My baby Calvin has slept through the night since he was about two months old all on his own. I didn’t have to sleep train him. And yes, I do nurse him, and no, he doesn’t wake up to nurse at night. I am unbelievably lucky, I know. I believe that aside from the luck of just having a good sleeper, the swaddle we use has helped a great deal as well. I got sent a lot of baby stuff when I announced I was pregnant and when Calvin was born, and the Ollie World Swaddle was one of those things. I already had a bunch of swaddle blankets and other swaddles, so I didn’t really pay attention to it. Just another swaddle, right? So so wrong. Calvin busted out of swaddle blankets with lightning speed, and the SwaddleMe and similar swaddles or swaddle blankets lasted about thirty minutes on him. He is very strong and wiggly, so I pulled out the Ollie World Swaddle and have never looked back.
What I love about this swaddle:
- Ease of use. It is incredibly easy to use! You lay your baby in the middle, wrap him or her like a baby burrito, making sure the Velcro on each side attaches to the other side, and tie off the bottom. That’s it. No complicated arm restraining, no bells and whistles, no blanket wrapping that never gets tight enough.
- The Velcro. It has super strong Velcro that actually stays closed. The other Velcro swaddles on the market don’t even come close to working for me. The Velcro on the Ollie World swaddle is strong. And the strips of it are large, and they are spaced all the way down the side of the swaddle. This makes for an unbreakable swaddle blanket, unlike the others I’ve tried. It also allows for baby to grow with the swaddle based on where you attach the Velcro on the opposite Velcro pad. This means you never need to purchase larger sizes, and in the end it saves you money.
- The fabric. I love that the fabric is soft and has some elasticity, allowing some freedom of movement but not allowing baby to get free altogether. Also, the fabric is moisture-wicking so baby doesn’t sweat or get too hot, which alleviates SIDS concerns and just sleeps better overall as a result.
- It comes with its own laundry bag. This means that super strong Velcro doesn’t stick to or destroy the other laundry.
- It is sprinkled with magic sleep dust. OK, I can’t prove this one, but I really do think it is.
What I don’t like:
There’s really nothing that I don’t like. After a while, the little elastic band that you use to tie off the bottom broke off of mine, but I preferred tying the bottom in a big knot anyway, and I think my husband was just rough with the elastic. Also, if you have to redo the Velcro when swaddling and baby is already sleeping, the noise can wake them up. But it’s so easy to swaddle them right the first time that I didn’t find this to be an issue for us. (Also, I put my baby down sleepy but awake so he learns to self-soothe, so he was never totally out when I was swaddling him.)
We used this swaddle from newborn to four-and-a-half months, when Calvin rolled onto his face and I had to take the swaddle away entirely. You can transition out of the swaddle by wrapping it with baby’s arms (one or both) out for a while before transitioning to a sleep sack or similar wearable blanket. I strongly recommend this swaddle to anyone. Aside from the company sending me a swaddle to try, I haven’t been paid or compensated in any way (aside from being given the gift of sleep!). I just really love it and believe it worked great for my baby.
I also included this in my essentials for babies from birth to four months, which you can find here. And you can find more of my recommendations of products I’ve tried with my kids that work (and some that don’t) on Instagram and on my blog as well.
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