The Swaddle

I remember the nurse that taught our childbirth class at Prentice back in October 2007 taking time to teach the parents to be how to swaddle their newborn babies. We practiced on dolls using those white, blue and pink hospital blankets that are seen in countless pictures of newborns taken in the first hours of life. Little did I know just how key the swaddle would be helping my children to sleep! With both Kate and Luke we utilized numerous strategies to keep them swaddled tightly in the pursuit for extended stretches of sleep. For Kate we went to a double swaddle- the Velcro kiddapotomus first and then a large flannel blanket on the top. It was always laid out in her crib and she often smiled while we worked our baby origami magic. Papa even referred to her as our little burrito. Luke proved to be more of a Houdini and made his way out of many tight swaddles. We had success in routinely using the miracle blanket- the straight jacket of all swaddle blankets. But around 3 months Luke outgrew it and we moved into his current combination sleep sack Velcro swaddle blanket. He likes it but only if you swaddle him with his hands up by his mouth. He is starting to break free of this too, so it is probably time to start weaning. Yet another sign that my baby is growing up . . . quickly. Here are a few pictures of Luke in his swaddle. I didn't capture the ear to ear grin he usually has when you greet him after his sleep. Note that these pictures were taken on the same day, same nap and that despite the tight swaddle he can still cruise around in his crib and pivot a full 180 degrees on his back!