Swaddled Infants Sleep Better, Safer

Lightweight wrapping helps them wake up less frequently, cuts SIDS risk, study says

By Ross Grant
HealthDayNews Reporter

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FRIDAY, Dec. 6 (HealthDayNews) -- Babies who sleep in swaddling cloths wake up less frequently and get twice as much REM sleep during a nap as those sleeping with normal blankets, says new research.

Moreover, swaddling babies appears to help them stay on their backs when they sleep, reducing the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, according to the study in the December issue of Pediatrics.

"Everybody's impression is that swaddles make babies feel safe and secure," says lead author Dr. Claudia Gerard, a clinical instructor in pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. "They slept really well. Quiet little babies sleeping."

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In the study, Gerard and other researchers evaluated 26 infants during naps lasting an hour to an hour-and-a half. Each baby was laid to sleep with a conventional blanket, and then on a separate occasion in a tight swaddle made of cotton and spandex about the thickness of a T-shirt.

As the infants slept, the team measured their rapid eye movement (REM), breathing patterns, brain waves and the number of times they were startled or woke up. When swaddled, the babies not only woke up and startled less frequently, they also fell asleep again much sooner after arousal. And the length of REM sleep during the nap doubled for the swaddled infants, from about 450 seconds to 900.

"Now we have scientific evidence to support the age-old belief that swaddled infants sleep better than unswaddled infants," says Gerard, who is also a doctor at the St. Louis Children's Hospital.

The swaddle Gerard's team developed for the trial sculpted to the infant body shape. It allowed some movement, but restrained the infants enough to keep them on their backs. That technique, as well as the light weight of the swaddle fabric, corresponds with recommendations from other studies.

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