Swaddling vs tight tucking with NUNKI:the differences

If your baby is restless while sleeping, you are often advised to swaddle your child. Unfortunately, you have to phase out swaddling as soon as your child can roll over and then you are often back to square one. Many parents have experience with children who sleep badly after stopping swaddling. Is swaddling the right solution Do the disadvantages of swaddling outweigh the advantages Read this article to find out how the NUNKI sheet can be a good alternative to swaddling and how the different methods work exactly.n.

security

Children who have difficulty falling asleep or who wake up quickly usually need a sense of security: a sense of security where you can relax properly. A firm hug gives a sense of security, but your baby also has to learn to sleep in his own bed. Swaddling can therefore provide that sense of security. In addition, your child can no longer move uncontrollably with its arms and keep itself awake or awake during the night.

The NUNKI sheet also creates a sense of security: the elastic fabric on the top ensures a fine pressure on the upper body, so that your child feels safe and can relax better.

Research shows: tucking in tightly is just as effective

Research shows that tight tucking is just as effective as swaddling when it comes to providing security. For example, research by Monique L'Hoir (Clinical pedagogue, member of the National Cot Death Working Group & researcher at Wageningen University) explains that:

• tight tucking and short make-up reduces the risk of SIDS by 76%
• tight tucking excessive crying in the first week reduced by 40%

Tucking it in tightly is therefore a good solution, but babies do not yet have control over their movements, so they quickly loosen or kick the sheet. This cannot happen with the NUNKI sheet, because the sheet goes around the mattress.

Comparison table swaddling vs NUNKI

So swaddling and the NUNKI sheet both give a sense of security in bed. Yet they are two completely different methods, with a completely different effect on your baby. We compare the methods in the table below:

The biggest disadvantage of swaddling

Swaddling has a very big disadvantage: as soon as your baby learns to roll over, you have to stop swaddling immediately. In fact, you actually want to have finished swaddling before your baby learns to roll over. If your baby can roll over and end up face down, swaddling can lead to SIDS. We shouldn't think about that!

Swaddling is therefore only a temporary solution and there is a good chance that your child will sleep poorly again after stopping swaddling. The period when your child starts rolling over, he is often in the middle of a jump and that makes sleeping a big challenge. In addition, fine motor skills only develop between 7 and 9 months, so that your child still moves uncontrollably after phasing out swaddling and has difficulty relaxing in bed.

Dismantling swaddling is not possible

You should not underestimate swaddling. You've got your baby used to a bedtime ritual that involves swaddling him, so chances are he won't be able to sleep without that tight feeling. It is recommended to first expose one arm before you stop swaddling completely. But that one arm is often too much freedom of movement.

Fortunately, the NUNKI sheet can also have a positive effect here: the sheet provides a nice pressure on the upper body so that your child can relax better. This can help to reduce swaddling, because your child still gets that sense of security that he is used to.

Freedom of movement

A big difference between swaddling and the NUNKI sheet is the degree of freedom of movement. If your baby is swaddled, it cannot move its arms. Your baby does have that freedom of movement under the NUNKI sheet. The effect is in the elastic fabric that gives a nice pressure on the upper body. Even if your baby prefers to sleep with his hands up, he still experiences that nice pressure that calms him down. The freedom of movement of the NUNKI sheet therefore has a number of advantages:

• the child can choose the sleeping position himself
• you can better recognize your baby's natural signals
• if your child rolls over, he can push himself up with his hands
• the hips can develop well because the legs are completely free

Safety

Safety comes first, of course, and swaddling is not always ideal in that area either. As mentioned, swaddling is not safe if your child can roll over, but there are more situations where swaddling is not safe. If it is very hot, for example, or if your child has an increased chance of getting a fever. For this reason, it is better not to swaddle your baby after a vaccination or with a cold. Also read the article“When to swaddle In these 8 situations swaddling is not safe!!”

The NUNKI sheet is designed for safety. According toresearch it even contributes to the 4 rules of safe sleeping for babies: in your own bed, on your back, in a sleeping bag and without loose material in bed. The sheet is wrapped around the mattress, so it cannot come loose. If your child were to crawl out from under it, the sheet would fall tightly against the mattress. This way you never have loose material in the bed. You can also make the sheet short, so that your baby cannot crawl underneath.

Ease

Swaddling can sometimes be quite difficult. Everyone does it in their own way and this causes unrest for your baby. Babies benefit enormously from rest and regularity: a fixed bed ritual in which all actions are predictable. The NUNKI sheet responds to this: you can tuck it in tightly by simply zipping up a zipper. Anyone can do it and everyone does it exactly the same way. So the bedtime ritual is super simple!

Curious about the NUNKI sheet?

Check out NUNKI

Love,
Frederieke