Swaddling of infants has been practiced for thousands of years. Swaddling is the wrapping or binding of an infant.
The following prior art reference disclose various types of swaddling garments that have been developed to date:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,406, issued Jul. 14, 1992 for Method For Using an Infant Garment With Crossed Over Arm Positioning Sleeves, by Debbie A. Magnusen, David A. Magnusen;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,393,612 B1, issued May 28, 2002, for Garment, by Bradley T. Thach, Claudia M. Gerard;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,868,566 B2, issued Mar. 22, 2005, for Swaddling Blanket, by Michael Dean Gatten;
U.S. Pat. No. 7,043,783 B2, issued May 16, 2006, for Swaddling Blanket, by Michael Dean Gatten;
U.S. Pat. No. 7,181,789 B2, issued Feb. 27, 2007, for Swaddling Blanket, by Michael Dean Gatten;
U.S. Pat. No. 7,246,392 B2, issued Jul. 24, 2007, for Wearable Blanket and a Swaddling Accessory Therefor, by William R. Schmid, Dawn Griffin; and
U.S. Pat. No. 7,587,769 B1, issued Sep. 15, 2009, for Swaddling Article, by Julie McDermott.
Swaddling provides many benefits. Newborns can have trouble regulating their body temperature. Swaddling keeps an infant warm and allows a caregiver to handle and carry an infant more easily. It is believed that swaddling comforts the infant and allows them to sleep more soundly. The snugness of the swaddle may remind them of the confinement of the womb and provides comfort and a sense of security. Swaddling with the arms bound also helps prevents an infant from waking due to their startle reflex. Pressure across the abdominal and chest area has a calming effect and is thought to relieve colic. Swaddling has been used more recently in the calming of older children that may have special needs.
The suggested positioning for an infant to sleep to reduce the risk of SIDS is on their back. Some infants do not tolerate sleeping on their back well unless they are swaddled.
The preferred method of swaddling is to keep the infant's arms at their sides while providing even, gentle pressure across the chest and abdominal area. However, infants rarely keep their arms at their sides and are able to break out of traditional swaddles. Due to startle reflexes, they startle themselves awake. A snug swaddle can make an infant less restless. Also, once they get their arms up by their chest or mouth, their rooting reflex kicks in and can interrupt their sleep. Older children are much stronger and can break out of a swaddle easily.
Another problem with not being able to keep the infant's arms at their sides is that they can work loose a blanket or swaddle device and it may migrate over their face causing a risk of suffocation, or strangulation. Also, swaddling can pose a risk to an infant if they are wrapped too tight to inhibit normal breathing. Immobilization of the legs may promote hip dysplasia.
Although most infants are only swaddled for 3-4 months, some require swaddling well past that age to sleep more soundly. A swaddle that comes loose may make an infant restless and interrupt their sleep. Some infants don't like having their legs contained and will become restless attempting to kick out of the swaddle. Having their legs uncovered could allow them to become cold and unable to sleep soundly. Older babies are stronger and are much harder to keep from breaking out of their swaddle.
Infants in a hospital setting sometimes need their arms immobilized to prevent them from inadvertently pulling out tubes, IV's or disconnecting other medical monitoring devices.
Overheating is also a risk related to swaddling. Overheating can contribute to an increased risk of SIDS.
Diaper changes usually require the infant to be un-swaddled and then re-swaddled, unnecessarily awakening the infant.
An ideal execution of swaddling would provide a way to keep the infant's arms fixed at their sides, provide gentle even pressure across the chest and abdominal area, reduce the risk of overheating, provide easy access for diaper changes and provide a leg pouch that the infant is unable to kick out of.
There are several patented swaddling devices referenced in the related applications portion of this application that have built-in arm restraints to attempt to keep the infant from breaking out of his swaddle.
The shortcomings of the prior art are either one of or a combination of the following:                They do not properly contain an infant's arms. The arm restraints are lacking in function. Either they are a pre-formed sleeve or pocket that is extremely difficult to insert an infant's arm through, or they are lacking any fasteners (such as hook and loop) to keep the arm restraint in place and inescapable for a wiggly infant, or they fail to keep the infant's arms in the preferred position, at their sides.        They do not provide easy access for diaper changes. Having to unswaddle an infant in the middle of the night to change a soiled diaper can unnecessarily awaken a sleeping infant.        They can be cumbersome or must be wrapped around the infant too many times. Wrapping the infant several times puts them at risk for overheating. Overheating can contribute to an increased risk of SIDS.        If bound too tight in order to attempt to keep the infant from breaking free, a swaddle can inhibit chest wall movement, compromising an infant's ability to breathe normally.        If the swaddle binds the infant's legs preventing them from flexing and abducting normally, this may lead to the development of hip dysplasia.        The swaddle isn't secured with fasteners (such as hook and loop) making it easy for an infant to break loose putting the infant at risk for strangulation or suffocation.        Infants are able to kick their way out of the leg pouch. The present invention remedies the defects of known swaddles by providing an easy to use swaddle that keeps the infant's arms secured in the preferred position, at their sides, provides even gentle pressure across the chest and abdominal area, allows easy access for diaper changes, only wraps the infant once to reduce the risk of overheating, allows free movement of the legs to reduce the risk of developing hip dysplasia, has fasteners to keep the swaddle from coming loose, and is fashioned in such a way that the infant is unable to kick out of the leg pouch.        