How to Make a Baby Burrito

To all of my friends - old and new - who are having babies, I wanted to share a bit of wisdom I learned that has been a huge help in helping our new babies to adjust to this new world. There are few things more stressfull than a crying baby that you can't seem to soothe.

A little back ground, first. For 9 months, a baby is warm, snuggled tighted, constantly rocked with it's mother's motions, and his ears are filled with the loud swishes and gurgles of mom's heart beat, blood flow, etc. (think of what you hear when you listen thru a stethescope). Then, the baby is born, no longer tightly enveloped, bright lights, and loud noises (not the calming white noise he was accustomed to). Our jobs as parents is to help this adjustment be a bit easier, and swaddling, white noise and jiggling are a few ways to do this.

The 1st thing is called "swaddling". I didn't know how to effectively swaddle a baby until I was taught and I'm assuming I'm not the only one in my generation who was never taught how to do this!It helps the baby feel secure, like he's being hugged - and, more important for the parents, it will help him sleep better! :)

MATERIALS:

1 - baby

1 - blanket (square work the best)

1 - flat surface

STEP 1:

Lay out blanket diagonally and fold down the top corner.

STEP 2 :

Place baby on the blanket whith his neck right on the fold. (Make sure the fold is not above his shoulders. This would put the blanket right at his mouth, which will tease his rooting reflex and make him want to eat!)

STEP 3:

Tuck the baby's arm slightly under his back and hold it there, being sure the blanket is pulled taught under the baby, with no wrinkles.

STEP 4:

Tuck the corner TIGHTLY under the baby's back. She should not be able to pull her arm away from her side. Otherwise, the baby will break out of the swaddle. (You are more likely to not pull it tight enough than to pull it too tight! Once your wrap is done, if you want to be sure it isn't too tight, just be sure you can slip you hand between your baby's chest and the blanket. If the baby keeps breaking out of the swaddle, you aren't pulling it tight enough!)

STEP 5:

Pull the bottom corner up to fold in the feet. In smaller babies, you can tuck the corner in underneath the baby's chin. This step can be skipped if you are going to place the baby in a carseat where you have to place a strap between his legs.

STEP 6:

Tuck the baby's other arm slightly under his side and hold it there. Pull the remaining corner TIGHTLY across the baby's chest and pull it around to the back, again being sure there are no wrinkles and he can't pull his arm out.

And now you have... a baby burrito!

Another helpful hint: White noise - LOUD white noise - is very helpful in getting a baby to calm down and sleep. You can get loud white noise a number of ways. We use our furnace, and also an alarm clock that plays "nature" sounds. Morgan really likes the "waterfall" setting. We put it on full blast and he sleeps so well! Nothing to make white noise for you? A strong "SSSHHHHH" works just as well.

You can also set a radio or TV to "snow" and turn it up. We have a baby toy that plays a water sound, and it works OK, but it isn't loud enough to be as effective as the other things we've tried. Babies do fine with loud noises. While in the womb, the sounds he heard 24 hours a day were about the equivalent of a vacuum cleaner. This is why an infant can sleep thru his mom vacuuming the house (I've tried it many times!).

One more tip! Jiggle your baby, not hard of course, but jiggle her so her little head waves a bit like jello. Sounds crazy, but it helps to calm a baby. Firmly pat the baby's butt, and see her body slowly relax.

(I got all of these tips from the book 'The Happiest Baby on the Block'.)