SHOULD YOU SWADDLE YOUR BABY?​

OCT 26, 2018 5:26 PM
Healthcaretoday, parenting, infants, swaddling, wrapping infants, baby, uterus, infant care, blanket
Swaddling provides comfort and security to your baby.
Healthcaretoday, parenting, infants, swaddling, wrapping infants, baby, uterus, infant care,
Swaddling involves snugly wrapping infants in a blanket to restrict movement. It's been around for thousands of years, but it has grown steadily in popularity even in the past decade.

Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur Neonatologist and Paediatrician consultant Dr Uma Sothinathan (pix) pointed out that swaddling is encouraged in early stages. 

“You shouldn’t be continuously swaddling and it shouldn’t be tight, but enough not to release the baby. We might think that it is actually uncomfortable, because we ourselves do not want to be that way. But the baby came from a tight environment of the uterus where it is nice and swaddled. So, babies take a lot of comfort in being swaddled.”

“Parents don’t have to have them like a mummy, but they could have one hand over, swaddle one side and have the other hand in and swaddle it nicely."

“Babies sleep better that way. A lot of babies after the first two weeks, might not like their hands swaddled up, so they would naturally pull it out. By one month to six weeks, very few babies want to be swaddled.” 

Nest your babies
She also advises parents to nest their babies other than laying them flat. This can be done by rolling a blanket and making a ‘U shape’ around, so that when they are laying, there is something around by their side that’s holding them. This makes the baby feel that there is a confined space around them which is comforting. ​

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