Swaddles are the perfect way to give your baby the comfort of a womb even though they no longer are inside of their cozy womb. They are known to help an infant feel safe, secure, and sleep better.
However, not all swaddles are created equally. One of the most popular swaddle products on the market is the Love To Dream Swaddle.
This swaddle is known for giving babies more room to move their arms while providing the security that every other swaddle on the market does.
In this article
Why Is It Important To Swaddle Babies?
Before an infant comes home from the hospital, the parents are taught how to properly swaddle their baby. We’re told that it’s important to swaddle them nice and snug, especially before going to bed. Why is swaddling so important?
Swaddling Makes A Baby Feel Secure
When you swaddle a baby, it makes them feel safe. They go from a nice, small womb that gives them all of the security that they need into our world.
It’s full of bright lights, noises and the closeness that they are used to is gone. An infant feels secure when we hold them, but we can’t hold a baby all day every day.
Even if we were supposed to hold them while they’re sleeping, we need to sleep sometime too!
That’s where swaddling comes in. The fabric feeling snug around a baby’s middle helps give them the same safe feeling that they had in the womb. Because of this, most babies prefer being swaddled a bit more tightly after they are born.
Swaddling Helps Prevent The Startle Reflex
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The Moro reflex, which is also called the startle reflex, is when babies fling their arms out because something has scared them.
When it happens in their sleep, they will scare themselves awake. If a baby is startled during the day, they will need someone to soothe them to help them calm down.
Swaddling helps prevent this in a number of ways. First, it limits movement. Babies that can’t move their arms all the way out because they are startled wind up being startled less.
Second, it instantly helps soothe them. When an infant feels snug, it is as soothing as being in the womb is to a baby. Last, because an infant is already in a soothing environment thanks to being swaddled, they will not get as scared.
This is why swaddling can help your baby sleep through the night. The infant will wake themselves up periodically through the night due to the startle reflex.
When they are swaddled in a swaddle that they cannot get out of, it helps eliminate this. Once the startle reflex is eliminated, or at least under control, your little one will not wake up as often.
The Arms Don’t Have To Be Swaddled
While most doctors recommend that you swaddle a baby with the arms at their sides or against their chest to prevent the Moro reflex from waking them up, this isn’t always going to work.
Some babies prefer to sleep with their arms up by their head. When a swaddle, like the Love To Dream Swaddle, allows for more arm movement, babies can sleep like this.
The limited arm movement still helps prevent the Moro reflex from waking up your baby, though. This is where swaddle products truly outshine using receiving blankets.
Love To Dream Swaddle
- When your baby shows signs of rolling over, it’s very important for safety reasons to transition them out of being swaddled. Their hands need to be free to reposition themselves when they roll over so they can push up off the mattress.
- Most babies really love being swaddled, so transitioning them out of swaddling is usually a real challenge as it is a change to their sleep routine.
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The Love To Dream swaddle is available in a variety of sizes and colors so you can find the perfect one to fit your little one.
The one thing that I love about this swaddle, and the number one reason we used it with the grandbaby, is that there is extra space at the top for a little one to sleep with their arms in the air.
There are quite a few other things that are pretty convenient about the Love to Dream Swaddle, too.
Ample Space For Arm Movement
One of the main problems with swaddling the grandbaby was that he preferred to have his arms free. We could swaddle him and he would wrestle his arms free in a few minutes.
Then, he would become frustrated because he still wanted his bottom half swaddled comfortably. His mother was the same way. In fact, this is pretty common with a lot of newborns.
The extra space helps your baby stay swaddled throughout the night while still giving them plenty of room to move their arms. They can sleep with their arms above their heads.
Babies that want to be able to suck their thumbs or on their hands in the middle of the night can still do that. There is enough fabric that they can lift their hands to their mouths, and suck their thumb through the fabric.
No Flame Retardants Are Used In The Fabric
As more time goes on, more companies are putting chemicals in almost everything, including the fabric of our baby’s clothing. The most popular chemicals that are used are flame retardants.
However, this isn’t particularly necessary. Even if your little one was in a fire, this would not save them. Most of us are safe enough that this simply isn’t necessary. It’s nice to know that there aren’t unnecessary chemicals in this sleep sack.
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Made From Thinner Fabric
This is both a good thing and a bad thing. It’s not ideal for keeping your little one toasty warm in the winter. However, if you dress your baby under the swaddle, it’s the perfect temperature.
It’s also a great swaddle for months other than winter. I liked that it was made from thinner fabric because the baby used to get so hot in other swaddles.
Stretchy Material Gives Room For Growth
The stretchy material gives your baby a little bit of room to grow. Not only does it make sure that they aren’t going to outgrow the swaddle a pound later, but it makes sure that the middle of the swaddle fits them snugly so that they feel secure.
No Velcro
This is one of the best things about the Love To Dream Swaddle. If you use a swaddle that you have to Velcro around the middle, you have to undo the Velcro and re-do it to make the swaddle fit them perfectly.
Every time you pull apart the Velcro, you will then startle your baby awake. After so many times of doing this, you’ll wind up throwing the swaddle in the trash just like I did.
The Zipper Makes Diaper Changes Easier
Most sleep sacks do come with a zipper at the bottom, so this doesn’t make the Love To Dream Swaddle stand out a lot from others, but it does stand out from the ones that do not have a zipper.
The zipper can be zipped either from the bottom to the top for diaper changes, or from the top to the bottom for when you are getting them ready for bed.
Instead of getting your little one out of their sleep sack, changing them, and putting them back, you can simply unzip them, change them, and then re-zip the zipper.
Parenting is hard enough. Changing diapers in the middle of the night should be convenient, and swaddles like this make it more convenient than ever before.
It Still Helps With The Startle Reflex
One of the reasons why we are all encouraged to swaddle our babies is to help them sleep better. In between sleep cycles, it’s really common for babies to startle themselves awake.
Then, they are scared, cry, and need us to soothe them back to sleep. Not swaddling a baby means less sleep, but using a swaddle that is too loose means that it won’t help with the startle reflex.
This swaddle provides a little bit of extra fabric in the perfect areas while still helping with the startle reflex.
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Safer Swaddling Than Using Blankets
Receiving blankets works when you first bring the baby home, but it doesn’t take babies long to start wiggling out of those blankets. This can be dangerous for babies.
They can pull the blankets up over their face or wind up with a loose blanket in their crib. Both of these situations can be dangerous for babies.
When you use a sleep sack like the Love to Dream Swaddle, you don’t have to worry about something happening to your little one.
Disadvantages Of The Love To Dream Swaddle
While I was a huge fan of this swaddle, it won’t work well for every baby. There are a few downsides and a few things that we encountered, that you’ll need to consider before clicking the buy now button.
Vomit Gets All Over Their Hands And Arms
If you have a baby that throws up a lot due to reflux or another condition, this might not be the ideal swaddle for your little one.
When they turn their head to throw up, it is going to get all over their arms and hands if they are beside their head.
Clean up is going to mean spending a lot more time cleaning up the vomit, changing the swaddle, and possibly during in the middle of the night bath.
When your little one throws up while wearing a different swaddle, clean up is easier. You simply change the sheet, wipe their mouth and you’re done. That’s definitely easier to deal with when you have to clean up puke every few hours due to reflux.
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Babies Will Move Their Arms In The Middle Of Breastfeeding
When you’re first learning how to breastfeed, it’s a bit easier if your baby is in a tiny little football shape and barely moves.
When they are swaddled in a product like this one, they have plenty of room to move, and they will. It can be a bit more difficult to breastfeed when your infant is flailing their arms.
The Price Is A Bit High
When you compare the cost of this swaddle to other products, it’s a bit high. Some of them cost almost thirty bucks. However, those extra few hours of sleep might be well worth it to you!
Babies Have To Suckle Their Hands Through Fabric
Some babies don’t mind this, but others will continue to wiggle and fuss until they can finally get their hands to their mouths.
Unfortunately, it can be hard to tell whether your baby will mind until after you already have the swaddle. Keep in mind that if this one doesn’t work for your baby, the return process is easy.
The Sizing Is Off
If your baby is ten pounds, it’s a bit hit or miss as to whether a small is going to fit them. If they’re cutting it close, it’s best to order the next size up to make sure that it fits them properly.
This is one of the few things that you’ll see over and over again among customer complaints when it comes to the Love to Dream Swaddle.
In Conclusion
The Love to Dream Swaddle worked out wonderfully for our baby, but it might not work as well for yours. Consider the pros and cons of the Love to Dream Swaddle to decide if it’s worth the price to you.
