How To Swaddle A Wriggly Baby

So, most of the people who are coming across my blog are wondering how to swaddle a wriggly baby. My post on swaddling, shows you how to properly tie the blanket to get a secure swaddle, but that can be tough to do once your baby has become a more active and won't stay still long enough to complete all the folds.

First things first, people. Make sure you are pulling the swaddle tight at every fold. You want to make it tight, because a tight swaddle mimics the warmth and security a baby feels when being held and cradled by their momma and helps the baby fall asleep fast and stay asleep long. That's all we really want, isn't it? Especially, after the Momma Bootcamp that is the first 3 weeks.

The next important item on our agenda is how to get that baby to stay still long enough for you to swaddle. Well, all you need is a singing, light-up bunny rabbit. No, seriously, the answer is to distract your baby with blinking lights and a fun song while you do all the wrapping. By the time the bunny hop song is over, your baby will be swaddled nice and tight and ready for a good night's sleep or a nice long nap. Sound easy as pie? Well, it is!

We also use this technique for changing a wriggly baby's diaper or keeping a tired baby happy while we dress him after bath time. Distraction. It's where it's at.

This is Baby A with the singing bunny. By far the best distraction toy that we have. The little chicks move about and the bunny's cheeks light up and ears flap -- all while singing jailhouse rock or something. The song last about 45 seconds, which is perfect length for swaddling my little angel. My mom picked this little gem up for us at Easter time from CVS or Walgreen's. Best $14.99 spent. Ever.

As you can see from the pic, Baby A is about to get swaddled for nap here. May seem silly, but works like a charm. And isn't parenting really just about being silly and making the baby happy, anyway? At least, at first, right?

So here he is watching a you tube video of Hakuna Matata from The Lion King -- at least, I think that is what he was watching. I will be honest here, he is just mildy interested. If you really want to push a reset button, what you need is Baby Beluga. Seriously, it is like the M-80 of all baby tools. It is the Air Force One of my mommy tools handbag. I love it so much, I am going to link it at the bottom of this post, I love it that much. I may even love it more than Baby A does. True story.

Baby Beluga in all its glory!

There you have it folks, my tips for getting things done,even with a wriggly baby!
Grab your oversize swaddle blanket from Swaddle Designs.

xoxo,
Melissa