Tried and True: Swaddle Me!

Liam sleeps best as a baby burrito – nap times, bed time, it doesn’t really matter! We’ve swaddled him since birth and he knows it mean “sleepy time”! If he’s tired, he smiles the biggest smile in the world when you begin to swaddle him. If he’s fighting sleep, you get QUITE the dirty look if you try to wrap him up. Haha! We were gifted a variety of swaddles when he was born, but the Summer Infant SwaddleMe is our favorite. Quick and brainless, perfect at 4am!

Pros:

• Velcro! Need I say more?
• SO quick to get them wrapped up!
• A variety of sizes
• Cute colors and patterns!
• Machine washable

Cons:

• Velcro… ug… (read below)
• Getting legs in when they are asleep or squirming is a feat …
• Our little Houdini can still get himself out!

As you read above, the Velcro is a pro and a con. It’s a pro because, let’s face it, in the middle of the night you don’t have any brainpower left to remember how to wrap that receiving blanket around them. The company was even kind enough to make washing tabs, so the Velcro doesn’t get wonky in the wash! It’s STRONG Velcro too, it doesn’t just pop open, it takes a good tug to undo! But it’s a con for one reason alone – loudness. Invariably it gets stuck closed when you need to slide a sleeping babe in, and ripping it open could wake the dead. Also, Liam has discovered the joy of “scratching”. He love to scratch things. This includes the Velcro. In the middle of the night. Yep.

Our Houdini is able to get his arms out when he is awake and wants free. Although a con, I really don’t mind. I know that he could get out if he needed, and he never gets out while asleep and then wakes himself up. It’s created some hilarious moments, as well as magical.

One night I woke up to the sound of things crashing. Liam had gotten his arms out of his swaddle and was clearing off my end table, one item at a time. Some things he was even able to fit between the bars and place in bed with him. I think my middle of the night exclamation was something along the lines of “You’ve GOT to be kidding me!” as I leapt from bed, just as the Angelcare Monitor hit the ground.

The other morning I rolled over in bed to see his arm out of the swaddle, reaching for me from inside his crib. He was staring right at me, straining his arm between the bars, not making a sound. My heart melted. I reached my hand off the side of my bed towards him and he grasped it, smiling at me.

A funny little video I shot the other day, showing how much better he falls asleep/stays asleep when swaddled. Heck, this very post is brought to you by a nap in his SwaddleMe!

Did your little one like to be swaddled?

❤ Tara