Hello mamas and papas!  Starting out the week here on CloudMom with our favorite topic area: babies!

So, you’ve just brought your little one home from the hospital. Congratulations, this is the first step to a wonderful journey! Your nurse may have mentioned something about swaddling to you before leaving. Have you thought about swaddling your baby when you put him or her down to sleep? Keep watching and reading for some of the benefits to swaddling!

Swaddling a Baby

Experts say that wrapping a baby in a tight little cocoon using a swaddling cloth (or, my favorite, the hospital burp cloth!) is very beneficial to your babe since it simulates the feeling they had when in the womb. They feel warm, safe, and secure. As your baby gets a little older, you may want to switch from an arms-in to an arms-out swaddling position.

I swaddled all five of my own babies.  To start, I used an arms in swaddle.  I then transitioned to an arms out swaddle.  When my babies were breaking out of the arms out swaddled, I tried another technique which I call the double swaddle!  You can see how addicted I became to swaddling — ha ha.  I swaddled my first baby for over four months and the others for around that period of time, and I found that when swaddled, they slept a lot better.  If you feel you are at the end of the swaddling period, check out this video on when to stop swaddling, because that is important also since you never want to have loose blankets in your baby’s crib.  OH, and listen to the guidance your doctor and nurse give at the hospital since over time, I have found that the guidelines did change when it comes to swaddling infants and whether they arms should be in or out.

For more on how to swaddle a newborn and why swaddling is a good idea, check out this video.

Thanks for watching, and happy swaddling!

How about you guys? Share your favorite swaddling stories in the comments below!