There will be a vast range of emotions to experience, from pure amazing bless and amazement at the life you have created, to a feeling of frustration at not being able to understand your baby’s needs or settle them to sleep. This is absolutely normal and everyone goes through the same thing.
With the first stages, your tiny human will find it comforting to recreate the same feeling they experienced inside the womb, cozy, snug and safe. For both day-time and night-time sleeps the best way recreate this feeling for them is by swaddling. Swaddling your new baby, ensures that their startle reflex does not wake them up and can also help settle your baby down when they are overstimulated.
It is important to swaddle your baby correctly, leaving some room at the bottom of the swaddle to allow your baby to bend their legs up and out.
There are lots of different ways to swaddle your baby, detailed below is one option:
- Lay the blanket in a diamond shape on a flat surface and fold the top corner down approximately 15cm
- Place your baby on their back with their shoulders in line with the top of the fabric
- Bring your baby’s left arm down and pull the corner of the blanket closest to your baby’s left hand across their arm and chest and tuck it under their back on their right side
- Repeat with the other arm and tuck under your baby’s back on the left side
- Fold the bottom end of the blanket and tuck it loosely behind your baby making sure that both legs can bend and spread apart naturally and that their hips can move
Muslin cloth swaddle blankets are a great option as they are still light and breathable.
Swaddling your baby early on will help them feel secure and enable them to settle themselves more easily. Swaddling is recommended up till the time your baby starts rolling, which is usually between 4-6 months of age.
