Ode to the Swaddle

(Remember these days?)

posted by Stace

Oh, the swaddle was a wonderful thing. It is still, only Henry won’t fit into one anymore unless we use a throw or a sheet. But there once was a time, not that long ago, when we would wrap him up like a burrito, as his daddy would say, or in a cocoon, as his mama would say, in a fabulous stretchy light blue blanket made just for swaddling, or we would go for the second best blankie we had in the house – a blue and white gingham cotton one that felt slightly “grabby” – also ideal for swaddling.

Before Henry was born, I read the book, The Happiest Baby on The Block, by Dr. Harvey Karp, M.D., and it resonated with me as I instructed – in full detail and diagrams – Kevin on the appropriate ways to swaddle and engage in the “5 S’s”, swaddling being one. I know that each parent loves the book that guided them to do the one thing that worked for them in the end – and for me, that was this book. I believed in this book from the get-go and by golly, I was going to follow it hook, line, and sinker. I did. So did Kevin.

And our child loved the swaddle.

He loved it. Even near the end when he would push an arm out, he still seemed truly comfortable and confident only when he was snugly wrapped, and that was when he would fall off to sleep the quickest. And, while it may shock some to know this, we could even lay him down in the bassinet – the wide, open, spacious bassinet - without his already being asleep and he would drift off easily. When he was swaddled. God love the Swaddle, the Swaddled, and the Swaddlers.

Then he grew out of it.

And all of a sudden he had nowhere to place his arms. His hands, feet and legs were running amuck. He was utterly unruly. What to do but call the people who recommended the book to me in the first place. And Rachel and Lisa sympathized. Alas, eventually the child outgrows the swaddle and learns to deal with the wide open spaces of life.

Well, it seems like quite a feat for a small child, and it’s not a blast for the parent who suddenly finds that bed/nap time is a big frigging deal – but it is what it is. Having spent the last 2 hours cuddling, coddling, and cooing over a cranky, sleepy kid thrashing around in my arms, however, certainly makes me remember fondly the good old days of cocooning my child, kissing his forehead, and laying the bundle down, slowly slipping out of the room as he gently sucks on his Nuk.