January 4, 2015 - Learn how to swaddle

To go along with this project of preparing for having a baby, I've started reading parenting books.  There are quite a few of them.  I'm not sure if you are aware, but it appears as if people have been doing this for millennia and they have a lot of things to say on the matter.

There are hundreds upon hundreds of books and guides out there, covering every topic imaginable regarding all things baby.  It's quite daunting really, trying to figure out what books to read and what information to put in to place with my own child.  For example, Elizabeth has read that feta cheese is both good for you and bad for you during pregnancy.  As fans of Greek food, it's been a struggle.

My favorite so far has been Dad's Expecting Too by Harlan Cohen.  It's a simple, concise book that doesn't read too much like a car manual (I'm talking about you, What to Expect When You're Expecting, you boring tome of a book).   One of the other books that I have been reading is called The Happiest Baby on the Block.  Written by Dr. Harvey Karp, the book outlines how to have a happy and healthy bouncing bundle of joy.  The key, it says, lies in the so called "5 S's," which are:

Swaddle
Side/Stomach position
Swinging
Shushing
Sucking

For yesterday's adventure, I decided to tackle the first of these S's.  Swaddling keeps the baby snug and settled should they become overstimulated.  It keeps them warm, and it keeps them from being disturbed while resting.  They've spent 9 months in an itty bitty living space (kind of like the Genie), so swaddling helps them ease into a world where they are not so confined.  One of the books that I read said that you could keep a baby swaddled for upwards of 20 hours a day during the first few months and it is perfectly fine.  (If swaddling is so great, I feel like I should try it myself sometime...)

Before I could practice this art, however, I needed a baby.

Merlin thought it was a toy for him...hopefully he doesn't think the same thing in June.

A quick side note about babydolls and toys in general:

I never had babydolls growing up (odd, I know).  So it came as quite the shock to me as to how many different kinds there were.  There were dolls that you filled with hot water so it would be more realistic. There were dolls that sang. There were dolls that wet themselves, dolls that needed a band-aid, and dolls that made realistic suckling movements whenever their fake bottle or pacifier came close to their mouths (those creeped me out the most). 

I will readily admit that I still go through the toy aisle whenever I go to a Target or large department store.  I'm amazed by the toys that are available to kids these days (as I'm sure that my parents were amazed by the toys that were available to me when I was a kid).  I'm also a little worried by what I saw.

Take LEGOs, for example.  I don't remember having all of these specific sets when I was growing up.  I don't remember having all of these media tie-ins.  Yes, being able to build an authentic looking TIE-Fighter is great.  You know what's better? Building one out of mismatched pieces of varying colors. Why? Because it engaged my imagination.  I had to make believe that what I was building was capable of going after the Rebel scum bent on destroying the Empire.  It's as if by making toys so realistic and so authentic, we're putting restrictions on how they can actually be used.   Maybe I'm making a bigger deal out of this than it needs to be, but I feel like making toys so specific takes away a large part of the fun.

I digress. Back to swaddling...


Step One:

Position a baby blanket on a table, and fold the top corner down so it is diamond shaped.  Rest the neck of the baby along this top edge.

But imagine the baby has it's neck on the top edge...

Step Two:

Hold the baby's right arm to their side and fold the left side of the blanket across the baby's body. Tuck the end behind the baby's back.

So far, so good...

Step Three:

Hold the baby's left arm against their side.  Fold the bottom corner up and wrap it behind their left shoulder, making sure there is some room at the bottom for them to bend their legs.

Luckily for me, this baby's legs didn't kick around all that much.

Step Four:

The big finish! Take the right side of the blanket and wrap it snugly across the baby's body.  Tuck the leftover blanket behind the baby's head.

Ta-da!

And that's really all there is to it.  However, my concern is that this was not actually at "game speed."  What I mean is that my test subject was relatively calm and still.  It wasn't squealing a blood curdling howl, or kicking and thrashing about, or unleashing a torrent of goo from both ends.

I've just described how I think my first attempt at swaddling is going to go for realsies.