Review: I tried 12 different swaddles to get (my baby) some sleep, and here’s my take.
If you’re reading this, there’s a high chance you’re a sleep deprived parent, frantically googling while your little one takes a (short) nap, in hopes of finding that one swaddle that will help your baby sleep longer. That was me 5 months ago. (If you need that sleep and just want to read the reviews on swaddles and catch up on some sleep, jump to the next section.)
Since then, I’ve tried about 12 different swaddles from across the world - from the US, Australia, Korea... you name it (I’m Korean, living in Singapore). I went through reddit post after reddit post, Korean blogs after blogs, after he woke up every night escaping the swaddle. I’ve shamelessly spent around $1,000 on swaddles alone. So, how is his sleep now? Well, my LO has been sleeping through the night (STTN) since Day 90, naps around 1.5 - 2 hours every nap, by himself, in his crib. And no, he no longer uses a swaddle.
Unfortunately, I don’t precisely know why he started sleeping so well. But I do know that I successfully eliminated the ‘Is it the swaddle?!’ factor from his successful-sleep-formula.
So, if you’re that parent that’s struggling to find that right swaddle, below is my personal review of every single swaddle I tried. Disclaimer - I am not a professional in childcare. Please remember that every baby is different; what worked for my LO may not work for your LO. And that is why I start with what kind of sleeping habits my baby has.
LO’s Sleeping Character
Very strong Moro reflex. Startles himself quite often - this went on until about Month 4
Very strong willpower (read: stubborn) and incredibly strong strength (Loves tummy time since he was born)
Hates swaddling and manages to escape even the tightest of tightest swaddles. Sometimes even pooped while straining to escape the swaddle
However, when not swaddled, flails arms and legs non-stop, smacking himself awake. And proceeds to cry.
Here’s why this type of baby will sleep better with a swaddle
Swaddles Review in chronological order of use. Stars are given based how well LO slept
Traditional blanket swaddle ★★ (We used ones from Bluedog and Mothercare.sg)
What: Traditional blanket swaddles that come in squares/triangles and you wrap the baby in it yourself
Pros: Adjustable to the size of the baby, generally breathable and loose
Cons: Only your nurses and nannies can tie up a baby in a non-escapable blanket swaddle. Trust me, I’ve tried.
Verdict
It only worked for our LO up till 1-2 weeks, when he was more ‘calm’. Once he had some strength, blanket type of swaddles were unravelled within minutes of him sleeping. It could work for calm babies whose arms don’t flail much and don’t require much restriction
Konny pouch (Korean) ★★★
What: A pouch/pocket type of swaddle you pop your baby into
Pros: Relatively easy to put on- You roll up the pouch over your baby and you’re done. Extra points for having a diaper pocket below, which you can open up for diaper checks/changes without taking off the waddle. Smooth and light material.
Cons: The top banding across the chest isn’t super tight, so baby’s arms/hands will definitely escape
Verdict: If your baby doesn’t need their arm tucked in while sleeping (no flailing), this might work, since it’s quite snug around the chest area. But it won’t work if you need the baby’s arm tucked in - it will most definitely wriggle out
What: A zip-up sleepsuit that looks like a pouch/bag
Pros: Super easy to put on. Has several TOGs so you can choose the right one for your climate
Cons: It might be the sizing, but it wasn’t snug enough for us to provide the ‘swaddle’ function of keeping them snug.
Verdict: Sadly, it just didn’t do much for us.
Love To Dream Swaddle up / Transition suit ★★★★
What: An arms-up position zip-up swaddle, intended for babies that prefer to sleep with their arms up in a hurray-position.
Pros:
Super easy to put on (zip up) and comes with several TOGs so you can choose the right TOG for your climate.
They have a transition suit once your baby is bigger which means you can take off each sleeve and transition babies out of sleeve swaddles
Cons:
Since the arms are not restricted next to their body, babies can still smack their face with their arms - but at least it’s a ‘lighter’ smack than when their arms are roaming free.
Personally didn’t love the aesthetics of the swaddle. Also, the lightweight TOG always seems to be out of stock everywhere!
Verdict: YES, it worked.
Right Sizing - It only started working for us when we used the right sizing - so make sure it’s very snug around the baby’s chest area. When we used a size that was too big for our LO, it didn’t work. So make sure to use the right size.
Great for Transitions - Around month 2-3, our LO learned to suck on his hands for self soothing, which means he’d suck on the sleeves of the swaddle. That’s when we changed him into the transition suit. We went with first taking one sleeve off for his naps. Once he adjusted, we removed both sleeves off for his naps, and one sleeve off for his night sleep. Then both sleeves off for both nap and night sleeps. And now he sleeps without any swaddle, just in his PJs! Miracle.
Elava strap (Korean) ★
What: A strap-like swaddle that goes around the baby, with small pockets to put their arms in. Has both velcro/zip. Mine came with a removable millet pouch to create a bit of ‘pressure’ on their chest (This comes from an Asian tradition of using chest pillows filled with beans/millets/grains).
Verdict: Didn’t work - The strap wasn’t strong enough; my LO removed his arms in seconds, no matter how tightly we strapped him! Was a waste of money for us
Malang honey strap (Korean) ★★
What: A velcro strap that goes around baby’s chest.
Verdict: Worked for a short while - Only in the beginning when LO wasn’t strong, but he quickly learned how to wriggle his arms out.
Ricotype swaddle (Korean) ★
What: A body suit like swaddle in an arms up position
Verdict: Didn’t work - Was too lose for arms and body, so it didn’t function as a ‘swaddle’ at all. Looks cute though!
Miracle blanket ★★★★★
What: A layered blanket swaddle wrap where you tuck baby’s arms in the first layer, before wrapping their body in the outer layer
Pros: Extremely difficult for your babies escape, so definitely a winner for those wriggly babies! My LO only managed to escape it once, which is astonishing.
Cons:
Setup: Not easy to put on. Especially if you have a crying baby who doesn’t want to be swaddled. Over time, you get better at it, so don’t give up if you’re trying this swaddle for the first time. Make sure you read the instructions correctly and set it up right, otherwise it won’t work.
Material: The material is quite thick. Since we live in Singapore which is summer all year around, we set the AC temperature to 23℃ for bed time.
Verdict: YES, it worked. The first night we used this, which was at 5-6 weeks - he slept 8 hours straight. This was after weeks of unstable night sleep due to swaddle-escaping problems! I bought another miracle blanket after the first night of use, and we continued to use it until he started to roll over. Highly recommended. But as mentioned above, it’s not easy to swaddle them in and the material is quite thick, so we only used it for night sleep.
Merlin’s magic sleep suit ★★★★★
What: A very thick and bouncy spacesuit-looking suit that kind of slows down your baby’s movement
Pros: It’s not as ‘restrictive’ as usual swaddles, since you’re not strapping them in, but it still helps babies feel snug
Cons: Super thick material - the recommended sleeping condition is below 21℃ which personally felt too cold for babies (However, it is in fact recommended for babies to sleep within 15℃ to 20℃. But to me, this feels like an igloo!)
Verdict: YES, it worked. He slept through the night with this suit - 8-9 hours, and the bonus is that they look extremely cute in this suit. However, we ended up using it only for a few days because we temporarily moved to a hot environment and couldn’t keep his sleeping environment to the recommended temperature. If I lived in a cooler environment, yes, I would have used this suit 100%! Highly recommended.
Mummy Cool Cool blanket (Korean) ★★★★
What: A thin blanket that has weighted edges to keep baby’s chest area snug
Pros: Since it’s a blanket, no need to put it on before they fall asleep like normal swaddles. Just pop it over once they’re sleeping!
Cons: Goes against safe sleeping guidelines. Hence, we only used it during naps when we could monitor him, and we stopped using it once he showed signs of rolling over. The brand does promote that it’s safe since you can strap their legs into the blanket loops once they are asleep, but who dares risk waking a sleeping baby! (not me)
Verdict: His naps definitely lengthened to 2-3 hours using this blanket. I could see why it’s very popular in Korea, which is also a country that has all sorts of sleep-aiding items that do not necessarily adhere to safe-sleeping guidelines.
Concluding: What worked for us
If I had to choose the top 3 that really helped our baby’s sleeping journey - it’d be Love To Dream swaddles, Miracle blanket, and Mummy Cool Cool. Merlin’s magic sleep suit is probably also great - but we didn’t use it much due to the climate. Generally, I’d recommend Love To Dream for naps, with Mummy Cool Cool as a blanket if you can monitor them. Then at night, use Miracle blanketfor that extra snugness and no unraveling! Again, every baby is so different and I know plenty of friend’s babies who didn’t have any trouble with swaddles much. And if you’re one of them…you’re blessed.
Ending this post with a photo of our LO in happily napping away in Love-To-Dream swaddle and Mummy Cool Cool blanket.
