This product saved my sanity!!! We have two twin boys that absolutely must have their arms totally locked down to get any chance of sleep. We were using blankets to swaddle at first, but they kept "escaping" and then needed to be re-wrapped and then calmed back down to get them back to sleep, nightmare! We found this product and that first night we used them they only got up when they were hungry! Of course that does not mean everyone who uses these will instantly have that happen because we all know there are a multitude of reasons why babies get up, but this did exactly what we needed to keep their little arms from flailing while they slept and waking them up. The sizing can be tricky here. They have three sizes, preemie, small and large. Our little guys were five pounds when they were born, so the preemie size was a no brainier, but they did not fit properly into the small size till they hit eight or nine pounds. The large size (which we bought ahead of time to have when we need them) says they start at 14 pounds, but now my little guys are around 15 pounds and the large size is still a little loose on the larger boned of my two boys and it way too big for my smaller boned son. I would almost recommend the preemie size for any newborn under 8 pounds.
As far as the functionality of these wraps they are very versatile. You can undo the bottom and change a diaper w/o releasing the arms. You can also open, but not totally remove, the bottom and use the opening in the backside to strap them in their car seats while still swaddled (this worked wonderfully for us when transferring sleeping babies from a car seat to a crib w/o disturbing them too much). The material does stretch with use slightly and tighten up in the wash (similar to how jeans shrink up after washing them then ease back out when you have had them on a few minutes) but if you have the right size this should not be too big of an issue as the Velcro fasteners have a larger area to fasten to so you just pull it as tight or loose as you need. It is also very easy to leave one hand out when your baby wants access to his/her fingers and thumb. Our boys are three months now and have just started sucking their thumbs (self soothing is such a blessing), but if we leave both hands out the one they are not sucking just flails around and keeps them up still. So when they go down their left hand is out (both are little lefties) and their right hand is firmly tucked in the swaddle.
I looooove this product and would not go through the infancy stage without it!Get more detail about Kiddopotamus SwaddleMe 100% Cotton Knit, Small, Yellow.
