While exploring the many swaddling options available to new parents I came across the Woombie the first time I was pregnant.  I never tried it, but knew this time around this was something I really wanted to use with my second baby.  There were just too many great reviews about it.  Anything that might help a newborn sleep better is something worth looking into (within reason of course!).

So what makes a Woombie so special?

Swaddle your baby Safely and Effectively with The Woombie … designed to ease your mind and comfort your baby so you may both achieve a better nights sleep. The Woombie is the safest & most NATURAL way to Swaddle your baby, encouraging baby to softly stretch extremities as needed, just like in the womb. The Woombie comforts, softly confines arms & gently compresses baby’s unique curves to hug baby… preventing Startling issues, face scratching, overheating and also preventing dangerous loose unraveled blankets from covering baby’s face.

The Woombie is a proud winner of the PTPA (Parent Tested Parent Approved), Moms Best and Creative Child Awards. We have been seen on television, in numerous popular baby magazines and are endorsed by Doctors, Doulas, Postpartom Baby Instructors, Nurses and countless moms and dads worldwide. In a nutshell, The Woombie is a great easy swaddle for babies with the Startle Reflex & who are in need of a cozy yet gentle confinement.

One of the things I appreciate most about the Woombie is that it comes in 4 different sizes.  With my first son we stopped swaddling for 2 reasons, 1 was that he was outgrowing the largest size of swaddling blanket we could find, and 2 was that he was rolling and making me nervous.  If I had a video monitor I would have continued swaddling.  Anytime I walked in to check on him he woke up.  Fail.

How it worked for us:

The sizing of the Woombie we received was perfect for a newborn.  It was snug and left no wiggle room so it was as tight as a swaddle.

My favorite feature was that the zipper could be undone from the bottom for middle of the night diaper changes.  My son hates being unclothed so this was such a great thing for us when he was brand new.

The zipper is covered with a soft minkee fabric to prevent any irritation to the baby’s skin under their chin.

When first born my son liked to be swaddled but after a couple of weeks he began fighting it so we couldn’t use the Woombie for as long as we had planned.  Still, most babies do enjoy being wrapped tightly for at least the first few months, so having one or two swaddling type blankets or Woombies is always a good idea.

The only possible negative that we came across with the Woombie was when we co-slept.  The baby’s arms end up being high on the chest and this interfered with nursing while laying next to him.  It took a little longer to get in a position to have the baby latch since there were arms near his chin.

They also make a “convertible” Woombie which allows the baby to have their arms in or out.  This would have been perfect for us since he no longer likes his arms in a swaddle!

Mandatory Entry:

(1 entry) Woombie doesn’t just make swaddlers!  Visit their website and come back to tell me what other product(s) they make that you would like to try. Leave it as a comment.

For extra entries do any or all of the following.  Leave a comment for each you do.

(1 entry) Follow @KimRosas on twitter and tweet this giveaway. Please tweet, “Enter to win a snug and secure Original Woombie from @KimRosas and @Woombiswaddler.  http://mfdxh.th8.us Ends Dec 3.”  Leave a comment with a link to your status.

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Giveaway ends on Dec 3. Winner will be chosen using random.org. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours a new winner will be drawn. *Open to US Only*

This review and giveaway is part of the New Baby Event Part 2!  Make sure you check out all of the other giveaways for the new mom and baby going on now!  Lots more to come too so check back often!

One of the things I was looking forward to about having another baby was trying out a few different swaddling blankets.  I had wanted to try the aden+anais muslin swaddling blankets with my son but never got around to it.  My husband was actually the better swaddler.  I preferred the wrap and secure kinds with velcro!

But, I knew there had to be a reason everyone loved aden+anais blankets.  I was sent a 4 pack of the “classic” swaddlers in the Prince Charming pack.  The tones are subtle blues and the motif isn’t too “babyish.”  There are other gorgeous prints available as well.  Plus, aden+anais make a bamboo muslin swaddle blanket and an organic version!

aden + anais, has brought the legacy of muslin together with fashion forward design to create a line of products that are as stylish as they are useful; and as simple as they are beautiful. We believe in muslin– the way it looks, the way it feels, the way it works– to improve the lives of babies and their mothers no matter who they are or where they live.

They also have numerous other items in their product line, like sleeping bags for babies who do not like to be swaddled or have grown out of it.

It turns out my baby boy grew out of swaddling quicker than I expected.  We started out using the blankets for a swaddle but he always seemed to want his arms out.  So, I started swaddling him with his arms out and this has worked great!

Because aden+anais blankets are so generously sized you can do numerous things with them, not just swaddle.  And if your baby loves to be swaddled and they are on the bigger side, these blankets will last a long time too!

Being that they are larger than the “standard” swaddling blankets sold in stores, it is an adjustment to learn to swaddle with these.  I am still far from perfect, but since my son doesn’t like the tight swaddle I am forgiven.  If he wanted a tighter swaddle I would need a lot more practice!

I have noticed my son naps so much better when wrapped in his aden+anais blanket.  He stays warm, so when I lay him in his hammock he doesn’t feel the cold mattress and he stays asleep.

I also use the aden+anais blankets in his carseat.  I put it over him rather than a bulky, unsafe coat.  We also have a car seat cover to keep the wind out.

I can’t think of a bad thing to say about these fluffy soft blankets!  A word of warning though: there will be LOTS of lint in your lint trap when you wash these.  Fluffy, white, lint!

For those of you wanting your own, aden+anais are sold everywhere!  I have even seen them sold at 77 Kids!  They make wonderful baby shower gifts and any new mom would have a million uses for them!

One lucky DDL reader will win a 4 pack of the “classic” aden+anais swaddling blankets!

Mandatory Entry:

(1 entry)Visit the aden+anais website and view the other products in their line-up.  Tell me what you would like to try, or your favorite pattern! Leave it as a comment.

For extra entries do any or all of the following.  Leave a comment for each you do.

(1 entry) Follow @KimRosas on twitter and tweet this giveaway. Please tweet, “You can enter to win a 4 Pack of Classic muslin aden+anais swaddling blankets from @KimRosas.  http://dfexq.th8.us Ends Nov 25.” Leave a comment with a link to your status.

You can tweet once a day for the duration of the contest. Leave a comment with your status for each tweet. 1 entry per day.

(1 entry) Subscribe to my blog via email through feedburner. Leave a comment.

(1 entry) Follow me through Google Friend Connect or via a reader. Leave a comment.

(1 entry) Grab my button and post it on your blog. Leave a comment.

(2 entries) Blog about this giveaway and link to it. Post a link in the comment.

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Giveaway ends on Nov 25. Winner will be chosen using random.org. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours a new winner will be drawn. *Open to US only*

My next baby will be here in a few short weeks and I am feeling the anxiety.  I don’t have a baby bath tub, or enough swaddling blankets.  I have to pull out all of those fun things like burp cloths and my handy Nose Frida (no bulb syringe here, this thing works great!).  I also need to get a new dresser to hold enough clothes for 2 children.

What I won’t be preparing: bottles.  Won’t use them.  Pump: probably won’t be using that either, though I may grab it in a moment of engorged desperation.  Nursery: baby will be either sleeping next to me in bed or next to our bed in our Hushamok hammock.

What I hope not to prepare: a hospital labor bag!  I will find out very soon if homebirth is a possibility for us.  Since the MMA (Midwifery Modernization Act) passed and Certified Nurse Midwives have the right to practice homebirths in the state of NY without a signed practice agreement with an OB, there is hope.  The only foreseeable block is that my potential midwife already has a mom due at the end of October and she also wants to take some time off that month.  If she can get coverage from one of the other midwives in Ithaca then I should be good.  The next hurdle would just be meeting with her and making sure I am comfortable with her.  It looks like my insurance does cover homebirth, at least 70%.  NY State does have a law stating a woman has the right to choose her birth setting and doctor and insurance must cover it.  Strange that NY is great for Homebirth in terms of insurance, but it took so long for homebirths to be practiced without the legal tape and hoops.

Besides my obvious reasons for wanting a homebirth, the main perk would be not having to scramble for childcare when I go into labor.  Living far from friends and family is very hard, and even harder when you need to leave your house in a relative hurry with short notice.  Grandma’s are good for that, “friends” are not.  Especially those with jobs and children.  I would still want to have someone come to help with Fletcher depending on the time.  But at least he wouldn’t have to pack up and come to the hospital with us, which is what I am afraid of.

If things don’t pan out then I will be ok, but only because I do love my current midwife.  She is caring and competent and will make my birth experience as close to a home birth as possible.  I would actually be sad to lose her if I get my homebirth.  I only wish she could deliver me at home!

Pregnancy wise, this has been a breeze compared to my first.  With my first I weighed close to what I weigh now before I even got pregnant.  And I kept gaining.  I had constant hip pain very early on.  It hurt to walk up and down stairs.  I ran out of breath, my Gestational Diabetes had me on far fewer carbs than I can eat now, and I was generally pretty miserable.  These days I forget I am pregnant.  While I am beginning to experience trouble sleeping and some hip pain at night, during the day I am comfortable.  My GERD has settled down thanks to my Gestational Diabetes diet and I stopped taking any medications for it besides the occasional Tums.  I do have to pee a lot but I don’t think there is a way to avoid that at this point.  I am also getting a little lazy.  My floor hasn’t been mopped in a couple of weeks!  The only reason it isn’t coated with crumbs is that I have a Roomba.

I am getting more and more excited about meeting my next son.  I am also starting to dread the impending loss of sleep that I have only recently started getting.  I am afraid two children will kill me, especially since the one I have keeps me busy enough.  Still, I will be happy to have him here with us!

In my ongoing mission to make this next baby sleep better than my first child (we can dream, right?) I am reconsidering my position on swaddling.  My son loved to be swaddled.  He only slept in his crib when he was swaddled, and slept for the longest stretches when wrapped tightly.  But he didn’t want to give it up.  Once he was rolling we had to cut him off cold turkey because frankly my nerves couldn’t take it.  At the time he was *gasp* sleeping in his crib the majority of the night and I checked on him constantly for fear he rolled over and couldn’t breathe.  But the problem was that we lived in an apartment with squeaky floors.  No matter how lightly you stepped you hit a creaking floorboard and it often times that woke him up.  It was awful.  After we stopped swaddling him he woke up every few hours again, down from sleeping in 6 hour stretches.  And it just went downhill from there…. we were laying him in his crib and he fell asleep watching his aquarium, he regressed to nursing to sleep.  Then he just started sleeping with us because I was exhausted.

I am terrified the next baby will rely on swaddling and the transition will ruin him too!  In my son’s baby book he started “sleeping through the night” at a fairly young age.  Til we stopped swaddling.  Then it took him until he was a year old.  Then he stopped again.  I just can’t get an 8 hour stretch of sleep!  I understand newborns aren’t meant to sleep all night, I am ok with that.  I just want to begin healthy sleep habits to hopefully have an easier time of it this go around.  So, do I swaddle this baby and stop sooner, or stop when they are “ready,” or just not swaddle past a couple weeks?

And, what blankets should I choose?  There are a lot on the market, some which profess to be “miracles” so I am lost!  I tried two brands with my son and we liked one of those.

The Organic Woombie

Pros:

Easy to use. Highly rated.

Coms: $$$, looks like you have to remove all the way for diaper changes

The Miracle Blanket Swaddler

Pros: Supposed to hold in the wriggliest baby. Well rated.

Cons: $$$, complicated

Kiddopotamus & Co. Organic Cotton SwaddleMe

Pros: My son’s favorite, simple, inexpensive.

Cons: Velcro tabs wore out from drying.

aden + anais Swaddle Blanket

Pros: lightweight, beautiful, well rated.

Cons: $$$, traditional swaddling blanket so you actually have to “swaddle” lol

Go Mama Go Designs Snug and Tug Swaddling Blanket

Pros: cute, breathable, choice of materials

Cons: $$$, have to wrap around and then under baby

Cozy Cocoon® Organic Baby Bunting

Pros: Super adorable designs, matching hats

Cons: $$$, Put on like a sock for some models, not as easy to change diapers with,

So, any ideas?  I am so not prepared for another 2 years of sleepless nights!  I swear, 2 kids is my limit, I don’t think I can do it 3 times!

Links to DDL Affiliate Amazon.com

This review was written and performed by Kristen, DDL Contributor, for the New Baby Event.

It isn’t too often that you find a product that is unbelievably cute…but is also very useful as well.  The Cozy Cocoon is a product that is both.  The cozy cocoon is made of stretchy cotton and is used to swaddle a baby, without straps, snaps or Velcro.  You scrunch it up like a sock and slip it over the baby, starting at the feet.  It keeps them swaddled nice and tight.

About Cozy Cocoon:

Photo taken from cozycocoon.com

More than just a product, the Cozy Cocoon® is an idea, which is that by swaddling our newborns with comfort and beauty, we encourage healthy development of the senses and we nurture the child’s adjustment out of the womb and into the world. By this means, Cozy Cocoon® supports parents in building a strong foundation for the child’s developing sense of self in the world. When babies are tucked into the Cozy Cocoon® there is no jerking, startling movement, and no skin-irritating synthetic fabrics to startle them out of their dreamy reverie and into the rollicking world. Our softly-colored, natural organic fabric into which baby is completely tucked and held, is the most natural progression from out of the womb and into the arms of the caregiver. The idea of the Cozy Cocoon rests on the wisdom of ancient and indigenous cultures that finds a unique expression in our own time, not based on replication of old ideas, but by recognizing that in our modern times we need modern solutions to the most basic and beautiful of life’s experiences ~ bringing new life into the world.

Kristen's Daughter wearing a Cozy Cocoon in the hospital.

I started using the Cozy Cocoon on my newborn daughter when she was only 2 days old.  I got so many comments from the nurses at the hospital and also from friends who visited about how adorable she looked in it and many people asked what it was.  It did take a time or two to be able to master getting it up and over her, but was easy for both myself and her father, who notoriously hates swaddling because of all the wrapping and Velcro usually involved.  Using the Cozy Cocoon, you don’t need to worry about zippers or Velcro rubbing on your baby’s sensitive skin and you also don’t need to worry about the blanket coming unraveled because you didn’t wrap it tight enough or correctly.  The Cozy Cocoon is very useful because it keeps the baby calm and unable to have the “startle” reflex and I imagine it would also be very comforting to babies with colic as well.  The only downfall with some of the styles are that when you need to change a diaper (which is often with a newborn), you need to take it off completely.  There are some styles that are open at the bottom however, so that makes diaper changes really easy.

In addition to the cotton and organic swaddlers, Cozy Cocoon also offers couture swaddlers, which are adorable and are great to use for those prime photo opportunities.  Even if you don’t chose one of the couture styles, I find that every time I put one of the Cozy Cocoons on my daughter, I am reaching for my camera shortly after because I just can’t resist the photo op!

You can find Cozy Cocoon on Amazon.com (My Aff. Link)