Ultimate Swaddles

When Lynette, our founder, first conceived of the idea to make the Ultimate Swaddle blanket in the early 2000s, she had been visiting new families in their homes. She discovered the new parents were not swaddling their newborns, and consequently they were so sleep deprived, and their baby was crying and flailing their arms.

Lynette found something in their home in which to snugly wrap their baby and baby quickly calmed down and fell asleep. Well, the new parents thought she was a miracle worker, but she humbly told them how new babies find the snugness of a swaddle reassuring and calming, and swaddling helps to suppress the startle reflex (the Moro reflex), the flailing that was waking baby, so baby would sleep better.

Consistently, the parents would ask her to share the secret of the hospital nurses, how to swaddle. She happily showed them over and over at each house she visited, but the blankets the parents had were not appropriate for making a good secure swaddle. They were too thick or too small. They were slippery satin on one whole side.  She searched the market for a blanket to suggest and there were no large square swaddling blankets anywhere. Only small rectangular receiving blankets were available.

Lynette wanted to help so she used her healthcare background as a nurse and her design education from the Art Institute of Seattle and created the Ultimate Swaddling Blanket. People didn’t know what “swaddling” meant, so we changed the name to the Ultimate Receiving Blanket until swaddling caught on after several years. Then, we went back to calling our baby blanket the Ultimate Swaddle once again.

Lynette designed the blanket to be large and square with a pretty decorative stitch, much like the hand embroidery her grandmother lovingly hand stitched around flannel blankets she had made as a young mother. Yes, making swaddling blankets is in Lynette’s DNA, only she didn’t know it at the time. Her mom had sewn blankets for her children, but Lynette didn’t know about her Grandmother’s hand- embroidered blankets until she presented her mom with the first prototype and her mom pointed to the decorative edge and told her the family history.

 Lynette knew that new moms did not stay in the hospital for days like they used to, and they were not getting to learn about swaddling and practice swaddling with the nurses during those early days with baby like was done in the past.

So, Lynette hand sketched the 123 Swaddle babies on the instructive label that is sewn to the edge of all of our swaddle blankets. Three easy steps showing new parents how to make a safe secure swaddle (the art is under copyright), so parents everywhere could learn how to swaddle using the right kind of blanket, in the right size and shape, lightweight to be warm enough but not as to overheat.

Lynette set out on a mission to help new parents calm and comfort their baby, to prevent sleep deprivation and exhaustion, and so everyone in the house could get more sleep.

Our first customer was a major hospital in the Seattle area, and they loved the educational component of our Ultimate Swaddle and purchased 4000 of them to give as a departure gift to new parents.

And that is the birth story of SwaddleDesigns.

Our Ultimate Swaddles are not just great for swaddling, their generous size makes them perfect for a multitude of uses. Use them as a sunshield, a privacy throw when feeding baby, or as a playmat for tummy time. Our swaddles also make great cuddle blankets, and coverlets on a toddler’s bed. They are long lasting and have great value.

We hope you enjoy them as much as the millions of parents around the world have loved using them.

They’re a really great blanket.

What is Swaddling?
Swaddling is a very ancient art of wrapping a newborn snugly to help the baby transition from the womb to the world. It helps keep baby warm and comforted, and gives the baby familiar feelings of being secure in the womb

When was the first swaddling blanket introduced?
Swaddling has been around for thousands of years, and used by many cultures around the world to help calm and comfort newborns. Jesus was swaddled, Alexander the Great was swaddled. Swaddling had fallen out of vogue in the USA by the 1990’s, and only small rectangular shaped receiving blankets were available in stores. SwaddleDesigns introduced the first large square swaddling blanket in the USA in 2002, and this blanket featured pictorial swaddling instructions sewn to its edge to help parents master the lost art of swaddling. Designed by an experienced nurse and mother, the Ultimate Swaddling Blanket was the first of it’s kind in the USA.

What is the best swaddling blanket?
SwaddleDesigns swaddle blankets are often referred to as the gold standard in swaddling blankets.
•    SwaddleDesigns swaddle blankets are large and square, perfectly sized and shaped to make a good secure swaddle.
•    SwaddleDesigns swaddle blankets are available in a range of fabrics that are so soft, easy to wash and dry, and importantly, appropriate for a range of environmental temperatures from cool to warm. Cotton flannel, for cool times of the year or air conditioned environments, and marquisette and muslin (open weave fabrics) for summertime swaddling or warm times of the year or warm environments.
•    The fabrics used for SwaddleDesigns blankets are natural fibers for breathability and gentleness, considered best next to baby’s skin
•    Pictorial swaddling instructions - cute step by step images for caregivers to follow to master the art of the swaddle are sewn directly on the edge of the blanket for easy reference. Easy as 123 swaddle® !
•    Designed by an experienced nurse and mother 
•    Modern prints, AZO free dyes
•    Non-slip edge, pretty and soft decorative self-locking stitch
•    Millions of happy babies and parents served world wide

Will swaddling help my baby sleep?
Swaddling can help your baby sleep better. A study by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis proved that swaddled babies sleep for longer periods with fewer awakenings caused by the Moro or Startle reflex.