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Best swaddles for newborns - wrap your little one up for peaceful naps
Keeping your baby snuggly and comfortable, swaddles can work wonders however your baby likes to sleep. After researching and testing the UK's best swaddles, we reveal the products that came out on top.
By Poppy O'Neill | Last updated Mar 26, 2024
The practice of swaddling has been used in cultures throughout the world for thousands of years. The best swaddles will wrap your baby up in a way that mimics the womb, creating a warm, safe feeling for your baby, which encourages them to sleep for longer in their crib.
As well as researching modern baby must-haves like the best baby monitors and the best travel cots, at Mumsnet we know the importance of tried and tested methods our members swear by for better sleep, like swaddling. Getting a good nights’ sleep is key for both you and your baby, especially in those early weeks and months.
Babies have a ‘startle reflex’, an instinctive movement that frequently wakes them up throughout the night. Swaddling your baby involves wrapping them up so that their arms are held close to their body, and so they're is unable to move and ‘startle’ themselves awake. This often means they can sleep longer and more deeply, in turn allowing you a little extra rest.
As with many decisions around getting your baby to sleep, this is a personal choice and will vary from parent to parent. If you’re looking for the best swaddle for you and your baby, we’ve done the hard work for you - after scouring the Mumsnet Talk forums for authentic recommendations from our network of millions of parents, we've weighed up the pros and cons of a wide range of swaddles, and we've come up with recommendations that we think offer something for everybody.
These are the best swaddles to buy in 2024.
How do you swaddle a baby safely?
Easy to use
Handy zip for nappy changing
Babies can sleep in the arms-up position
Doesn't keep arms hugged to baby's body, which some little ones prefer
On the pricier side
Price: £28 | Type: Zip-up sleeping bag | Fabric: Cotton and elastane | Sizes: Newborn, small and large
Tested by MNHQ: Read our full Love to Dream Swaddle UP review
A great combination of tight swaddling with a little bit of wiggle room, this swaddle works wonders however your baby likes to sleep. The fabric is lusciously soft and light, and our mini-tester seemed extremely cosy and content in her Moses basket.
The USP here is definitely the inclusion of some eye-catching ‘wings’ built into the top of the swaddle. At first glance, they're maybe more Batman than cute and comfy, but our tester found the movement this provided priceless for soothing her little girl, as it allowed her to sleep in her favourite 'arms-up' position. While not all babies like to sleep in this position, this is the swaddle most highly rated by both our tester and most frequently recommended by Mumsnet users.
Great price
Comes in a pack of 3
Easy to use
Fastenings better suited to newborns than older babies
Price: £18 | Type: Wrap | Fabric: Cotton | Size: One size
At £18 for a pack of three, these soft cotton swaddle wraps from Little Seeds are a real bargain. As with anything that comes within 5 feet of a newborn, swaddle blankets need frequent washing, so it’s a good idea to have a collection.
With no complex folding techniques needed, these swaddles are a doddle to use, thanks to the intuitive velcro fastenings. However, some reviewers say that while the fastenings work great for a newborn, older babies will undo them with vigorous wriggling.
Read next: Best Moses basket mattresses, as recommended by Mumsnetters
Easy to use
Zips open for quick and easy nappy changes
Mumsnetters say they run small
Price: £19 | Type: Zip-up sleeping bag | Fabric: Cotton | Sizes: 0-3 months, 3-6 months
Mumsnetters love Grobags for older babies, so it makes sense that the Swaddle Bag is equally popular. Available in a range of cute and colourful designs, it features a zip opening which enables you to change your baby’s nappy without un-swaddling their top half.
With plenty of space for your baby to sleep with their legs in a ‘frog’ position, sleep sacks like this give you the best of both worlds - snuggly at the top and roomy at the bottom, without the need for easily-kicked-off blankets.
Helps with colic
User-friendly
Money-back guarantee
Only recommended up to 14 weeks
Price: £22 | Type: Wrap | Fabric: Cotton | Size: 0-3 months
Tested by MNHQ: Read our in-depth Miracle Blanket review
With its money-back guarantee and Mumsnetter stamp of approval, the Miracle Blanket certainly lives up to its name. The unique blanket is recommended for use from birth to 14 weeks, babies can sleep with either one or both arms inside the blanket, and it’s been developed to help with colic.
The Miracle blanket comes highly recommended by parents who’ve tried other swaddles and come to their wit’s end. So if your baby has a strong startle reflex, colic or finds it hard to settle, it’s definitely worth giving the Miracle Blanket a whirl.
Related: The best baby sleeping bags for naps and night times
Multi-purpose
Soft and durable fabric
Large swaddles
You need to know how to swaddle - scroll up for our video tutorial
Pricey
Price: £50 | Type: Muslin squares | Fabric: Cotton muslin | Size: One size
Tested by MNHQ: Read our full Aden + Anais Swaddle Blanket review
A traditional swaddle, a cot blanket and a cot cover rolled into one? The Aden + Anais Swaddle Blanket is a winner in our book.
Made with 100% cotton muslin, our tester rated it for its softness and breathability. But by far and away the biggest selling point for this swaddle is the multiple uses it has. It can be used as a cot blanket on a warmer day, a blanket for the park, a cot cover for nap time, a muslin for burping and, of course, as a swaddle.
Grows with your baby up to 18 months
Stretchy but snug fit
Ergonomic design
Pricey
Price: £66 | Type: Zip-up sleeping bag | Fabric: Cotton and spandex | Size: One size fits 0-18 months
If your baby is a few months old and still loves to be swaddled, you might find that they’re growing out of their swaddle blankets, or that they’re wriggling out and waking themselves up. Mumsnetters love the Woombie for its soft, cosy fabric, easy to use zip-up fastening, but mostly for the fact that it 'grows' with your baby, fitting them up to around 18 months old.
While the Grow With Me is pricey, the innovative convertible design means you won't need to buy up a size every few months.
Read next: The best nursing chairs Mumsnetters swear by
Choose how tightly to swaddle
Leg pouch leaves room to wriggle
Easy nappy changes
Velcro can be loud!
Price: £56 | Type: Wrap | Fabric: Cotton | Size: One size
Tested by MNHQ: Read our in-depth SwaddleMe review
SwaddleMe's simple Velcro fastening and wing design make this swaddle easy to use, and gives parents flexibility on exactly how tightly to swaddle their baby.
The fastening also meant that we could easily access the nappy for any middle-of-the-night changes (which, let’s be honest, are inevitable). You can easily get access into the leg pouch without unwrapping the arms, meaning it aced our ‘night-time’ test. This was definitely simpler than unravelling a traditional swaddle and trying to get it done back up again on two hours' sleep in the pitch black.
Cute designs
Super soft organic cotton
Leave the leg pouch open when it's hot
Will be grown out of quickly
Price: £16 | Type: Wrap | Fabric: Cotton | Size: One size
Made from soft, snuggly, 100% organic cotton, the Ergobaby Swaddler is a great-looking swaddle pouch. More importantly, it includes the essential cosy wrap for your babies arms, while keeping their legs free and their hips ergonomically positioned to support their development.
Ingeniously, the swaddle can be used with an open leg pouch - perfect for summer borns who benefit from the feeling of swaddled arms but need to keep cool at the same time.
Ergonomic design
Poppers for arms in or out
Cosy 2.5 tog with breathable panels
On the pricier side
Price: £29 | Type: Zip-up sleeping bag | Fabric: Cotton, polyester and Dupont Sorona | Size: 0-4 months
With a focus on innovative and breathable baby equipment, Purflo products are being recommended more and more in the Mumsnet forums. Their Swaddle to Sleep Bag has cute foot pouches designed to keep babies’ hips in the correct position, while allowing your little one to wriggle and kick without undoing the swaddle.
The bag has breathable panels to keep your baby cool, comes with a cosy 2.5 tog rating and a guide to dressing your baby for bed. Certified hip-healthy by the International Hip Dysplasia Institute, this is an easy to use swaddle bag that comes highly rated by experts and Mumsnetters alike.
What is swaddling?
Swaddling is the practice of wrapping a baby snugly in order to soothe them. It’s been used in many cultures for thousands of years, and it works because it reminds babies of being in the womb, and helps stop babies’ startle reflex from waking them up.
Some studies suggest that swaddling reduces the risk of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome), as it keeps babies in the safest sleeping position, on their back. However, others have suggested the risk is increased, as deeper sleep means they are less likely to wake up if they overheat. With this in mind it’s important to make sure your baby is wearing the right amount of layers and that the room is a safe temperature (the NHS recommends 18C). You can read more about how to swaddle safely below.
It may not feel like it, but your newborn spends up to 20 hours of each day asleep. Because of this, it’s vital to make sure your baby is swaddled safely and that risks are minimised as much as possible.
Underneath the swaddle, your baby should wear normal sleep clothes. The Lullaby Trust recommends using swaddles made of thin fabric to avoid overheating, and although most swaddle products will adhere to these standards, it never hurts to check. Don’t be alarmed if your baby’s hands or feet feel cold, as this is normal. To check whether they are too hot or cold, you should feel their chest or back.
Babies should always be placed on their backs to sleep.
Always make sure your baby is able to move her legs, or that her hips are in the frog position to reduce risk of hip dysplasia. Many swaddle blankets will be designed to accommodate this.
Babies should never be swaddled above the shoulders as this risks suffocation.
Although these safety warnings can sound alarming, it’s important to remember that SIDS is rare and that swaddling as a practice has been used for thousands of years.
How long should you swaddle a baby for?
You should stop swaddling a baby’s arms when they’re able to roll over - around 2-4 months old. This is because they need their arms to roll back over. Many swaddles have ‘arms out’ options to help transition out of swaddling into a baby sleeping bag. If you use a muslin square, you can just leave one arm out when you swaddle your baby.
What’s the best swaddle to buy?
With its ‘arms up position’ and rave reviews from Mumsnet and beyond, we think the Love to Dream Swaddle UP is the best swaddle to buy. Having said this, different babies get on with different types of swaddles, so the most popular one might not be best for you. We’ve got a soft spot for the Miracle Blanket, which has saved many a Mumsnetter’s sleep when they thought nothing else would help.
How we chose our recommendations
As well as testing out a number of the UK's top swaddles with a parent tester and her baby, we spent several hours sifting through Mumsnet's forums for our users' recommendations on the best swaddles they rate. We were also on the lookout for poor reviews of products to avoid.
We consulted recommendations from experts, consumer websites and print media and ensured we included brands that regularly appeared in the top 10 lists.
We then looked at reviews for our longlisted swaddle blankets to check if those previous customers were satisfied with their purchases.
By doing this, we whittled our longlist down and chose a selection of products that we think offer something for everybody.
Why you should trust us
At Mumsnet, we believe parents should be able to access impartial and honest advice about products and services they may purchase.
We consult real parents as well as experts so we can offer the benefit of honest experience and we don’t take payment for our reviews from companies.
Our team of writers is made up of experienced consumer and parenting journalists who between them have a wealth of experience and knowledge at their fingertips.