When we were preparing for Amelia, one of the main things that worried me was how we will know she is warm enough at night? How many layers will we put on her, and do we swaddle her or not? We read so many reviews on products and did research on what the temperature should be in the nursery and so on, but until she arrived it was hard to know what she would like.
During the few nights at the hospital we swaddled her, because that was what you do with a tiny baby. But we noticed that she would slowly push her hands out of the swaddle towards her face. We figured we were just swaddling too loose and continued to swaddle for the next couple nights.
The product we used for the first few nights at home was the SwaddleMe from Target. Instead of wrapping a blanket around her and worrying that it would come undone, the SwaddleMe made it easy. There are obvious pieces with velcro that allow the swaddle to stay in place. Although this worked great the first few nights, we still noticed those little hands making their way out of the top and Millie did not seem to sleep soundly.
The next product we tried was the Woombie. Like any new parent, we spent 
money on anything and everything that we thought would help our child sleep. Although many parents swore by this product, Millie was not a fan. The Woombie is basically a straight jacket with a zipper. It was super easy to take on and off, and seemed like a "swaddle" any other baby would like but it was just not a good fit for our Millie.
After trying those few products we decided to try the swaddle sleep sack St Mary’s sent us home with. This sleep sack is called the Halo Sleep Sack, and boy was it a God send! It’s made with a thicker fleece (and other fabrics) and has arm holes so there is an option to full swaddle or not. It has two straps that wrap around the baby’s torso but a wide area for the legs so your little one can kick those feet. The first night we put Millie in it, not only did she sleep better but we noticed she preferred to sleep with her hands above her head (hence the little hands escaping the swaddle). We still use this sleep sack and discovered that they are sold at target and come in different sizes as baby grows! This is a product I love and Millie does too.
I want to encourage you to do what is best for YOUR baby. Although swaddling is “what you do” with little babies, we very quickly discovered that Millie likes to be free from a swaddle. So trust your instinct and do what is best for your little one!
Abby is a Mom and an amazing team member of Baja Baby. She lives in Colorado with her husband Alex, their beautiful daughter Amelia Grace, baby boy Amos Lee and Maple the dog. You can find Abby on Instagram by clicking here.
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