About Swaddling: Swaddling your newborn baby has many benefits including making your baby feel secure, similar to being in the womb. Swaddling also helps to control the sudden arm/leg movements caused by the startle reflex. It is best to use a lightweight, single-sided, all-cotton blanket to avoid overheating your baby. Heavier fabrics, double-sided or thick blankets, and some synthetic fibers (like polyester) don’t breathe as well and may generate too much heat. Please become familiar with and follow all current SIDS recommendations when putting your baby to sleep, including:

· Place infants to sleep on their backs on a firm mattress with no other objects in the crib/bed
· Avoid overheating the baby
· Keep baby’s environment smoke/tobacco free
· Ask your pediatrician for more recommendations and resources

For this type of swaddle (sometimes called the Aussie swaddle), a single sided rectangular shaped blanket works best. This swaddling technique is more comfortable for many babies because it keeps their hands/fists up next to their face rather than straight down by their sides.

1. Lay blanket out on a flat surface lengthwise as shown. Fold down a flap of fabric at the top (about x inches) and place baby in the middle of the blanket with shoulders on the fold.
2. Place baby’s right hand under the folded flap (or you can start from the left side).
3. Keeping you baby’s hand covered with the flap (at about shoulder height), pull down the top corner of the flap and tuck under baby’s right leg.
4. Take the outer edge of this new flap of blanket and wrap it around your baby’s body and tuck under at the left side.
5. Now place baby’s opposite hand under the original flap.
6. Flip up any extra fabric at the bottom of the blanket to create a flap at the bottom.
7. Keeping you baby’s hand covered with the flap (at about shoulder height), pull down the top corner of the flap and tuck under baby’s body.
8. Take the outer edge of this new flap of blanket and wrap it around your baby’s body to create the swaddle.