Swaddling

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Ambrogio Lorenzetti's Madonna and Child (1319) depicts swaddling bands.

Swaddling is an age-old practice of wrapping infants snugly in swaddling cloths, blankets or similar cloth so that movement of the limbs is tightly restricted. Swaddling bands were often used to further restrict the infant. It was commonly believed that this was essential for the infants to develop proper posture.

Swaddling fell out of favour in the seventeenth century. It has become popular again as modern medical studies indicate that swaddling assists babies to sleep, and to remain asleep; and that it lowers the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (cot, or crib death).

Origin and history

Mothers have swaddled their babies throughout history. Archaeological records suggest that swaddling first developed around 4000 B.C. in Central Asia with use of the back-pack cradle board by migrating peoples. As desertification progressed, migration from region to region became a relatively permanent way of life. Swaddling subsequently became an institutionalized part of child-rearing tradition in those same areas.^[1]

Native American baby of the Nez Perce tribe, photographed by Edward S. Curtis, 1911

Votive statuettes have been found in the tombs of Ancient Greek and Roman women who died in childbirth, displaying babies in swaddling clothes. In shrines dedicated to Amphiaraus, models representing babies wrapped in swaddling clothes have been excavated. Apparently, these were frequently given as thank-offerings by anxious mothers when their infants had recovered from sickness.^[2]

Probably the most famous record of swaddling is found in the New Testament concerning the birth of Jesus:

The oriental swaddling clothes consisted of a square of cloth and two or more bandages. The child was laid on the cloth diagonally and the corners are folded over the feet and body and under the head, the bandages then being tied so as to hold the cloth in position. This device formed the clothing of the child until it is about a year old, and its omission (Ezekiel 16:4) would be a token that the child had been abandoned.^[3]

The Cholmondeley sisters and their swaddled babies. c.1600-1610

Over time swaddling clothes became more elaborate, especially for the wealthy. During Tudor times, there were several different clothes needed to wrap a baby. In the case of the children of James III of Scotland, the children wore several caps, a shirt, a square band "bed", which bound from the breast to the feet and up again, a long band of swaddling clothes (roller), a tube waistcoat that bound the arms and roller and a blanket.^{[citation needed]} A stay band would be attached to the forehead and the shoulders to secure the head. Babies would be swaddled like this until about 8 or 9 months.^[4]

In the seventeenth century the opinion towards swaddling began to change. There was an association of neglect with swaddling, especially in regard to wetnurses who would leave babies in their care, swaddled for long periods without washing or comforting them.^[5] John Locke, in his 1693 publication Some Thoughts Concerning Education, became a lobbyist for not bounding babies at all. This thought was very controversial during the time, but slowly gained ground, first in England and later elsewhere in Europe.

For instance Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote in his book Emile: Or, On Education, 1762:

Although this form of swaddling has fallen out of favour in the Western world, many Eastern cultures and tribal people still use it. Some researchers have been shocked that the practice continues today.^[6]

Modern swaddling

A modern application of swaddling

A modified form of swaddling is becoming increasingly popular today as a means of settling and soothing irritable infants.^[7] The lengthy swaddling cloths of mediaeval Madonna and Child paintings are now replaced with receiving blankets, muslin wraps, specialised 'winged' baby swaddles, or flannelette sheets. The confinement does carry a risk of the baby overheating if the swaddling material is too thick, or the room is too warm.^[7] Today, many midwives swaddle infants soon after birth and it is now a standard newborn care practice in many hospitals.^{[citation needed]} Swaddling also prevents newborns waking themselves with their startle reflex.

An example of how to swaddle an infant on Wikimedia Commons.

Looser wrappings, tucked but not tied, can generally be kicked off by a wakeful baby. They are still useful for keeping the baby warm, without increasing the SIDS risk, because the wrappings stay well clear of the baby's face and airway. This assumes that the baby is put to sleep on its back, as anti-SIDS precautions recommend. By the time the baby is learning to roll over, often around 6 months, it should be sleeping in less restrictive coverings - so it has more freedom to respond when it succeeds in rolling over.

Modern specialized baby swaddles are designed to make it easier to swaddle a baby than with traditional square sheets or blankets. They are typically fabric blankets in a triangle, 'T' or 'Y' shape, with 'wings' that fold around the baby's torso or down over the baby's shoulders and around underneath the infant. Some of these products employ Velcro patches or other fasteners. Fabrics used include synthetic 'fleece', cotton, organic cotton, and cotton/synthetic blends. A Spandex/cotton fabric is widely used, which provides more stretch than cotton alone. The synthetic content of the fabric is not always required to be disclosed.

Baby swaddles made of merino wool reduce the risk of the baby overheating compared to other fabrics, and the baby's ability to move its limbs while swaddled due to the natural stretch of the merino fabric.^{[citation needed]}

Medical studies

Medical studies show that swaddling reduces arousal, or the tendency for the baby to awaken through reflex motion;^[8] that it can enhance neuromuscular development of the very low birth weight infant; and that it might have a role in lowering SIDS risk ^[9][10] Research has also found that swaddling helps infants stay in REM sleep longer.^[11] However, an observational study published in the British Medical Journal noted that one fourth of the infants who died of SIDS were swaddled. ^[12]

Some researchers, such as Dr Buteyko, see swaddling as a necessary transition from womb to the new environment. During the 9 months in the womb, the embryo lives in an environment which has 3 times less oxygen and 1.5 times more carbon dioxide compared to what adults breathe. This supports the Law of Gekkel-Severstev that states that the embryo, in its development, repeats the phylogenies.^{[citation needed]} After birth, during the very first breaths of the baby, there is a sudden increase in blood oxygenation an a sudden drop in carbon dioxide. Dr Buteyko states that swaddling enables the baby to gradually adapt to its new environment. A lack of swaddling would enable the baby to over breath, resulting in health abnormalities.^[13]

Alternative views come from psychologist Arthur Janov, author of The Primal Scream (1970), who claims that swaddling has profound negative effects on the adult emotional health of a swaddled child,^[14] though he does not offer a neurophysiological mechanism by which this might take place in humans.^[15] Moreover, Janov's "primal therapy" techniques have never achieved acceptance among mainstream psychotherapists.

See also

• Infant's binder
• Psychohistory

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Swaddling

• The easiest way to swaddle your baby, including videos and diagrams
• Swaddling Your Baby, University of Florida/IFAS Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences
• 18th Century Baby Swaddling Photo Series, Sharon Ann Burnston
• Swaddling band in The V&A Museum of Childhood
• Terracotta of swaddled infant in Royal Museum of Art and History, Brussels
• Swadding Video.Help your baby to sleep.