Is Swaddling still in Fashion?.

I recently recorded a series off the Living Channel called “Bringing up baby” which follows 6 sets of British parents as they follow 3 different parenting gurus – Truby King from the 50’s, Dr Spock from the 60’s and the Continuum concept from the 70’s. The huge differences in the approach to parenting was really interesting as the programme followed the couples in the first 3 months of their babies lives. It is amazing that in just 3 decades there was such a huge difference in techniques and advice. I don’t know about you but I found there is a lot more acceptance nowadays of being able to choose the approach that works best for you and your family. In fact this show seemed to reinforce this attitude with all of the babies settling after 3 months but the degree to which the parents social and love lives got back on track really differed!
It seems swaddling/wrapping babies is one of several techniques that have been in and out of fashion right throughout history.


There is well researched and documented evidence to show that babies and toddlers respond well to the reassurance of boundaries and ‘nesting’. For centuries children in different cultures have been lovingly swaddled and wrapped in gauze, slings and in materials of different kinds.
Wrapping helps maintain womblike conditions and helps contain sudden involuntary movements which can often startle young babies awake, promoting safer and more restful sleeping.. It can become part of the pre sleep association for babies; they associate being wrapped with the security of sleep. This is particularly the case if the wrapping experience is a pleasant one, accompanied by quiet soothing sounds of singing or shushing or soft music. It can be an empowering settling technique for both mother and baby.
However new research out recently from the UK advises caution with swaddling especially with over heating and having the swaddling on too tight it may interfere with breathing. Therefore make sure that the swaddling is not too tight around the baby’s chest – with the Sleepwrap you should be able to get your hand between the wrap and the baby, but make sure the wrap itself is secured very tightly around the mattress so it doesn’t move. If you choose to use a traditional swaddling wrap, like a muslin cloth, be careful that it doesn’t come loose and end up around your baby’s face and you don’t bind the legs and arms too tightly as this can cause hip and breathing problems. I liked to wrap my children in Muslin for the first 3 months but they were little houdinis and I found that the Sleepwrap helped to keep the muslin swaddling in place which meant that I didn’t need to be as firm with my swaddling technique.


From Maria at the Safe T Sleep family


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