6 myths about children's feet: is it necessary to swaddle a child tightly?

Why are diapers needed?

The older generation is confident that swaddling is the only correct solution when it comes to caring for babies. Opponents argue that these are relics of the past, because today there is no shortage of vests and rompers. It is much easier to put a cute suit on your baby than to try to tame restless arms and legs. Particularly active supporters of baby vests talk about the developmental delays that swaddling causes, explaining that the physical confinement of babies reduces mental abilities. In their opinion, everyone who was swaddled in childhood becomes stupid adults.

In fact, medicine does not confirm the connection between mental retardation and swaddling. In addition, we can safely say that supporters of swaddling, like its opponents, were probably wrapped up in neat packages at one time. Swaddling itself does not cause any direct harm to health and does not in any way affect a person’s success in adult life.

Benefits of using diapers

The main reason why many families opt for diapers, abandoning baby vests, is cheapness. Children's outfits cost a lot of money; often, instead of just onesies, you can buy a pack of diapers. In addition, the size of the diapers allows you to take one set and swaddle both a newborn and a four-month baby in it.

Baby undershirts are purchased for a certain height of the baby, which rapidly changes every 3-4 weeks. As a baby grows up, he leaves behind as many children's things as not every closet can accommodate.

The practicality of diapers allows you to raise more than one generation in them. They do not shrink when washed and are not afraid of high temperatures. The most important thing is that ironing a rectangular diaper is much easier and faster than vests with miniature sleeves and collars.

Disadvantages of use

There is no arguing that swaddling limits a child's motor activity. The baby, wearing baby onesies and rompers, swings his arms and legs without experiencing any difficulties. This allows the child to get acquainted with the capabilities of his body, try to roll over, develop muscles and contact with the outside world.

Additional Information! Children shackled with diapers begin to crawl and roll over later than others. Some people experience muscle hypotonicity due to the fact that the baby does not have the opportunity to train them.

Baby in rompers

Purpose of swaddling

Despite the obvious pros and cons, parents decide whether to swaddle a newborn or not. The medical staff of the postpartum department tells every mother that if she wraps her baby up at bedtime, he will sleep longer.

Practical benefits from swaddling can be achieved during medical procedures, when an actively kicking child complicates the work of the medical staff during a blood test or during a hearing test, when every movement affects the result of the readings. At a scheduled appointment with an ophthalmologist, the mother will hear the doctor’s request to swaddle the baby so that his arms do not interfere with the examination.

In maternity hospitals they explain why newborn babies should be swaddled at first - this is necessary to ensure normal thermoregulation. The tight fixation of the fabric allows the mother, who is forced to move away from the crib for some time, to be sure that the baby has not unwound, which means he is not cold.

What is the advantage of swaddling

Proponents of swaddling say that the cloth in which the baby is tightly wrapped creates a feeling of peace and quiet. The baby in the cocoon feels as comfortable as in his mother’s belly. The baby is not afraid of its own legs and arms, which reflexively move if left in a free position.

What other benefits of swaddling:

1. Soft fabric without buttons, seams, or fasteners does not cause discomfort. Diapers do not rub or injure the delicate skin of a newborn.
2. High-quality baby clothes are expensive, but diapers are affordable for every family. A set of 15-20 diapers will last for several months.
3. The fabric protects the baby from overheating and cold. The temperature inside the fabric cocoon is always comfortable.
4. A baby wrapped in cloth is easier to hold and feed. In the first months, young parents are afraid of damaging tiny parts of the baby’s body; mothers are wary of dressing their babies in blouses and rompers. If you are really scared, it is better to swaddle your newborn the first time.
5. Neonatologists advise swaddling a baby if he was born weak or premature. The method is also indicated for muscle hypertonicity, overexcitability, and dystonia. If swaddling is necessary for medical reasons, this should be stated by the attending physician.
6. In the Soviet Union, swaddling was also done so that the baby would develop the skills of obedience and patience. This can hardly be called a positive thing, but in those days it was believed that a child should be humble and obedient.
7. Supporters of swaddling believe that a baby wrapped in cloth sleeps stronger and better.

On a note!

Some grandmothers still claim that swaddling helps get rid of crooked legs. In fact, bow legs and club feet may be due to rickets or heredity.

Interesting: Dog and newborn baby: how to prepare an animal for the arrival of a child in the house

Varieties of ways to swaddle a baby

How to treat folds in a newborn

Today, two types of swaddling compete: tight and loose. From a scientific point of view, tight swaddling is considered dangerous and, according to pediatricians, should become history, giving way to the safety of loosely wrapping babies.

Tight

This type is not used in children's institutions today. Baby homes, neonatological and postpartum departments of maternity hospitals have refused to bind the child with diapers. Nursery groups of preschool educational institutions that accept babies up to one year old inform parents that they do not use this type of swaddling, and therefore parents should also stop using this technique.

Tight swaddling

First of all, this is due to the fact that, being in cramped conditions, the child’s chest is limited in movement. Due to the inability to fill full lungs with air, infants are forced to compensate for the lack of oxygen by increasing their breathing rate.

Attention! Tight swaddling is also not recommended because it increases the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

In addition, due to the strictly straight position of the legs, the risk of hip dysplasia increases.

Free

This type of swaddling allows you to kill two birds with one stone: both to preserve body heat and to give the arms and legs the opportunity to move. Sometimes mothers swaddle so that the arms remain outside, and the legs and body are wrapped according to a well-known pattern.

Free swaddling is indicated for children who wear special stirrups to correct hip dysplasia. It is much easier to carry out hygiene procedures if the child is wrapped in a diaper, and not dressed in a bodysuit and rompers.

Some facts from history

Babies have been swaddled since ancient times. Archaeologists have found stone bas-reliefs from ancient Rome that depict newborn babies wrapped in a piece of cloth. There is also evidence confirmed by historians that babies were swaddled by the peoples of the North and American Indians. In the time of Hippocrates, they first swaddled each part of the baby’s body, and then wrapped it entirely in cloth. In Europe in the Middle Ages, babies were wrapped in a long piece of cloth, the size of which could reach seven meters.

At all times, there have also been opponents of swaddling babies. The physician Pliny, who lived in Ancient Greece, said that it was unwise to restrict the movements of a newborn child. Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, as well as philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, also opposed swaddling.

Children were swaddled to protect their bodies from the cold. In addition, it helped to leave the baby in the cradle and not be afraid that he would roll over and fall out. As a rule, they swaddled tightly during the cold season, and in the summer children were often completely undressed.

How long to swaddle a baby after birth

Unique abilities of newborns that you never even knew about

There is no consensus on the timing of swaddling. The mother should be guided by the expediency and attitude of the child to stay in cramped conditions. If your baby is comfortable sleeping with his arms and legs unable to wake him, mom can continue to swaddle him at night.

Important! Pediatricians believe that daytime swaddling should be stopped at 2 months. At this time, children begin to show their motor activity; they need to train their muscles and learn to roll over.

In babies, by the age of 3 months, the Moro reflex usually fades away. This means that during sleep, the arms no longer spread out and wake up the baby. Therefore, by this age, a mother should think about whether she needs to swaddle her baby.

For your information. Babies who have not been swaddled since birth learn to move from one sleep phase to another faster. They adapt to space faster.

As a rule, children older than 4-5 months are no longer swaddled. Children of this age do not like to sleep strictly on their back or side. The vast majority take a position on their stomachs, with their legs tucked under them. Therefore, the mother will decide for herself whether to swaddle the baby or not when she sees that her baby no longer needs it.

Sleeping on your stomach

Up to what age

When deciding how many months to swaddle a baby, you need to focus on the psychophysiological level of development. The newborn spends most of the day sleeping and feels better in a cocoon made of matter. Time passes, the baby ceases to be in a static position, and he begins to feel the need to move.

Three-month-old babies are already trying to roll over from different positions. The baby learns to grab various objects with its hands. The restrictive ties of diapers interfere with the baby's natural movements. By this age, the child has become quite strong and comfortable and is able to get out of several layers of fabric. You can pick him up to feed him without fear of damaging anything.

By six months, a child's motor skills include a variety of actions, and he becomes more and more active. Sliders - from the word crawl, as soon as the baby tries to do this, the need for swaddling disappears completely.

Should I swaddle my baby at night?

The first time after birth the child is uncomfortable, because he is accustomed to the limited space under his mother’s heart, he is more accustomed to being in a small cocoon. As the child grows, the need for restrictions disappears, and the desire to explore the world appears. Some babies, accustomed to sleeping without being able to move, are continued to be swaddled by their mothers at night even after 6 months.

Massage for colic in a newborn - massage the baby’s tummy

Every parent should know that swaddling can cause infant death. The danger of night swaddling is that if you accidentally roll over onto your stomach, the baby, unable to support himself on his arms, remains face down and suffocates. To ensure that nighttime swaddling is safe, mothers must take into account several important facts:

• the mattress should be moderately hard so that if it accidentally turns over, the child’s face does not sink into the material;
• a child under 2 years old should not have any pillow, unless otherwise prescribed by an orthopedist;
• the swaddling should be loose so that the child can free his face from the fabric that accidentally covers it;
• the diaper should not be too warm - in medical practice there are separate statistics on infant mortality due to overheating of internal organs caused by tight wrapping in an insulated diaper.

Attention! To ensure safe sleep for a baby wrapped in a diaper, it is better to lay him on his side so that there are cushions on both sides that protect him from accidentally turning over on his stomach.

Rollers for newborns

Negative aspects of swaddling

Scientific studies have shown that tight swaddling is harmful to the baby's health. A baby tightly wrapped in fabric cannot assume a comfortable fetal position and subsequently roll over onto his tummy, which alleviates colic. The chest is constricted, breathing is not completely balanced. What do parents who decide to swaddle their baby need to know?

1. Restriction of movement interferes with normal blood circulation. If the baby's legs are constantly in an aligned state, this can cause dislocation of the hip joints.
2. Calcium, which is necessary for full growth and development, is not fully absorbed without physical activity. If the baby does not move his legs and arms, his body may experience calcium deficiency, which often leads to rickets.
3. Scientists hypothesize that tight swaddling negatively affects the emotional and mental development of the baby.
4. Previously, swaddling was done to prevent the child from freezing. But in modern apartments it is always warm, and swaddling can lead to overheating of the baby.
5. Fabric pieces take up a lot of space when drying. This is very inconvenient, since you need to wash diapers quite often at first.
6. Mothers deprive themselves of the opportunity to dress up their babies in beautiful clothes: bodysuits, slips, tiny blouses, overalls, dresses. Modern children's clothing is made from soft fabric, the seams do not rub delicate skin, the fittings are of high quality and do not cause discomfort to the baby.
7. When the baby begins to actively move his limbs, he can free himself from the diaper and freeze.
8. Tight swaddling prevents active exploration of the world, because it is with the help of legs and arms that the baby masters a new environment.
9. Parents need to learn how to swaddle their baby correctly. This takes a lot of time, but you can put on a slip or bodysuit in a few seconds.

Types of swaddling

1. Tight swaddling. The arms are pressed tightly to the body, the legs are straightened. We have already written about the disadvantages of tight swaddling.
2. Free swaddling. The baby's arms are positioned freely along the body.
3. Cocoon (sleeping bag). The finished cocoon does not restrict the baby’s movement, but gives a feeling of calm and comfort. Inside the cocoon, the baby feels as comfortable as in his mother’s tummy.
4. Sling. A fashionable device made of several layers of fabric that is attached to the mother's body. The baby in the sling lies in a comfortable position, and the mother can go about her business.

Is it necessary to swaddle a newborn?

The decision to use diapers should be made by parents before the baby is born. If it turns out that relatives, relying on their own taste, purchased a bunch of vests and onesies that the mother does not plan to use, it will be a pity for the money spent.

The decision about swaddling should be made by the mother, because she is entrusted with the responsibility of caring for the newborn. If it is more convenient for her to wrap the baby in cloth than to suffer with moving arms and legs getting caught in thin sleeves and trouser legs, let her have diapers.

How to wean yourself off swaddling

A child who has been wrapped in cloth since birth must be gradually accustomed to normal clothing. To begin, put on a sleepsuit or a vest with rompers and leave your baby in the clothes for several hours. During the weaning period at night, it is advisable to continue swaddling the baby, otherwise sleep may be interrupted and restless.

Wrap an overexcited child in a blanket or blanket and rock him a little in your arms. When the baby is sick, as well as during teething, this method can also be used.

Each mother decides for herself what her baby will wear. The main thing is peace of mind and physical comfort of all family members. If you are comfortable swaddling, do it correctly and do not listen to opponents of this method. If you want to dress your baby in beautiful clothes, do as you see fit.

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How to swaddle correctly

If a mother has already answered positively to the question of whether she needs to swaddle her newborn, she needs to get acquainted with the techniques. The most popular type is closed, which involves completely wrapping the baby so that only the head remains free:

1. Straighten the diaper so that it lies at the angle up.
2. Bend the top corner so that it forms a side whose length is wider than the baby’s shoulders.
3. Place the baby so that his head is above the resulting fold line.
4. Straightening the left arm along the body, bend it around the left corner of the diaper, and tuck the remaining edge under the right side. The right hand should remain free.
5. Similarly to the left, the right handle is straightened, the right corner goes around it towards the left side, and the remaining fabric is placed behind the back.
6. The lower corner of the diaper is wrapped in a pocket formed on the stomach.

Attention! You can often find a technique for tucking the bottom corner under the legs, placing it under the baby’s back. Today, pediatricians do not recommend doing this, since this piece of tissue can create discomfort for a child lying on his back.

How to swaddle a newborn correctly: step by step in pictures?

In order to find out for yourself how to properly swaddle a newborn, you should familiarize yourself in detail with the various methods and determine which one is best suited for your baby.

Closed swaddling

The proposed sequence of actions will help you become familiar with the technique of how to swaddle a newborn baby using the closed method.

To do this, you need a vest, a hat and a rectangular diaper.

Actions:

1. Put a vest on your baby so that wrinkles do not appear on the back, otherwise they will cause discomfort to the child and he will be capricious.
2. put on the hat, then tuck the strings into the diaper
3. spread the diaper on a flat surface
4. place the baby exactly in the middle
5. fold one edge of the diaper over the opposite side of the baby and place it behind the back
6. repeat with the second side
7. wrap the remaining free bottom over the top of the baby
8. secure the edges behind the child

Closed swaddling in pictures

If you find it difficult to figure out how to swaddle a newborn, step-by-step photos will help you do all the manipulations correctly. This is far from the most difficult method, although at first all parents have difficulties - this is normal and natural.

Open swaddling

The open method is used when the child has already grown up, but you do not want to completely free him from diapers yet.

Neither parents nor doctors have yet come to a definite answer to the question of whether it is necessary to swaddle a newborn baby. Therefore, parents should carefully study all the positive and negative aspects and decide together on a decision.

a) wrap the baby first with the short edge of the diaper, and then with the long one; b) fold the bottom part and fix the corner

Unlike closed swaddling, you don’t have to use a hat, because this method is intended for the baby to spend time at home.

The actions are all absolutely similar to the previous paragraph of the article, with the only difference being that the child is placed on the diaper in such a way that its upper edge is slightly lower than the baby’s armpits.

Tight swaddling

There are fierce debates about the use of tight swaddling; only parents can decide whether it is necessary to swaddle a newborn using this method. The peculiarity of this method is that the position of the child is fixed in such a way that the baby cannot move at all. The legs are straightened, and the arms are extended evenly along the seams.

Sequencing:

1. fold the diaper into a diamond shape
2. fold the top corner inward so that the baby fits snugly on the diaper
3. position the baby so that his neck lies flat on the bent edge
4. Press the baby’s left arm to the body and wrap it tightly with a diaper, then secure the edge behind the back
5. press your right arm to your body, lift the bottom edge of the diaper and place it over your shoulder behind your back
6. Wrap the remaining free edge around the baby and tuck it into the fold formed in front.

This step-by-step video will clearly demonstrate how to swaddle a newborn.

Wide swaddling

This method is very popular due to the fact that it is a prevention of childhood hip dysplasia. This congenital pathology occurs in approximately 30 babies out of a thousand. If such a diagnosis is confirmed in the early stages, wide swaddling contributes to a positive change in the situation and thanks to it, serious complications can be avoided.

We suggest watching a video on how to properly swaddle a newborn in our article. As a treatment method, this method can be used for children, both from the first days of life and up to six months.

a) put special panties on the child and place them on the diaper; b) distribute the bottom corner of the diaper between the legs

Wide swaddling does not limit the baby's movements; the essence of this method is to fix only the baby's legs in a bent and spread position at a certain angle. There are several common methods of wide swaddling, but it is important to remember that self-medication in such a situation is not acceptable, and you should definitely consult with specialists.

Doctor Komarovsky's opinion

Popular pediatrician Komarovsky is sure that the child gets more benefit from rompers and baby vests because he adapts to the new environment faster. Having no restrictions in their movements, children try to reach the toy earlier, have the opportunity to reflexively hug their mother’s breast while sucking, and develop tactile skills.

In addition, dad can always come to mom’s aid when she lies down to rest: if the baby soils the diaper, dad can easily change it, having first removed the sliders. Men, as a rule, do not dare to touch diapers, explaining this by their inability to juggle.

Dad helps mom

Therefore, if a mother wants to have an assistant in the person of a father, she needs to make a choice in favor of children's clothing. The doctor also claims that retraining is always more difficult than teaching. If a child gets used to sleeping wrapped up, it will be more difficult for him to move from one phase of sleep to another without diapers. This is why many previously peacefully sleeping babies at 5-6 months (after weaning themselves off diapers) may stop sleeping peacefully and begin to wake up two or three times a night. Inexperienced mothers cannot always understand why the baby’s sleep is disturbed. As a result, you will visit a neurologist more than once, who will definitely find it difficult to guess the true causes of the problem.

What the newborn will wear is decided by his parents, based on their own considerations and the financial situation of the family. The imposition of rules regarding this issue by either grandmothers or maternity hospitals is unacceptable. The main thing is that mother and her baby feel comfortable.

Until how many months should a baby be swaddled?

At what age a child should be wrapped depends largely on his temperament. A mother should carefully monitor her baby’s sleep, whether he twitches his arms, whether this makes him scared and wakes up, or, on the contrary, he can sleep peacefully only when all his limbs are free.

The child must be given a chance to explore his body on his own, and the parents’ task is to look closely and listen to the signals that their child gives.

It follows from this that it is very difficult to unambiguously correctly answer the question for how long to swaddle a newborn. Some parents stop doing this after the first months of the child’s life, others can continue for over six months. Everything is very individual.

If necessary?

Until recently, the question of whether it is worth swaddling a child did not arise. Today, this topic is becoming a frequent cause for debate between specialists, generations and young mothers. A tightly wrapped baby is thought to have difficulty breathing. In addition, its legs are forcibly stretched, which can lead to various pathologies. Why do they swaddle all children in maternity hospitals? This method has undeniable advantages:

• the newborn feels calmer, since swaddling partly imitates the mother's womb;
• thermoregulation of babies is poorly developed, and in a warm diaper they do not freeze;
• the baby is fast asleep;
• diapers significantly save the family budget.

Already during pregnancy, the expectant mother is concerned about the question of how to swaddle correctly? In a hospital, a doctor can teach a young parent this, but often even a few illustrative examples are not enough to master seemingly simple manipulations. For this reason, you should learn the science of swaddling in advance.

Stages

Algorithm of action in the maternity hospital:

1. Having carefully laid out a sheet on the table, place the baby in the middle of it so that the neck touches the edge of this sheet;
2. apply the straightened left arm to the body, grab the side edge and wrap it tightly around the body (diagonally), placing the end under the back on the right;
3. We do the same with the right hand and the side end of the fabric;
4. The bottom edge looks a bit like a fishtail. It is tucked up onto the body. In this case, the legs must be connected and straightened;
5. Having tightly wrapped the lower ends of the sheet around the body, they are secured either with a safety pin or with a bow.

The “envelope” method with the head is carried out in the same way, only the fabric is laid diagonally so that the upper corner subsequently covers the baby’s face. The lower corner is placed on the legs and stomach, and the sides are wrapped around the body.

What the baby is swaddled in when leaving the maternity hospital depends on the time of year: a blanket or a light envelope. If mom is an ardent supporter of sliders, you can use them, but you must master the described technique. Swaddling helps calm a fussy baby.