How To Swaddle Your Baby

my dress (sold out) – similar dresses here + here + here  |  harper outfit  |  swaddle blanket  |  binki  |  headband   |  bedding + similar

I’ve had a ton of you friends ask how I swaddle Harper and my thoughts on the whole swaddle thing. So I decided to share a STEP by STEP of how we have swaddled all of our little people and why we love it!!

So when I tried to explain how I swaddle my babies and it just wasn’t make the most sense — and I wanted the wording to be right incase you couldn’t get it from the images. So below is a piece I found online from one of my favorite books on helping calm babies – The Happiest Baby on the Block…and where it talks about the five “S”s and swaddling is one of them.  I’ve made my own notes (***) so you know exactly what I do different.

I swear swaddling my babies is the number one reason they sleep through the night early on and end up being such good sleepers. I’ve tried not swaddling and on nights I don’t they always end up waking themselves up and can’t put themselves back to sleep easily. Let me know your thoughts.

I hope this helps AND I’m going to be swaddling Harper on my Instagram stories later today so you can see it up close and personal. Also I linked of bunch of our favorite swaddling blankets below. I honestly think a great blanket makes a HUGE difference. Trust me, with our first I bought a million blankets that were all just too small.  Love you guys!!

xx -kails

. .  SHOP MORE SWADDLE BLANKETS  . .

The first step to calming any fussy baby is to give her a cozy hug. (That’s exactly what swaddling does.

• Place a light cotton blanket on your bed (use a 44-inch by 44-inch square ) and orient it like a diamond, with a point at the top. *** I fold my in half like a triangle – because that is what has worked best for my people

• Fold the top corner down. The top point should end up near the center of the blanket. *** I fold mine all the way down to make a triangle

• Place your baby on the blanket, her neck right above the edge of top fold.

• Hold her right arm straight at her side. (If she resists, just be patient. The arm will straighten after a moment or two of gentle pressure.)

Here we go…STEP by STEP

1. Holding the right arm against her side, grab the blanket about four inches from her right shoulder. Then, pull it snugly down and across her body. Tuck it under her left buttock. (It will look like half of a V-neck sweater.) Next, grab the free blanket, beside her left shoulder. Tug it firmly–away from her body–to remove any slack.

Her right arm should now be straight and snug against her side.  Do it snugly . . . or the whole wrap will unravel.)

Note: Don’t be surprised if your baby’s cries escalate when you start to swaddle! You’re not hurting her. She just doesn’t realize yet that she’s only seconds away from happiness.

2. Now, holding her left arm against her side, bring the point at the bottom of the blanket straight up and place it on her left shoulder. Tuck the blanket edge snugly around the left arm. Again, grab the blanket next to her shoulder and pull it straight out–away from her body–to remove any slack.

Note: The blanket should be loose around her legs, but her arms should be very snug and straight. Bent arms let babies wiggle out…and that makes them cry even more.

 3. Grab the blanket just a few inches from the left shoulder and pull it down–just a smidge. The small flap should come down to her upper chest to form the other half of the V-neck. Lightly press that smidge against her breastbone, like you’re holding down a ribbon while making a bow.

Note: Don’t bring this fold all the way down to your baby’s feet! It’s just brought down to the chest.

 4. Holding the smidge on the chest, grab the last free blanket corner and pull it straight out (away from her body) to remove any slack. Then, in one smooth motion, lift that corner up and straight across her forearms…like a belt. The blanket should be big enough so that this part goes all the way around the body. Then, snug it and tuck it into the front of the “belt.”

Note: This last step is not straight up…it is really up and across. The arms will be held snug and straight, but the legs should be loose enough to bend at the knee and open at the hips.

photos: malea ellett