Tuesday Twinvention - Swaddle Blankets

A great twinvention doesn't have to be products only for twins, but because I have to entertain two at once, it's important that a product be one or all of the following:
Relatively inexpensive...relatively because I've found that I'm willing to spend $$$ if it is as good as it promises
Small footprint...I have a small house and three kids
Efficient...to me this means that it's got to last awhile (unless it was cheap enough for me to not feel horrible about purchasing again) and work for as many kids as possible.

First off, I will be the first to admit that just because I have twins it doesn't mean that I'm twice as good at making purchasing decisions. Due to lack of sleep, it typically is the contrary. But, fortunately for you, I have a money spending disease...so in the quest to make my life as easy as possible, I'm likely to have purchased all child products that claim to be the best.

Those of you that have kids already know the magic of swaddling your infant. With Lu, we swaddled her every night till she was about 6-months. She was an easy swaddle, we would wrap her up in a simple receiving blanket and she'd be asleep in minutes. Occasionally she'd sneak an arm out or kick her foot out, but she would sleep right through the night.

The twins were a different story. Right away, I learned that both of them needed to be swaddled for different reasons. Tripp liked to punch himself and thinks it's fun to take his binkie out (until he realizes it's out and gets moody). Penn gets cold, freezing cold, and has to be bundled in order to get a good night's sleep.

Lucky for me, there have been advances in the swaddle department since Lu was a baby. It ONLY took me 5 months to find the perfect swaddle...5 months before we had a full night's sleep. Then a month later they were turning over and out of the swaddle for good (but that's a whole 'nother story).

1. The first swaddle we tried were the Aden + Anais swaddles. I LOVE these blankets for a lot of reasons...unfortunately not because they were the best swaddles. These muslin blankets are the softest blankets to wrap your babies in. They are cute, durable, and not too expensive (4 pack = $40 @ Target). These are the blankets that I used to swaddle Lu in when she was a baby and I still use them with the twins when I go on walks to shade them from the sun, my babysitter twists them around her into some funny Mexican baby-holder and carries them around the house, and they fold up small so you can stick them in your diaper bag.

As a swaddle, Penn and Tripp were out of them in seconds. Or, I would hear them screaming and find that the blanket would slowly creep up and end up around their heads. It could be the way I swaddle, buy I think my Houdini-like babies just like to challenge themselves and see how quickly they can escape the hold.

2. Next I tried the Summer Infant SwaddleMe. There were tons of these at the store so I figured that this was what everyone else must use...good for them if it worked, cuz it didn't for me. The first couple weeks were great, but soon Penn figured out how to kick her legs out and worse, the Velcro on the blanket wore out after a couple of washes, making the hold easy for Tripp to push out of.

3. At this point, I needed a miracle, unfortunately the amazing Miracle Blanket didn't provide one. I spent the money ($$$), watched the video on how to use the blanket and tried it out. Penn woke me up in the middle of the night with her arms still wrapped but her legs flailing around. I re-wrapped her, it happened again...and again...and again.

4. Finally, I found the Halo 2-in-1 SleepSack Swaddle and my prayers were answered. It worked! The greatest thing about it is that is a multipurpose product. It is a sleepsack with an adjustable, removable swaddle feature. The instructions were simple (no video required), the price was affordable, and the babies both stayed swaddled all night long.