Swaddle, Coddle and Model Good Parenting

Post Author: Lisa Willliams

Hood River, Oregon — Registered nurse Kim Stolte wants everyone'snewborn to sleep longer and make parenting a little bit easier.

As a veteran teacher of childbirth classes, she figured out an easyway to improve the odds: a newborn swaddling blanket that stays closed,keeps babies secure, supports their heads and lets parents get morehours of sleep.

Her invention, the velcro-closure "Swaddlekeeper" blanket, is thewinner of an iParenting Media Award for being one of the best newproducts of 2007.

"Newborns are often easily awakened because they miss the securityof being inside the womb," says Stolte, who was featured on severalPortland television news programs. "One way to replicate the securityof the womb is to keep them tightly swaddled."

Newspaper articles from Oregon, Alabama & Pennsylvania quote themany benefits of the Swaddlekeeper, one being that it keeps newborns inthe "back to sleep" position recommended to reduce the risk of SuddenInfant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

The Swaddlekeeper was designed by Stolte, a labor and delivery nurseat Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital. While teaching parents howto swaddle with a traditional blanket in childbirth class, she knewthere had to be an easier way for parents.

"The goal for the Swaddlekeeper is to make swaddling simple," Stoltesaid. "There is no complicated folding, tucking, wrapping or hugequantities of fabric to arrange,” she said.

With all the many essential parenting tasks during the first fewweeks home with a new baby — feeding, bathing, diapering, combined withless sleep for the parents — "it's no wonder that new parents are oftenoverwhelmed with trying to learn the complexities of perfectswaddling," Stolte added.

In addition, the product is designed so that a newborn wrapped in aSwaddlekeeper has a built-in head support that makes holding the babyeasy for parents, siblings and grandparents.

Other unique features include the V-shaped leg opening, designed toallow the newborn's legs to kick and stretch for proper hip and legdevelopment. Parents have since pointed out that they like the legopening because it allows for for easier diaper changes while the armsare still swaddled.

Parents Rachel and Troy of Southington, Conn., said they tried out alot of swaddling products for their new twins, Matthew and Madeline,but "none seemed to work for our babies," Rachel says.

"We received the Swaddlekeeper as a gift, and we immediately saw adifference in how our babies slept," she adds. "Now that they are 3months old, we still use the Swaddlekeeper, and they continue to besolid sleepers, and much happier babies during the day."

Other customers say the head support makes their newborns easy"packages" for family members to hold and not worry about giving enoughsupport. "During the first few weeks, our son was a bit fussy whilelearning to breastfeed," said parents Jon and Jade of Hood River. "TheSwaddlekeeper blanket made us feel like we could handle him with moreconfidence."

Stolte notes that the Swaddlekeeper is typically used over the topof a baby's receiving blanket. The Swaddlekeeper is made from a varietyof fabrics with the head support being 100 percent organic quilters'batting and fits babies up to 20 pounds. The blanket is all one-pieceand is machine washable and made in the USA.

Stolte offers many tips for helping newborns become solid sleeperson her website, www.swaddlekeeper.com. For example, if your babyexhibits any signs of being tired, such as yawning, wiggling or makingfists, immediately swaddle the baby and put him or her to bed.

"The quicker your baby is put into bed after showing a tired sign,the quicker she will settle," Stolte says. "An over-tired baby will cryharder and take much longer to settle down."

Another customer, Kristen of Hood River, said her daughter Kate had been waking up every two to four hours during the night.

"The first night with the Swaddlekeeper she slept nine hoursstraight through," she said. "We love the Swaddlekeeper – thank you!"

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