Swaddling has become a recent topic of controversy. Swaddling involves wrapping your baby in a blanket so snugly that is restricts movement.
Swaddling has been around for thousands and thousands of years but in the last decade, it has grown significantly in popularity. It has been shown that swaddled babies tend to sleep longer, have a lower risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome as well as fuss less. Studies have also shown that babies who are swaddled cry less. Despite these advantages, questions have arisen about the safety of swaddling. Before deciding whether to swaddle your baby, do a bit of research to see whether swaddling is the right choice for your baby.
Should I swaddle my newborn? While the practice of swaddling is gaining popularity, more hospitals and medical professional are speaking out against the practice, causing many to have second thoughts. Here are some points to consider prior to making a decision about swaddling.
Higher risk of respiratory infections. Babies who are swaddled appear to be at a higher risk of developing a respiratory infection. Higher incidence of hip dysplasia. If you do not swaddle your newborn properly, your baby is at risk of hip dysplasia. Keep in mind though that only improper swaddling can increase the risk of hip dysplasia - this is not a concern if your use the proper swaddling technique.
Swaddling becomes part of the sleep time routine. Swaddling becomes part of the routine when putting your baby to sleep. This can be a downside to swaddling as it can become a necessary act in order for your baby to fall asleep. Swaddling can be a hard habit to break as newborns don't know how to sleep unconfined. It can take months to gradually break the habit of swaddling to get your baby to sleep.
Is restricting the movements of babies good? The function of swaddling is to keep the movement of babies restricted so that they feel safe and secure and therefore will sleep better. Babies have the startle reflex that sometimes wake them up - swaddling prevents this from happening. But is this a good thing? Should the startle reflex (that is a protective mechanism) be prevented? These are all questions that medical professions are posing to help parents understand the practice of swaddling.
Is swaddling better for babies or the parents? Evidence is showing that parents might benefit more from swaddling than the babies. New parents are sleep deprived and look for ways to get their babies to sleep longer; swaddling does this. Babies cry less when swaddled - another benefit to parents.
Does swaddling hinder development? Swaddling prevents babies from moving around. Moving around is an important piece in development; therefore does swaddling hinder the baby's development? Some pediatric experts seem to think so. Only you, as a parent, can decide what is best for your baby and the decision to swaddle or not is no different. Before deciding whether to practice the act of swaddling, do a bit of research so you can understand the pros and cons of swaddling.