Swaddling is an ancient practice of wrapping infants in blankets or similar cloths so that movement of the limbs is tightly restricted. Swaddling bands were often used to further restrict the infant. Swaddling fell out of favour in the 17th century.
A few authors are said to be of the opinion that swaddling is becoming popular again, although medical and psychological opinion on the effects of swaddling is largely against. Some modern medical studies indicate that swaddling helps babies fall asleep and to remain asleep and helps to keep the baby in a supine position, which lowers the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). However, another study indicated that swaddling increased the risk of SIDS. Additionally, emerging evidence is showing that certain swaddling techniques may increase the risk of developmental dysplasia of the hip.
Origin and history
Several authors presume that swaddling was invented in the paleolithic period. The earliest depictions of swaddled babies are votive offerings and grave goods from Crete and Cyprus, 4000 to 4500 years old.
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.
Probably the most famous record of swaddling is found in the New Testament concerning the birth of Jesus in :
Swaddling clothes described in the Bible consisted of a cloth tied together by bandage-like strips. After an infant was born, the umbilical cord was cut and tied, and then the baby was washed, rubbed with salt and oil, and wrapped with strips of cloth. These strips kept the newborn child warm, and were thought to ensure that the child's limbs would grow straight. describes Israel as unswaddled, a metaphor for abandonment.
During Tudor times, swaddling involved wrapping the new baby in linen bands from head to foot to ensure the baby would grow up without physical deformity. 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.
The Swiss surgeon Felix Würtz (approx. 1500 to approx. 1598) was the first who criticized aspects of swaddling openly.
In the seventeenth century, the scientific opinion towards swaddling began to change. There was an association of neglect with swaddling, especially regarding wetnurses who would leave babies in their care swaddled for long periods without washing or comforting them. More than a hundred years after Würtz, physicians and philosophers from England began to openly criticize swaddling and finally demanded its complete abolishment. The British philosopher John Locke (1632–1704) rejected swaddling in his 1693 publication Some Thoughts Concerning Education, becoming a lobbyist for not binding babies at all. This thought was very controversial during the time, but slowly gained ground, first in England and later elsewhere in Western Europe.
William Cadogan (1711–1797) seems to have been the first physician, who pleaded for the complete abolition of swaddling. In his "Essay upon Nursing" of 1748, he expressed his view of contemporary child care, swaddling, the topic of too much clothing for infants and overfeeding. He wrote:
Philosophers and physicians more and more began to reject swaddling in the 18th century. Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote in his book Emile: Or, On Education in 1762:
Although this form of swaddling has fallen out of favour in the Western world, many Eastern cultures and tribal people still use it.
Modern swaddling
The swaddling clothes of medieval Madonna and Child paintings are now replaced with cotton receiving blankets, cotton muslin wraps, or specialised "winged" baby swaddles. Modern swaddling is becoming increasingly popular today as a means of settling and soothing irritable infants and helping babies sleep longer with fewer awakenings. Since the early 1990s, the medical community has recommended placing babies on their back to sleep to reduce the risk of SIDS. As studies proved swaddled babies sleep better in the back sleeping position, swaddling has become increasingly popular and recommended so parents avoid the dangerous stomach sleeping position. Swaddling also prevents newborns waking themselves with their Moro reflex.