How big should a swaddling blanket be?

dojo1

Don't laugh, or at least lead me to believe you're not laughing... My baby class made us buy a doll for the breast feeding seminar and now I use it to practice other things, like strapping into car seats and strollers.. Yeah, I'm a dork.  Anyway, I tried to swaddle the doll using some blankets given to me and the happiest baby on the block method.  This doll is tiny and the blanket doesn't seem to have enough material!  They're 30cm x 30 cm.  what gives?

katcarls

I'm assuming you mean inches and not cm, but that's still too small.  Most swaddling blankets are 40"+.  For example, Aden & Anais swaddling blankets are 47 x 47 for the boutique version and 44 x 44 for the Target ones.

ETA: I swear I'm not laughing.

ETA#2: Fixed typo

dojo1

katcarls:

I'm assuming you mean inches and not cm, but that's still too small.  Most swaddling blankets are 40"+.  For example, Aden & Anais swaddling blankets are 47 x 47 for the boutique version and 45 x 45 for the Target ones.

ETA: I swear I'm not laughing.

Youre right I did mean inches...what a shame, I got a ton of receiving blankets my sil didn't need any more and they're all that small! 

CrazyToast

Those are too small to do a good swaddle.  We learned that fast...

We love the A+A blankets, but our favorite swaddle was The Miracle Blanket.

katcarls

DO-JO:

Youre right I did mean inches...what a shame, I got a ton of receiving blankets my sil didn't need any more and they're all that small! 

Yeah, receiving blankets aren't good for swaddling but I'm sure you'll find lots of other uses for them: layer over your changing pad cover when cleaning up big diaper leaks, burp cloth, nursing cover, changing pad when you're out, roll for extra support in swing or stroller, etc.

jcameron2010

Thats funny, because all we used for swaddling was receiving blankets, Carter's brand. We never had trouble with them being too small. But then again, we didn't swaddle for that long, maybe a month or two. So DS never got too big for the blankets.

Mrs.MLR04

I used Swaddle Designs blankets for swaddling DS and they measure 42 in. by 42 in. 

Here is a link

 https://www.amazon.com/SwaddleDesigns-Ultimate-Receiving-Blanket-Chocolate/dp/B000K2DD1G/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1327625775&sr=8-7

sanriobaby

I agree w/pp, the A+A boutique swaddle blankets are the only ones I find that are big enough to use for proper traditional swaddling. Most of the others on the market are super cute, but are just too small to do the job right and babies QUICKLY grow out of them. The A+A boutique ones are 47'x47' and thier "cheaper" line, found at Target, BBB, ect are only 44'x44' but these are still bigger than most others. I think it's worth the money b/c they actually work and will last as long as LO wants to be swaddled.

MamaAllison

A+A are the way to go! You can also steal the one from the hospital... Don't tell them I told you to though! Oh, and have the nurses teach hubby how to swaddle, that was my husbands "thing" and its good for them to have something their the expert in!

dojo1

Thanks everyone, now I just have to find a and a in Canada!

 

lulu8109

I also thought receiving blankets were too small for swaddling.  I honestly didn't even use the tons of receiving blankets we got.  I swaddled with A+A blankets from Target.  We also used the Miracle Blanket for swaddling.  It's specifically for swaddling, so you can't use it for other purposes like you can the A+As, but we loved it.