Swaddling
Swaddling was once relegated to the category of discredited child-care practices, thought of as old-fashioned and possibly harmful. Now, with the advent of theories about "the fourth trimester," swaddling — wrapping your baby, burrito-style, in a blanket — suddenly seems edgy and new. Swaddling advocates wax poetic about the "womb-like experience" and ancient wisdom. Swaddling, they say, makes babies feel safe and cared for; this, in turn, makes them less likely to flail and throw self-perpetuating crying fits, and more likely to sleep happily through the night.
A physician at St. Louis Doctors' Hospital, Brad Thach, conducted a study on reluctant back-sleepers whose insomnia was cured by swaddling; he posits that swaddling may help prevent SIDS. But not everybody is as enthusiastic. Some claim that crying and flailing might not be bad and that babies need to have freedom of movement. One medical study has shown possible links between widespread swaddling in Turkey and China and the high rates of infant pneumonia in those countries. The authors of the study think that the combination of swaddling and lying on their backs might have adverse effects on the respiratory system. Too much swaddling has also been linked to hip displacement and other joint problems.
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