Swaddling is huge in the newborn photography world! If you are having a hard time soothing a newborn a little swaddling can go a long way. I must admit that my swaddling leaves a lot to be desired but I usually make it work :). This post is more directed at long term swaddling by parents versus very temporary swaddling done by photographers.
As many of you know my daughter just turned two on March 7th (tear!). When she was born I we swaddled a lot because she really enjoyed the feeling of being so secure, as most newborns do. After a short time I came across an article that basically said that all swaddling was bad and that it would cause hip problems. As a new parent who was easily afraid of ruining her new little baby and was without a lot of time to research I decided that we would give up swaddling. I later found out that the truth of the matter is that some forms of swaddling can hurt your baby's hips but it doesn't have to be all or nothing. There are ways to swaddle your newborn/baby in a hip friendly way. Here is a video from the International Hip Dysplasia Institute that gives good alternatives that allow for healthy hip development.
Hips have become an extremely important part of my life! Normally Hip Dysplasia is diagnosed immediately after birth but in our case we found out that Zoe had Hip Dysplasia at her 4 month appointment. By that time she had already grown out of the easier treatment options and we pretty much had to move immediately into her wearing a brace full time. The brace held her feet in the splits position 24/7. We weren't even allowed to take it off to do baths so she had sponge baths only for months. Most cases of Hip Dysplasia are pretty easily treated but in Zoe's situation that hasn't been the case. We just had a hip appointment yesterday (at 2 years old) where we were told that although it looks like they might be getting slightly better surgery is still a future possibility. I highly doubt that Zoe's hip issues stemmed from swaddling since we didn't do it for long but if there's a way to protect baby #2 from the hip issues that Zoe has had you can bet that I will be taking every precaution necessary to prevent that. Although there are many things worse than Hip Dysplasia it was still something that has been hard for my little family to deal with. From numerous appointments, only being able to put her in dresses for months at a time, not being able to bathe my sweet little girl, being asked by strangers in the store "What happened to her?" like I was being a neglectful parent and she got hurt, and her not hitting the milestones when all of the other babies were it added extra stress to all of our lives. I should also say that it did teach me a lot too though. Having a child with a medical issue means that you have to really work on selflessness which is something that I will openly admit that I struggle with. When you're having to make your child's health a priority there is no room for being selfish. Below is a picture of what the brace looked like!
To end I just want to encourage you again to just make some adjustments to your swaddling if you're not doing it in the way that the video suggests. I know the video is not the most exciting thing to watch but it's better than having to deal with consequences of not knowing later on! Below is a recent picture of Zoe, just because she is so dang cute.
