Friday, January 21, 2011

Effects of swaddling


A randomized control trial conducted in Mongolia finds no significant differences in early mental or psychomotor development among babies tightly swaddled to seven months of age or older and those who aren’t swaddled.
For an impressive demonstration of how the Mongolians swaddle, see the movie Babies, where the little Mongolian baby is swaddled at the hospital like a Christmas package.

We find tight swaddling (I have my husband do it since he pulls the swaddle tighter than I do) helpful to promote sleep, since it reduces the spastic movements that tend to wake Willow up. We used the Swaddle Mes with River and now Mark prefers the Miracle Blanket, which keeps the arms down better. We swaddle at night, from about 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. and leave her free during the day. There may or may not be a correlation, but she sleeps well at night and usually only takes a good nap in the day if I’ve taken her in the car or otherwise moved her about.

Do you swaddle? Why or why not?

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