5 Best Baby Swaddles - Baby Coo Coo

It doesn’t take most parents very long to realize that they are desperate for sleep. You would think that sleeping would be one of those things that babies can naturally do on their own, but it is very common for many babies to struggle with soothing themselves to sleep. There are a lot of issues that go into this, one of the main ones being startled away by their micro reflexes in their arms. This is where baby swaddles come in. There are a lot of swaddles out there and many parents have a favorite, so which baby swaddle should you buy?

Here is a list of my top 5 favorite baby swaddles and the benefits of each one. I also have more detailed descriptions of each one in the links below. Read on to find out more about each of these baby swaddles!

Woombie Grow With Me Air Baby Swaddle

Comfy Cubs Swaddle Blanket

Happiest Baby Sleepea

Love To Dream Swaddle Up

Bluemello Swaddle Blanket

Keeps Baby In

One of the most frustrating things when you are a parent is when your baby wake him or herself up in the middle of the night because they broke out of their swaddler. When you swaddle your baby in a typical blanket, they can learn how to break free pretty early on in their lives. The nice thing about swaddles is that they keep babies contained much better. They are a straight jacket for babies, but babies actually like them.

So which ones keep babies in the best? Well, here’s my honest opinion:

Woombie Grow With Me Air Baby Swaddle

The Woombie Grow With Me Air is a perfect example of a swaddle that will keep babies arms contained without pinning them down to their sides. There is a zipper that goes the length of the Woombie and it keeps your baby’s arms inside the sleep sack, but gives them the freedom to move their arms around their trunk.

Comfy Cubs Swaddle Blanket

The Comfy Cubs Swaddle Blanket has an adjustable velcro attachment that can keep your baby nice and tight, but it isn’t always enough for some of the most wiggly babies. As your baby grows older and stronger they may break out easier or wiggle out the top.

Happiest Baby Sleepea

The Happiest Baby Sleepea has two methods of restraining your baby, which makes it impossible to escape. This sleeper has the swaddle inside the sleep sack, so your wrap your baby’s arms with a panel of fabric first and then zip your baby shut inside. This is actually a genius design, but makes you wonder why no one thought of it before. If your baby loves to be swaddled, this will be perfect for him and you can go to bed knowing that even if he or she somehow wiggles out of the inside panel, there’s no way the arms are breaking out of the zipper.

Love To Dream Swaddle Up

The Love To Dream Swaddle Up has a neckline and zipper that will make it impossible for your baby to escape out of it.

Bluemello Swaddle Blanket

For this category, the Bluemello Swaddle Blanket ranks the absolute lowest. This blanket is technically a swaddle because you lay your baby in and you can wrap the sides, but your baby will break free in less than a minute. If your baby likes to feel cozy and warm and wrapped up but doesn’t love the feeling of having his or her arms pinned down, then this could be a great option for him.

Some babies hate the feel of being swaddled but still need to have that extra warmth and layer of another blanket. This swaddle blanket will serve that purpose.

Reverse Zipper

The reverse zipper is one of the greatest inventions for new moms. This allows you to check your baby’s diaper, reapply socks, check on your baby’s legs, or even give your baby a little more air circulation without undoing the entire sleep sack. For me, it is one feature that would be happy to pay extra for.

Woombie Grow With Me Air Baby Swaddle

The Woombie Grow with Me Air has a reverse zipper. In fact, all the Woombie swaddle models have the reversible zipper.

Comfy Cubs Swaddle Blanket

The Comfy Cubs Swaddle Blanket does not have a zipper. It has instead a velcro attachment. This is very inconvenient for those nights where you want to check a diaper without waking your baby up or unwrapping them. Your baby will also most likely wake up whenever you undo the velcro and reattach it, so it can be a real pain.

Happiest Baby Sleepea

To my great relief, the Happiest Baby Sleepea has the reversible zipper. And this is the most important feature, so if you’re a mom reading the review to find out if you should hit the “checkout” button, here’s your validation.

Love To Dream Swaddle Up

The Love To Dream Swaddle Up has a reverse zipper like the Happiest Baby Sleepea and the Woombie. As I have said before, this is a feature worth paying extra for, though you don’t have to pay extra for this swaddle.

Bluemello Swaddle Blanket

The Bluemello Swaddle Blanket does not have a zipper. This is one of the main contributing factors to it not holding a great swaddle. If you want your baby to sleep through the night, this might not be a practical option for later in your baby’s life.

Free Movement

It is important for your baby to not be completely tied up from their heads to their toes. A good swaddle is a sleep sack that has a good balance of restriction and freedom. In fact, if your baby is swaddled too tight in the hips down, there is a chance that they could develop hip dysplasia. This is when their hips are restrained too much and are unable to develop in the way that they should. Babies still have developing bones and joints, so it is important to make sure they are not bound too tightly in the wrong places. This is especially important when they are bound in a swaddle that they will spend a significant amount of time in.

Woombie Grow With Me Air Baby Swaddle

The Woombie Grow With Me has ample room for your baby to move their hips and kick their legs. The trunk area is bound a little tighter so that your baby will have room enough to move their arms a little bit to find a comfortable spot, but not enough that they can smack themselves in the face in the middle of the night.

The sack itself is very wide and can get even longer and wider as your baby grows with an expandable panel.

Comfy Cubs Swaddle Blanket

The Comfy Cubs Swaddle Blanket does not offer very much freedom of movement for your baby. Many babies like to be swaddled tightly, so this doesn’t seem like much of an issue. There is room at the hips and legs for babies to stretch their legs naturally, but if you have a baby that struggles against the swaddle and wants a little more movement in the arms, this isn’t the one for you.

Happiest Baby Sleepea

The Happiest Baby Sleepea is one of the swaddles that doesn’t allow much or any movement in the arms, but does have ample flexibility in the hips and legs. In fact, if your baby truly does hate the swaddle on the inside, you can still use the sleep sack zipper and allow your baby to have free arm movement within the sack. So it’s nice to have two workable options in one swaddle.

Love To Dream Swaddle Up

The Love To Dream Swaddle Up is created based on the idea that 90% of babies like to sleep with their arms up like they did in the womb. If you have tried other swaddles before and found your baby to really struggle against them, this swaddle is one you might want to try. It positions your babies up near their head. The downside is that your baby can’t really move their arms down if they want to, but they have a lot more freedom to move their arms and soothe themselves.

Bluemello Swaddle Blanket

The Bluemello Swaddle Blanket has the freest movement of all. There is no real restricting section of the swaddle and your baby will have the freedom to get out of it very easily. It does offer a cozy blanket for your baby to snuggle into and your baby will likely love how comfortable it is, but it isn’t a traditional swaddle in that it doesn’t keep your baby contained.

Easy of Use

Some swaddles are a little easier to get your baby’s in than others. This list shows which swaddlers are the easiest to use.

Woombie Grow With Me Air Baby Swaddle

This swaddle is pretty easy to use. There are no velcro attachments, snaps, or buttons. The only thing you have to worry about is putting yoru baby in and zipping them up. Just make sure you don’t zip your baby’s flailing arms or legs! Since there is no way to restrain them, it is easier to accidentally zip their baby skin.

Comfy Cubs Swaddle Blanket

This is an easy swaddle to figure out in theory, but it can be a bit challenging, especially as your baby gets older. So you lay your baby down on top of it, and gather your baby’s legs into the bottom. When I used it and my baby was a bit older, at times they would kick their legs out of the bottom before I had the chance to restrain their arms.

I also was constantly worried that their arms were restrained too tight and that they were losing blood flow, but if I didn’t put them in tight enough then they broke free. It worked, but it was frustrating at times.

Happiest Baby Sleepea

This swaddle is famous for being the 5 second swaddle. It is made to be as easy as possible to get your baby in. There is even a video showing it below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mp8fKRwRuM&feature=emb_logo&ab_channel=HappiestBabyUK

It does look very easy, and it is. In fact, it may be even easier than the Woombie because the arms are restrained and you are less likely to zip up your baby’s skin in the zipper.

Love To Dream Swaddle Up

This swaddle is equally as easy to put your baby in as many of the other swaddles with zippers on this list. Whenever you don’t have to restrain your baby in velcro, it’s a better experience. Although, there is always that caution of needing to look out for your baby’s skin as you zip up.

Bluemello Swaddle Blanket

This swaddle may be the easiest swaddle to put your baby in because it is so loose. However, your baby staying in is another issue entirely. Just don’t buy this hoping that it will restrain your baby. Only buy it for looks and for a comfy blanket if your baby will sleep without being restrained.

Sizes

Babies should only be swaddled with their arms in until they are able to roll over on their own. This happens at different times for different babies, but many swaddle companies will make swaddles too small or they don’t offer larger sizes. If your baby loves to be swaddled and isn’t making any signs of rolling over, you may be frustrated with the selection of sizes that they have. Here is the low down on the sizes of the swaddles on this list.

Woombie Grow With Me Air Baby Swaddle

One reason why I love the Woombie is that you only have to buy one. This Woombie sleep sack will last you from infancy until 18 months, if your child wants to use it that long. This sleep sack has expandable panels on the sides as well as expandable panels on the bottom to make it wider and longer and great for growing babies.

There is also the option of opening up the arm holes so your baby can still use it after they learn to roll over. This is important for several reasons:

Familiar

Babies get used to things being a certain way when they sleep. They may grow quite attached to their Woombie and have a hard time giving it up. Your child can continue to use this sleep sack for until they can communicate a little bit better and it might be a little easier to give it up later.

Baby Swaddle VS. Blankets

It is also dangerous to have baby blankets in your baby’s crib. Your child could wrap up in them or suffocate by putting them over their heads. It is best to keep loose blankets out of your baby’s bed for as long as possible. However, babies do tend to feel much more cozy if they have another layer on other than their sleepers. Swaddles like the Woombie that transfer into a sleep sack provide an extra amount of safety.

Comfy Cubs Swaddle Blanket

The Comfy Cubs Swaddle has two sizes, 0-3 months or 3-6 months. These sizes both come in packs of 3, so you always have extras in case of a blowout.

Happiest Baby Sleepea

The Happiest Baby Sleepea comes in sizes large, medium, and small so no matter how big your baby is, you can find a size to fit.

Love To Dream Swaddle Up

The Love To Dream Swaddle Up has three sizes; medium, large, and extra large. Many times swaddles aren’t made big enough for my babies, and my babies aren’t larger than average. However, you can tell which swaddles are made to be bigger by the ones that have arm holes that can open up.

This swaddle does have the armholes so you know that they are made for babies that are a little bit older. This is perfect for parents who want to keep their baby in a sleep sack for longer or for babies that are larger than average.

Bluemello Swaddle Blanket

The Bluemello Swaddle Blanket only comes in one size. Though it is meant to fit from 0 to 6 months, most reviewers said that it didn’t fit their babies for that long. It was more like a 0 to 3 size. Part of the reason it doesn’t fit for as long as other swaddles of similar size is that it includes the hood in the size as well, where other swaddles measure from the neckline to the base of the swaddle. So on paper, it looks quite a bit bigger than it is in reality.

This really only will fit your baby for a short amount of time. It is very cute and is perfect for photo shoots and for taking your baby out in public, but not ideal for every night use.

Fabric

Fabric is always an important factor when you are buying something that goes on your baby’s skin. Here’s the low down on the fabric used in these swaddles.

Woombie Grow With Me Air Baby Swaddle

The Woombie is made with fabric that is 95% cotton and 5% spandex which gives it just the right stretch and breathability.

Comfy Cubs Swaddle Blanket

Comfy Cubs Swaddle is made of 100% breathable cotton.

Happiest Baby Sleepea

The Sleepea is made from 100% organic cotton, which is important for people who care about the environment. The pesticides used in cotton growing are among some of the harshest. Also there are no flame retardants or other chemicals used in the manufacturing of the fabric, so you know your baby’s sensitive skin will stay safe and free from irritants.

This swaddle, like the Woombie, has mesh panels so that the cotton is even more breathable.

Love To Dream Swaddle Up

The Love to Dream Swaddle Up is made of fabric that is 93% cotton and 7% elastane. This makes a very breathable and stretchy fabric. The stretchiness is particularly important in this swaddle because it is designed so babies can suck on their fists and soothe themselves to sleep.

Bluemello Swaddle Blanket

The Bluemello Swaddle Blanket is made of 100% faux cashmere. I didn’t know what faux cashmere was when I first researched this blanket, and it sounded kind of odd, but I did some research and it actually is a very nice, high quality fiber. You can read more about it here on my review of the Bluemello Swaddle. Basically it is a fabric that mimics the feel of cashmere, so think super soft and plush. However, cashmere and other wools can be allergenic to many babies so this is a hypoallergenic version of cashmere. It makes your baby feel super soft and cozy without irritating their sensitive skin.

If you bring this as a present to a baby shower, you know everyone is going to be passing it around and exclaiming how soft it is.

Conclusion

Overall, there are a lot of great products on this list. Some are more practical than others, some are more affordable than others. Whatever you are looking for in a swaddle, you are sure to find it in this list.

It can be difficult to know which baby swaddle will work best for your baby before he or she is born. Some babies like a little more freedom, some babies like to have their hands by their head, some babies like to be swaddled tightly. But in the chaos of your postpartum life, it can be difficult to have the presence of mind to buy the swaddle that works for your baby. My personal advice would be to buy or register for a few on this list that have different qualities and see which one works for your baby the best. It might be a little extra money, but your sleep and your baby’s is worth the investment.