We really love the Summer SwaddleMe blankets. We rely on them for most of the swaddling we do, which is essentially every time we put them down to sleep. We’ve taken to calling them "peanut suits" because when they’re all swaddled-up nicely, the boys look like such neat little peanuts. As newborns, the boys seem to like being swaddled, just as most people say.

Sam and Max at 1 month old, enjoy their Summer SwaddleMe Blankets

The key we’ve learned is to wrap their upper bodies first in a non-stretchy receiving blanket; then they go in the SwaddleMe. The reason is that the SwaddleMe is just stretchy enough that the babies—especially Max—usually find a way to get one or both of their hands free. Sometimes it’s out the sides, but usually it’s up by their faces. (Actually that happens less and less as the babies grow and the swaddle suits become tighter.)

Max and Sam at about 2 weeks old, wearing patterned Summer SwaddleMe Blankets

The second trick is to keep the fabric away from their chins. You have to fight the urge to pull the swaddle high up near their shoulders and neck because when they’re hungry, any fabric that comes close to their mouths triggers them to start looking for something to suck on, and then they won’t sleep. We have them sleeping on a slightly inclined mattress (to prevent spitting-up), so they slowly writhe their way deeper into the SwaddleMe, and the fabric often comes higher, near their chins. We’ve learned to swaddle them a little lower, around their shoulders, knowing that the SwaddleMe can creep higher-up on them when they are on an inclined bedding. We’ve found that by 8-10 weeks old, they can stick out of the top more and it still stays on well.

Depending on the baby’s size, when you pull the first flap across their bodies (from the baby’s right arm to his left) and tuck it in tightly behind them, we have found that it can leave its thick vertical seam running down their back. That might be really uncomfortable to sleep on, so we try to fold or roll the end of the flap away from their backs toward their left arms.

Max and Sam sporting striped Summer SwaddleMe Blankets

I wish the SwaddleMe came in a wider range of colors. They mostly strike me as light patterns and they’re all really boring. You can find onesies in a hundred colors, and all kinds of patterns and prints, but the SwaddleMe is what you see when you look at the babies because it’s on the outside. I vote for dark colors like Navy blue and dark green or red. Or black, like their daddy wears. OK, maybe not black.