What
can make us feel more comfortable than hugging and snuggling? We all need this simple expression of love and affection. It calms us down. It makes us feel
worry-free. All mammals hug and snuggle. Even snakes and birds snuggle. The
reason behind it is the way the mammals, birds, and snakes develop after
conception – in a confined, space of a uterus or an eggshell. We carry this
need through our lives, but it is the strongest in early infancy. I doubt that
a crying baby can become “spoiled” by being picked up and held tightly every
time. The problem is that we can’t do it every time a baby cries. We decided to
cheat on nature and invented swaddling. Swaddling is hugging and snuggling
surrogate. It is known forever to work wonders for upset babies. Swaddling a
baby is not hard, but it has a few tricks. In older times swaddling was a skill
passed down from generation to generation. Now young parents don’t have anyone
around to learn it from. The gap was filled by a multitude of companies
offering swaddling garments, which require less effort and fewer skills than a
blanked.
There is a small but significant difference between a baby blanket used for swaddling and swaddling garments: the fasteners. All baby garments designed to make swaddling easy use some form of fasteners, such as snaps or velcro. This could make them more dangerous with improper use. An article published by the Journal of Pediatrics in January 2014 described 36 serious incidents, including deaths, reported to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which was attributed to improper swaddling. In two-thirds of incidents a swaddling garment was used. The number of unreported incidents is probably many times higher.
Swaddling is good if done right – parents need to be educated on how to do it. There are risks regardless of what is used, higher with a garment and lower with a blanket. Informed and educated decision on what to use and how to use seems to be the key to safely and happily sleeping babies and parents as well.
There is a small but significant difference between a baby blanket used for swaddling and swaddling garments: the fasteners. All baby garments designed to make swaddling easy use some form of fasteners, such as snaps or velcro. This could make them more dangerous with improper use. An article published by the Journal of Pediatrics in January 2014 described 36 serious incidents, including deaths, reported to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which was attributed to improper swaddling. In two-thirds of incidents a swaddling garment was used. The number of unreported incidents is probably many times higher.
Swaddling is good if done right – parents need to be educated on how to do it. There are risks regardless of what is used, higher with a garment and lower with a blanket. Informed and educated decision on what to use and how to use seems to be the key to safely and happily sleeping babies and parents as well.
