Learn how to swaddle your baby in a way that also protects their neck!
Swaddling is a great way to soothe a newborn. Being bundled up reminds them of the warm, snug environment they recently emerged from (aka the womb) and keeps their reflexes from startling them. And can be a great way to keep your baby safe while others (often inexperienced in baby holding) hold them.
A little insight into me, one of my pet peeves is to see people holding infants haphazardly. The newborn’s head is not supported and in turn is flapping around everywhere. Ahhh!!! I know baby’s are resilient and survive through a lot… but still. A newborn’s neck is so weak!
My midwife showed me this simple, efficient way to swaddle a baby to 1) soothe & relax them and 2) support their neck. The pictures below will take you through how to swaddle a baby in 5 steps. Swaddling your little bundle of joy in this manner before letting others, especially young children, hold him/her will better protect your baby’s neck even with the most inexperienced baby holder.
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How to Swaddle your Baby… and protect their neck
Step 1: Lay a blanket flat and place your babe in the middle. His/her neck should be on the top border.
Step 2: Making sure the baby’s arm is straight at his side, take an upper corner of the blanket and bring it across the baby’s body. Then tuck it snugly underneath the baby.
Step 3: Hold baby’s free arm against body and pull the other corner across the baby’s body. Then tuck snugly underneath baby’s body.
Step 4: Take the bottom two corners of the blanket that are free in each hand, cross them, then bring them up to the baby’s head. The baby’s legs are not going to be straight but rather bunched up a little. This is a similar position to how they were inside of the womb.
Step 5: Tie a basic knot in the back of the baby’s neck, pulling securely while being mindful of baby. And there you have it!
The knot behind the baby’s head keeps the baby’s head from falling backwards as they often do. This is a great swaddle to put your baby in when letting others hold your baby. Especially for those inexperience holders, whether young or old.
This is my little toddler holding our new baby just a day old. Excuse his nakedness… he is wearing a diaper at least. My husband had picked him up from the friend’s house he had stayed at during the birth and he just had a bath. He was so anxious to meet his little brother, that there wasn’t time to put on his clothes!
Congratulations and thank you for such clear photos showing your new darling baby swaddled. Love your photo of your little son with his brand new sibling.
Joy
Thanks Joy! I LOVE swaddling my babies like this, hope you find it useful too! Thanks for stopping by!
Awesome tutorial! My daughter really loved to be swaddled but she was a ninja and always got her arms out. So we started swaddling her with her arms out and that worked great.
Thanks Tiffany! Glad you found a swaddling method that worked for your daughter!
This is a great tutorial! I have never seen the neck tie part before. So cool! I am glad to have more tutorials on swaddling that don’t bind the infants hips so tightly with their legs straight down. It’s so easy for them to get hip dysplasia from incorrect swaddling. THis is a GREAT method! Thanks for sharing at the Homestead Blog Hop this week!
Thanks Angi! I never understood why people try to straighten the baby’s legs when swaddling. Babies are used to being all bunched (like they were in the womb), why change a good thing? Thanks for stopping by!
Hey! I’m not sure how I missed this but wanted to let you know that this post was among the featured from last week’s link-up. It’ll be shared across my social media sites tomorrow.
I was away last week, so I’m sure that’s contributing to my absent-mindedness. 😉
Thanks for linking up at A Mama’s Story, and help yourself to a featured button. 🙂
Thanks Sara! I was so excited when I found out it was featured!
Thank you for such a great tutorial! We are 18 weeks pregnant with our first child, so I am gathering tips! I have always thought swaddling sounded smart. My husband is a youth minister, which means many kids wanting to hold baby Clay someday, so I am excited to know there is a safe way to handle a potentially awkward situation!
Hi Nathana! CONGRATULATIONS on the new baby bundle coming your way!!! That is so exciting! I am glad this tutorial could help out baby Clay in the future. 🙂