The soothing powers of turning your baby into a non-edible pig-in-a-blanket has got to be one of the best discoveries in all of the annals of human history. It's up there with the wheel and fire and Doritos, in my opinion, and has saved many a baby from being abandoned on a neighbor's doorstep because it won't stop crying. Swaddling rocks.
How hard can it be to wrap a baby in a blanket? It seems easy enough: find blanket, add baby, wrap. The biggest issue seems like it should be making sure the baby's head isn't covered, too.
The parenting experts would like you to know that -- like everything else you've ever done as a parent -- you're probably doing it wrong.
Turns out that overly aggressive swaddles, which include those that use an extra strap to bind the swaddled baby in order to make them more portable, may lead to hip dysplasia. While hip dysplasia is easy to correct, it's also easy to avoid causing it with a good swaddle.
Pediatricians suggest taking a few minutes to learn the proper way to wrap your bundle of joy. And whatever you do, use the mild salsa rather than the extra caliente on your baby burrito.
