I never knew how many swaddle options were out there in the world until miss Oakley Bowmar was born but here we are, six swaddles later. She LOVED some and she absolutely HATED some. I was very prepared with multiple swaddles before she was born because I wasn’t sure what she was going to like and all the forums and research I read recommended different styles to ensure the best sleep as soon as possible (without waiting for different swaddles to arrive in the mail).

Before I start, I do want to note that in every ultra sound photo, Oakley had her hands by her face. She absolutely thrived with the arms up swaddle. I also know there is some conflicting research on swaddling arms down next to the body and preventing the moro reflex from occurring. That being said, swaddling is the number one way to prevent SIDS. I do feel that the arms up swaddles (if your baby likes them) is a great way to keep your baby safe while also allowing them to still have their moro reflex occur. As always, I am not a doctor and this is not medical advice. Simply sharing which swaddles worked for us the first nearly 5 months of Oakley’s life. I also would like to note that she is out of her swaddle at 19 weeks old. We started her arms out transition at week 17. We started with one arm out at a time and alternated which arm was out at nap time and night time sleep for a week. It took 10 days for her to fully transition to arms out and now she doesn’t need a swaddle. Once she is out of the SNOO, we will transition to sleep sacks

I would also like to note that we purchased all of these swaddles and will be keeping them all (even the ones she hated) as no two babies are the same. If the Lord blesses us with another baby, we will be stocked with all of the different swaddles below to determine what baby #2 likes!

Swaddles Oakley Loved

Nested Bean (middle photo, bottom swaddle)

The nested bean is the swaddle we found that Oakley preferred. It is a 2 in 1 as it is an arms up swaddle and also has zip off sleeves for the arm transition period. It also has the weighted egg on the chest to emulate your hand on baby’s chest as they fall asleep. The company also offers weighted sleep sacks, we have ordered one for when Oakley is in her crib! You could also use this as arms down with the velcro and then transition into arms up and eventually arms out with this one. This also has the two way zipper for easy diaper changes in the middle of the night.

Love to Dream (right photo)

The amount of people who have messaged me after sharing my experience with this arms up swaddle saying their babies had never slept better is mind blowing! It is much thinner than the nested bean and doesn’t have the weighted egg but we used it a lot during the summer! This also has the two way zipper for easy diaper changes in the middle of the night. They also offer a zip off transition swaddle but we did not purchase one.

Happiest Baby (middle photo, top wrap)

The happiest baby SNOO swaddle attachment has been such peace of mind for us as it prevents baby from rolling over before they are ready and helps to reduce SIDS. I do not think it would work in any other bassinet but I could be wrong and I encourage you to do your own research. This also has the two way zipper for easy diaper changes in the middle of the night. This is not your typical swaddle as it has the safety wing clips attached to the sides of the swaddle and the idea is to prevent premature rolling over!

Swaddles Oakley Hated

Woombie

The woombie swaddle is a combination of the swaddle me and the love two dream. It is an arms down swaddle but it has zippers. Baby’s arms are free inside the containment of the swaddle and the two zipper system makes diaper changing extremely easy!

Swaddle Me (left photo)

The first few days in the hospital, Oakley loved the swaddle me swaddle. The day we were leaving the hospital, we started noticing she was breaking free of the swaddle and bringing her hands to her face. As soon as she did that, she was sleeping much better. It was then we started using the arms up swaddle and never looked back. This was a very easy swaddle to use and did not require a ton of wrapping. I personally was not a fan of using a blanket to swaddle as it could create loose bedding in the bassinet and loose bedding is the number one red flag for unsafe sleep. If we were to use an arms down swaddle, it would be this one!

Ollie

The Ollie came highly recommended as well and is a great transitional swaddle sack. It can be used both arms down, one arm down, and both arms out. No zippers so diaper changes at night would be more challenging but it does have a lot of tutorials online!

Swaddle Not Used

Magic Merlin

The magic merlin was highly recommend on many different forums and messages I received on social media. We have one that has never been opened. At Oakley’s 4 month doctor appointment I asked about using it and she said that less steps we take in between her current arms up swaddle and fully arms out, the better. Using the magic merlin would create another step and another thing we would need to ween her from. I think baby’s transitioning from arms down swaddle to the magic merlin to arms out would be the best bet for the use of this product!

 

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