Blogtime in Twin Town

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Swaddling 101

W: Swaddling is important. Babies love it because it makes them feel safe and secure, much like they felt in the womb. Parents love it because swaddling can soothe a fussy baby in less than thirty seconds.

Everyone wins.

At the hospital, one of the first things that the labor & delivery nurses taught us was how to swaddle the Deuce. The Happiest Baby on the Block author Dr. Karp, who is a big proponent of swaddling, teaches a "down, up, down, up" swaddling method that is similar to the nurses'. But after a week, the nurses' method no longer worked because the Deuce is squirmy, and squirmy infants can kick their way out of their swaddles.

Faced with a squirmy Deuce, I came up with slight variation on the nurses' swaddle, which I'm sharing in a step-by-step how-to guide below.

Walker's Baby Straight Jacket Swaddle

Supplies:
1 Large square receiving blanket (2 ft x 2 ft)
1 baby
1 pair of quick hands

Step 1 - Prepare the blanket
Lay your square blanket on a flat surface and rotate it 45 degrees. Pull down the top corner about 10 inches.

Step 2 - Center the baby on the blanket
Place the baby (in this case, F, who is wearing his stylish "Metal Kid" onesie) on the blanket with his neck even with the top of the fold.

Step 3 - Secure arm #1
Tuck the baby's arm under the fold of the blanket and secure.

Step 4 - Pull #1
Now, take the corner of the blanket and pull it across the baby's body.

Step 5 - Tuck #1
Now take the corner and tuck firmly, but not too tight, under the baby's butt.

Step 6 - Secure arm #2
Now take the baby's loosey-goosey arm and secure it by tucking it under the fold.

Steps 7 & 8 - Pull #2 & Tuck #2
Pull the far corner towards you and tuck it beneath the baby.

Step 9 - Make a tail
Take the end towards the baby's feet and make a tail.

Step 10 - Tie a knot
Now, take the tail and tie a nice little knot at the end.

And you're done!
You have a perfect little baby burrito that is virtually squirm-proof.