For me, a swaddling blanket was a lifesaver with my first child. My brother and his wife gave us the Miracle Blanket when we had our first child, and it did work like a miracle!! I would recommend that baby product to anyone.
I tried swaddling with just your run of the mill receiving blanket, and never really got the hang of it. The Miracle Blanket, and other blankets like it worked perfectly to take all the guess work out of swaddling. Sometimes, I worried that I was swaddling her too tight, but my doctor told me that there was really no such thing as too tight for the baby. You aren’t going to cut his or her circulation off, and YES, the baby can still breathe!
Swaddling is very important during those first few months. When a baby is born, they have reflexes in their body that they have no control over. This can be frustrating and startling for baby. Imagine if your own arms were to fly into the air without warning. It would be hard for you to feel like you could sleep that way wouldn’t it? It is the same for your baby.
Think of the womb. The baby is crammed so tight into that tiny space in your body, and that was the happiest place on earth. Until your baby was born! Swaddling is an essential part of making your baby feel safe and secure. I cannot tell you the number of times that my firstborn was crying, and fussy, and as soon as I would swaddle her, she would drift peacefully off to sleep. We used to call her our little burrito swaddled up so tight. We continued to swaddle her until it was just not physically possible anymore.
Our son was a different story. He let us swaddle him for probably only 2 months, and then he was done. This boy was on the move from the beginning and was would have run the moment he came out of the womb if he was physically able! So, swaddling will vary from baby to baby as to how much they actually like it, but you will find that in the first month or two, a swaddling blanket can become your best friend, and most reliable aid in helping your baby sleep.
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