Swaddling is a practice that has been used for thousands of years and continues to be used in most hospitals immediately following a baby’s birth.

This practice is often continued once home from the hospital, and while at first it may feel intimidating, it’s worth the effort!

Today, we're going to walk through three benefits to swaddling your newborn.

1. Reduces the Risk of SIDS

SIDS, or sudden infant death syndrome, is when a baby dies due to an unexplainable cause. Two leading assumptions as to why SIDS occurs are 1) sleeping in unsafe positions, such as on their side or stomach, 2) suffocation from a loose blanket or item in the crib. Swaddling keeps your baby warm while reducing the risk of the baby rolling onto their side or stomach, keeping them safely and securely on their back. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that no loose blankets should be placed in a newborn baby’s crib, so using a swaddle blanket that stays swaddled is important. One of the things parents love most about max + moose swaddles is that they have the perfect amount of stretch to keep babies swaddled throughout the night!

2. Less Crying

Studies have shown that swaddling can result in a significant reduction in crying. Swaddling imitates your touch and creates a warm and cozy environment, similar to that of the womb or being snuggled by mom or dad. It isn’t uncommon for some babies to get a bit agitated or fussy when being swaddled, especially at first. However, this agitation is temporary. Once asleep, everyone will appreciate a calm, comfortable and hopefully, long sleep. 

3. Improves Sleep Quality

Babies will often wake and startle themselves due to random and uncontrolled movements of their arms or legs. This is almost always followed by crying and an interrupted sleep for baby and you. However, swaddling is great way to prevent these random movements and startled wake-ups. By keeping the baby wrapped and their arms safely secured, they are less likely to startle themselves awake or scratch themselves. This leads to longer and more continuous naps and overnight sleeps. These longer, deeper sleeps are needed by everyone in the family, especially the growing newborn baby.

 How To Swaddle Safely

When it comes to swaddling, there are a few important things to note:

- Babies should never be put on their side or stomach when swaddled – only on their back.

- Babies should only be swaddled up to the point when they start to roll.

- You should only use a swaddle blanket that safely and comfortably stays put, to ensure your baby doesn’t un-swaddle themselves.

max + moose offers super soft, sustainable, and natural fiber swaddles that keep babies calm in a womb-like environment as well as reduce the chance of startled wake-ups from reflexes and self-scratching. The thing that really sets a max + moose swaddle apart, is the perfect amount of stretch that each blanket has which allows for easier swaddling, while also ensuring that once your baby is wrapped, they stay wrapped.

If you're looking for help with your swaddling technique, Delilah Loeppky's swaddling tutorial is a great resource!

If you're looking for more baby sleep tips, please read our last blog post Baby Sleep Tips For Summer.

You can also get our sleep guide Simplifying Sleep: Tips, Tricks and Truths About Newborn Sleep for free by signing up for our newsletter.