Today’s giveaway features one of my less obvious must-haves for mamas and dadas…the Miracle Blanket.
It goes by many nicknames: The Baby Straight Jacket, The Baby Off Switch, The Miracle Mummy, etc. Whatever you want to call it, this blanket was a godsend with our first two babies and we plan on using it with #3 as well. Not only does it help prevent the newborn Moro reflex {you know…just as lay your peaceful, sleeping baby down to rest your arms, he/she becomes startled, flings his/her arms out wide, extends legs, starts crying and, well, there goes your break} and promote longer stretches of sleep, the Miracle Blanket offers other benefits:
- helps reduce SIDS concerns by allowing parents to place babies on their backs for sleep
- eases fussiness
- prevents facial scratches
- makes breastfeeding easier
- keeps baby warm
The blanket works by securing baby’s arms with two flaps. There’s a pocket for baby’s legs and feet and then two larger flaps of fabric wrap around baby’s body to keep everything in place.
For new swaddling parents, this process might seem daunting but I assure you, once you do it two or three times, it’ll become second nature. Here’s my real life tutorial – if you can call swaddling a one-legged stuffed teddy bear ‘real life.’
1 – Lay blanket on large, flat surface {the floor, a bed or couch works well} with all flaps spread out.
2 – Place swaddlee on blanket with torso centered above leg pocket. The tops of the swaddlee’s shoulders should line up with the top of blanket.
3 – Wrap the arm flap on your right over swaddlee’s left arm then place rest of flap under swaddlee’s back to hold in place. The key here is to keep the swaddlee’s arm straight at their side – not bent.
4 – Wrap the arm flap on your left over swaddlee’s right arm then place rest of flap under swaddlee between their back and the other arm flap. Keep swaddlee’s arm straight at their side.
5 – Place swaddlee’s legs and feet into bottom pocket. You can skip this step if you think baby will be too warm, if placing baby in a seat with crotch straps {swing, bouncy chair, car seat, etc.}, or if baby is too long to fit inside comfortably. {This is the step I skipped when my babies were > 4 months old as they were too big for the foot pocket. I swaddled my babies until they were 9 months old and 6 months old.}
6 – Wrap shorter body flap on your right across swaddlee’s belly and tuck the end under swaddlee between the arm flap that’s securing the right arm and swaddlee’s back.
7 – Wrap longer body flap on your left across swaddlee’s belly. Keep the fabric pulled snug avoiding large wrinkles or twisting.
8 – Wrap longer body flap underneath swaddlee’s back pulling taught.
9 – Wrap excess blanket across swaddlee’s belly and tuck the end underneath swaddlee’s back to secure. FYI – How many times you wrap the longer flap around and around will depend on your baby’s size.
You’re awarded with a calm, happy, one-legged bear! Just what every new parent wants, right?
Again, I can’t stress enough how well the Miracle Blanket works in conjunction with The Happiest Baby on the Block techniques.
I believe in this swaddle blanket so much that I contacted Miracle Industries, LLC to see if they’d be willing to offer one up to a H*T reader. I was happy to discover that nearly all of their marketing success has been through word of mouth, so they were extremely willing to provide a blanket to a lucky reader!
Here are all the details on how to win a Miracle Blanket of your own:
- PRIZE: one gender neutral Miracle Blanket valued at $25
- RULES: You must be at least 18 years old to enter and have a shipping address within the U.S. One entry per email address.
- HOW TO ENTER: Leave a comment on this post proclaiming “IT’S A MIRACLE!”
- DEADLINE: Enter before Friday, March 16th at noon EST. One winner will be chosen via Random.org and announced later that same day.
- WHILE YOU’RE AT IT: Share a real life miracle you’ve experienced. I’ll go first. I was ~11 years old and browsing a local flea market with my mom. Somewhere along the way, we came across a large crowd of people gathered around an older man who had lost consciousness and wasn’t breathing. I’ll never forget how purple-gray his skin looked. My mom, having never performed CPR before but being the only person in that huge crowd motivated to take action, immediately yelled for someone to call 9-1-1 then began chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. It seemed like forever until the EMT’s arrived. The man was still unconscious when the ambulance took him away. In our local newspaper the next day, there was an article about the man. He had survived the ordeal. I don’t remember the exact wording but it was something like ‘if it weren’t for the quick and thoughtful actions of a complete stranger, the man would have likely died.’ My mom had been a SAHM up until that point in her life. She applied for and got accepted into the nursing program at a local community college that same year. She was in her early 30’s with 4 kids to care for. She went to nursing school 3 years straight {no breaks}, graduated with honors, and attained her Bachelor Degree in Nursing. Now that I’m a mom myself, I can only imagine how difficult those three years of studying must have been for her.
images: 1-3 & 6) Miracle Industries, LLC 4 & 5} Dana Miller for House*Tweaking
giveaway, kid-friendly