it is better for them and it keeps them from getting tangled in blankets.
But, they often startle themselves awake. The noises around them can cause them to flinch and even wake up. Swaddling can help with that.
Swaddling allows a baby to feel the same type of warmth that they did in the womb. By keeping them bundled up, they feel enclosed on all sides. This can make them comfortable and help them sleep. If your baby is often waking themselves up, this can help to keep them asleep.
Early on after birth, babies still haven’t figured out how to regulate their temperature. When you wrap them up like this, they retain more heat and can sleep or relax comfortably.
Before swaddling, check to see that baby is comfortable in other ways. As long as they are not wet, hungry or hurting, they can be wrapped up for comfort.
Swaddling usually stops when baby is old enough to move and have control of their head. When they discover that they have arms and legs and they can get them around, wrapping them up might lead to crying because they want more space.
How to swaddle:
* Take a blanket and fold down one corner.
* Lay baby on the crease so that they are in the center. Fold one side of the blanket over the baby and tuck it under the arm and body on the other side.
Fold the remaining side of the blanket across the body in the opposite direction just under baby’s chin. Be sure that baby is snug without being restrained.
Leave the feet free for air circulation. If baby wants to keep their arms free, you can swaddle under the arms.
Swaddling can help your baby to sleep and adjust to life outside of the womb in their first few months of life. It can also help them to stay warm and not startle themselves awake at night.