If you’re reading this, chances are you are struggling to make a tight enough swaddle to keep your baby snuggled in the entire night without them wiggling themselves out of it or you forgot how to swaddle your baby the way the nurses or midwives taught you. I know I did when I became a mom!
I remember having two nurses and a midwife teaching me how to swaddle baby L when I was at the hospital. They made it look so easy and from time to time I was able to get their swaddle technique down but I would forget the steps and I would just ask my hubby because his swaddle skills were far better than mine. Before we left the hospital I was able to remember the steps but I was never able to make a tight enough swaddle.
When we finally brought baby L home, my husband M would swaddle him far more often than me because I was truly terrible at it. Baby L would always wiggle out of his swaddle and would wake up more often because his moro reflex would kick in since the swaddle was not tight enough. Some times, the way I would swaddle baby L would make him tilt on his side and that terrified me so I decided to figure out another way to swaddle my son because the most common way of swaddling my baby was not working for me. You gotta do what you gotta do, right?
This method helped me during those horrible days where we would hit the witching hour and I would have to use the 5 S’s technique to soothe baby L.
Here is my step by step guide on how I safely secure baby L in his swaddle:
I recommend starting with a 40 inches by 40 inches swaddle if your baby is a newborn but I would quickly upgrade to a muslin swaddle that is 47 inches by 47inches. I’m in love with these muslin blankets they are breathable and incredibly soft.
Step 1: Lay the muslin blanket completely flat
Step 2: Make a triangle towards the middle of the blanket with one of the top corners.
Make a deeper triangle if you have a newborn because the deeper the triangle, the less fabric you have to work with.
Step 3: Place your baby in the middle of the triangle with his shoulders parallel to the top of blanket.
Step 4: Wrap one side of your baby with his arm on his side and tuck the corner of the blanket under him.
Make sure the blanket is flat and not bunched up under your baby’s back!
Step 5: Repeat step 4 on the other side.
Make sure to leave enough room at the hips so his able to move around
Step 6: Lay the bottom corner of the blanket flat and fold the corner towards your baby’s feet making a triangle.
Step 7: Grab both corners of the triangle and fold them towards your baby’s chest.
Make sure to leave room at the bottom so your baby can stretch out his little legs.
Step 8: This is where you can reinforce the tightness of the swaddle by tucking in both sides under your baby’s back.
I like to leave one side longer than the other and tuck in the shorter side first so the longer side can cover the short side and go across his entire back to the other side.
Lastly, enjoy your baby burrito!
