Does your baby need to be swaddled? Why you might want to skip it.

Common Practice:

The reason many people use swaddles (including me with my first baby!) is that it can be shockingly difficult to settle a baby to sleep. And the tight wrap of a swaddle absolutely can help. Some babies love it, and some babies do not.

You might have heard of a baby scratching their faces or having a strong startle reflex. Restricting their arms or covering their hands are short term solutions to these “problems.”

We often hear that swaddles are “womb like” and that babies love the feeling of being back in the womb. I also think that many people are nervous about moving their babies around and swaddling offers a perceived safety. They are, of course, delicate, but gentle movement and stretching is a wonderful way to help them to adjust to life on the outside.

Reasons I don’t recommend swaddling a baby:

• Protective Arousal: Babies wake often as a protective measure, not to ruin your life. There is so much still unknown as it relates to SIDS, but it’s believed that there is an issue with babies arousal, and swaddling suppresses this instinct further. We are not meant to suffer with sleep deprivation while caring for our young children, but the obsession with getting young babies to sleep long stretches is not the solution (in my opinion). I always recommend finding more ways to support parents, not more effort fighting against baby's needs.

  
  

• Primal Reflex Integration: You might have heard of the startle, or moro reflex, that makes babies jumpy and wake themselves up. You might even do this as an adult! All humans are born with this protective reflex, but we are meant to integrate, or work through this reflex. The more we suppress it, the longer it takes to integrate. Swaddles do just this. And for safety reasons, you can only use a swaddle for a small window of time, and if it’s been a short term tool you’ve become dependent on, transitioning out of the swaddle can be very difficult. It’s often recommended to transition to something like a magic merlin suit or other similar product that suppresses reflexes (these are repeatedly being recalled for safety too). My recommendation is to support the integration from the start. Here is a research article further expanding on Persistence of primitive reflexes and associated motor problems in healthy preschool children. The hypothesis being that when we do not integrate our primal reflexes (6 of them), there is a potential for downstream issues into childhood - and beyond.

  
  

• Freedom of Movement: I have a fundamental belief that, most of the time, our babies do not do things without a purpose. I trust and prioritize their freedom of movement. You can read more about natural gross motor development here.

  
  

• Not Feeding Friendly: Whether breast or bottle feeding, baby should be able to move their bodies freely and have access to their hands. Swaddling for naps and at night adds an additional layer to safe feedings, as they should be removed and put back on after the feed. Also, suppressing baby’s arousal can lead to long stretches of sleep BEFORE breastfeeding is well established.

  
  

• Increased risk of hip dysplasia if not used properly. You want to make sure the hips are free to move and not bound straight.

  
  

• Not a long term option As soon as babies begin rolling, swaddling must be stopped due to the risk of suffocation. This abrupt change, often around the time of the 4 month sleep regression, can add an extra layer of difficulty to life and sleep for the whole family.