Since ancient times, mothers and grandmothers have been swaddling newborns in strong bags. In the modern world, this tradition continues, but the question increasingly arises: is it necessary to swaddle a child and how to sew diapers for a newborn with your own hands so that he feels good and cozy in them.
Why do we swaddle babies?
At the moment of birth, the baby experiences stress. Everything in this world is new to them: both what they see and what they feel. Swaddling helps reduce the stress of getting used to a new world.
The baby in the mother's womb is surrounded by a warm and limited space, he is used to feeling with his hands what is around him. In the last weeks before birth, his body increases significantly, the uterine embrace becomes tighter, the legs and arms are pressed tightly to the body, which also becomes an intrauterine habit. Periodically contracting, the uterus gives tangible bodily impressions of tight embraces.
Swaddling your baby helps to avoid unnecessary stress. Excessive stress can cause slow development.
Benefits of swaddling
Swaddling a baby is not done to make it easier for the mother to hold and lull her to sleep. There are a number of reasons for this:
- Being in the womb for 9 months, the baby gets used to a limited and cramped space. Such wrapping gives him a familiar feeling of coziness, comfort and calm.
- A wrapped-up child does not throw his arms and legs in different directions. The baby is still not very familiar with the new world and at first this can frighten him.
- Wrapping helps to maintain mother's warmth, which is so important for the baby in his first days. Mother's warmth helps him maintain proper thermoregulation.
- Some mothers use diapers as nappies.
Important! The swaddle itself does not warm! It only maintains for some time the warmth that the baby received from the mother and helps to maintain it. Therefore, you should not swaddle the baby in order to replace the mother's warmth.
- Small children grow surprisingly quickly, and small rompers and socks quickly become too small for them. Diapers allow you to save a little on the family budget, since part of the time the baby can be in diapers without harm.
- Swaddling improves the baby's sleep. Because newborns have poorly developed nervous system inhibitory mechanisms, their legs and arms can suddenly jump up in the middle of the night, waking and frightening the baby. Swaddling prevents the legs and arms from jumping up.
Requirements for baby diapers
An important moment in swaddling a baby is the stage of choosing the material for sewing diapers. How to choose it to sew baby diapers?
- It is better to give preference to natural materials to avoid an allergic reaction to low-quality fabric.
- The material must have good absorption capacity.
- The material must maintain a comfortable level of warmth and allow the body to breathe.
- Wear resistance. Since such items are often washed, they must retain their properties after numerous washings and ironings.
- The fabric should be pleasant to the touch, since the baby’s skin is especially sensitive to what surrounds it in the first days.
- The product should be large enough to swaddle the baby without causing discomfort.
- All seams of the product must be on the front side and carefully processed. No threads should stick out, they can damage the baby's skin.
Please note! The simpler, the better. Excessive decorations can be a nuisance for both mom and her baby.
Types
Such a simple thing as a diaper can be of completely different types:
Classic
They are nothing special. These are the diapers that are used to swaddle babies. If the product is made of soft and warm fabrics, they can also be used as towels. They absorb moisture well and will not let the baby freeze.
Diaper sheets
They are used to line children's beds. They can be of any shape and size according to the shape of the child's bed.
Reusable waterproof diapers
They are sewn using an additional waterproof layer and allow you not to suffer with separate oilcloths and diapers. But you can’t swaddle a baby in them, they don’t let air through and will be too hard for him. They can be laid in a crib or playpen, but you need to change the diapers often so that the baby doesn’t feel discomfort.
Cocoon diapers
They are intended exclusively for swaddling babies. These diapers have Velcro or a zipper sewn in for easy swaddling. They are made of stretchy fabrics to perform their main function, but at the same time not to restrict the baby's movements at all.
Diaper sizes
To sew a diaper yourself, you need to know the sizes of diapers for a newborn:
- 80x95 cm. They are quite small and can be used for swaddling only in the very first days of the baby. They can also be used as a mat or napkin.
- 95x100 cm. These sizes are perfect for children 2-3 months old. At this age, they become more mobile. In order to securely fix the sheet, but leave a little space for the baby's comfort, the sheet will need to be wrapped around the body a couple of times and this size is perfect for this.
- 110x110 cm. This size of diapers is considered optimal for newborns. Even a baby of 4 and 5 months will feel quite comfortable in them.
- 120x120 cm. This is the largest size for diapers. Both large babies and slightly older ones will feel good in them.
Choice of fabric
What are diapers usually made of? There are several types of fabric that make excellent products:
- Chintz. This is a fabric made from natural cotton fiber. This fabric is pleasant to the touch. They can be used for swaddling in hot weather and in winter together with flannel fabric.
- Flannel. Also made from 100% cotton, pleasant to the touch and excellent at absorbing moisture.
- Flannel. Similar to flannel, but has a fleecy surface on both sides.
- Knitwear. Unlike the previous ones, they stretch well and take the shape of the child, leaving him free space.
Pattern
One diaper is not enough for small children. Do not rush to order them from China. How to hem diapers yourself? When sewing a product with your own hands, a compiled pattern can save the craftswoman time.
Pre-selected sizes and shapes will be much easier to trace from a ready-made template than to measure everything on the fabric again each time.
To make a pattern, you need to take a piece of paper or cardboard slightly larger than the parameters of the future product. Any material on which you can draw will do for the pattern: be it graph paper or regular newspaper.
The dimensions of the future diaper should be applied to the pattern. You should get a rectangle of the selected size - sewing pattern. From each side you need to additionally step back 2 cm for processing the edge, as they taught in the labor lesson at school.
Preparation
Before you start sewing the diaper, you need to make sure that you have everything you need at hand:
- the required amount of fabric;
- threads to match the fabric;
- special tailor's chalk or soap;
- sewing machine or overlock (if you don’t have a machine, you can easily do it yourself);
- scissors;
- a tailor's ruler or other object that will be convenient for drawing long, straight lines;
- measuring tape.
Step by step sewing of a diaper
It is quite easy to sew diapers for newborn babies with your own hands, you just need to process the fabric step by step:
- If you need to sew several diapers from one fabric, it can be folded in several layers.
- Secure the edges of the layers together so that the fabric does not move during the process of drawing lines and cutting. The main thing is not to sew them together.
- Place the pattern on the fabric and trace around it. You can also secure it with sewing pins.
- Once the fabric is cut out, you need to apply the remaining lines necessary to sew the product (fold lines for finishing the edge).
- Everything is almost ready, all that remains is to process the edges. For this, it is best to use a sewing machine.
- The pre-folded and ironed edges must be sewn on the machine so that they are minimally bent away from the main fabric.
- If you have not previously made a reserve of fabric for processing the edges, then they can be processed on a machine using the overlock function.
How many diapers will be needed?
In order for the baby to feel well, several different types of diapers are needed:
- Regular knitted diaper for swaddling - 5 pieces.
- Made of warm fabric - 5 pieces.
- Light and thin (for a crib and rags) - 5 pieces.
There is nothing better than something that mom made herself, putting all her love into it. The main thing is to choose natural materials and take into account the basic recommendations and the baby will be happy!
