Everything about Swaddling totally explained
Swaddling is an age-old practice of wrapping
infants snugly in swaddling cloths, blankets or similar cloth so that movement of the
limbs is tightly restricted. Swaddling bands were often used to further restrict the
infant. It was commonly believed that this was essential for the infants to develop proper
posture.
Origin and history
Mothers have swaddled their babies throughout history.
Archaeological records suggests that swaddling first developed around 4000
B.C. in
Central Asia with use of the back-pack
cradle board by migrating peoples. As
desertification progressed, migration from region to region became a relatively permanent way of life. Swaddling subsequently became an institutionalized part of child-rearing tradition in those same areas.
Votive statuettes have been found in the
tombs of Ancient
Greek and
Roman women who died in childbirth, displaying babies in swaddling clothes. In shrines dedicated to
Amphiaraus, models representing babies wrapped in swaddling clothes have been excavated. Apparently, these were frequently given as thank-offerings by anxious mothers when their infants had recovered from sickness.
Probably the most famous record of swaddling is found in the
New Testament concerning the birth of
Jesus:
Ezekiel 16:4) would be a token that the child had been abandoned.
Over time swaddling clothes became more elaborate, especially for the wealthy. During
Tudor times, there were several different clothes needed to wrap a baby. In the case of the children of
James III of Scotland, the children wore several caps, a shirt, a square band "bed", which bounded from the breast to the feet and up again, a long band of swaddling clothes (roller), a tube waistcoat that bound the arms and roller and a blanket. A stay band would be attached to the forehead and the shoulders to secure the head. Babies would be swaddled like this until about 8 or 9 months.
In the seventeenth century the opinion towards swaddling began to change.
John Locke, in his
1693 publication
Some Thoughts Concerning Education, became a lobbyist for not bounding babies at all. This thought was very controversial during the time, but slowly gained ground, first in England and later elsewhere in Europe.
For instance
Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote in his book,
1762:
Western world, many Eastern cultures and
tribal people still use it. Some researchers have been shocked that the practice continues today.
Modern swaddling
A modified form of swaddling is still popular today as a means of settling and soothing irritable infants. The lengthy swaddling cloths of
mediaeval Madonna and Child paintings are now replaced with receiving blankets or flannelette sheets. The confinement is supposed to provide warmth and security for a baby who has recently left the
womb. Today, many midwives swaddle infants soon after birth and it's now a standard newborn care practice in many hospitals.
These looser wrappings, tucked but not tied, can generally be kicked off by a wakeful baby. They are still useful for keeping the baby warm, without increasing the
SIDS risk, because the wrappings stay well clear of the baby's face and airway. (This assumes that the baby is put to sleep on its back, as anti-SIDS precautions recommend.) By the time the baby is learning to roll over, often around 6 months, it should be sleeping in less restrictive coverings - so it has more freedom to respond when it succeeds in rolling over.
Some medical studies maintain that swaddling appears to be a positioning technique that can enhance neuromuscular development of the very low birth weight infant and that it might have a role in further lowering
SIDS risk Research has also found that swaddling helps infants sleep with fewer awakenings and stay in REM sleep longer
However, the psychologist
Arthur Janov claims that even this form of swaddling has profound effects on the adult emotional life of a swaddled child. He claims that swaddling causes a lifelong deficit on
oxytocin and oversupply of
cortisol, resulting in a lifetime of rage and anxieties, though he doesn't offer a neurophysiological mechanism by which this might take place in humans. One study has found that rats lose hormones in the
hippocampus and orbital frontal lobes when tied up like swaddled human infants, developing depletions in
serotonin,
norepinephrine and
dopamine, exacerbated aggressive behavior and a severe decrease of social capabilities.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Swaddling'.
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