Swaddling Simplified: Summer Infant SwaddleMe Blankets

I pride myself on being a pretty good swaddler. When I had my first child, Ella, I didn’t use the “ready-made” swaddle blankets until she was about three months old. (Honestly, I forgot that I had received some as baby shower gifts!) For those first few months, I swaddled using large muslin blankets, which were perfect for the summer. When I recently tested the Summer Infant Muslin Swaddle Blankets to swaddle my newborn son, I was reminded of my experience with Ella. They are soft and come in nice patterns for both boys and girls (or unisex).

I appreciate the DIY method, but I’m also a firm believer that the swaddle sets like Summer Infant SwaddleMe Blankets make life easier and work just as well, if not better! I love the fact that these swaddlers grow with your baby, from newborn to 12 months. As Ella got older, she didn’t want to be swaddled so tightly as she did when she was a newborn, so we used the SwaddleMe Stage 2. This allowed for her legs to move around a little more but still feel the snug comfort around her arms.

My newborn Luke was able to try the SwaddlePod, which I never used with Ella. I like the SwaddlePod’s design because there’s a way to open the pod from the bottom to change your baby’s diaper without having to take the entire swaddler off—genius! That was my biggest gripe when swaddling Ella with blankets. I had to re-do them over and over again and she would sometimes get fussy during the process. With the SwaddlePod you can avoid that issue.

If you want to use the SwaddlePod, I would use it right away after bringing your baby home from the hospital so that your baby gets used to it early on because it is VERY tight. Your baby may not like it if they’re more accustomed to a looser-fitting swaddle. Also, during some nighttime nursing sessions, Luke didn’t like wearing the SwaddlePod. I had to take him out of it before continuing, whereas when I swaddled him with a blanket I could leave that on during feedings. This might be because there’s a certain position he likes when nursing and he felt a little too constricted in the pod. He wasn’t as bothered when we gave him a bottle while wearing the pod.

I look forward to trying SwaddleMe Stage 2 and WrapSack Stage 3 with baby Luke as he gets older! You can learn more about Summer’s line of swaddling blankets at summerinfant.com/nursery/swaddling.