IS SWADDLING BABIES OKAY? (Safe Swaddling)

Despite warnings and educational campaigns by the Ministry of Health, unfortunately, swaddling and wrapping babies too tightly, especially around their legs, is becoming more and more common.

This is a serious problem.

Even if a baby is born healthy, swaddling increases the risk of hip dysplasia later in life.

We strongly urge our families, the babies we follow, and their families not to swaddle their babies.

The treatment rates for babies after swaddling are also decreasing, and hip dislocation can occur at a later age or in later months.

Another problem is the double arabesque treatment, which is unfortunately practiced incorrectly and widely by other doctors in our country.

The only treatment accepted worldwide for a baby diagnosed with developmental hip dysplasia or congenital hip dislocation in the first six months is bandaging.

This bandaging is the Pavlik bandaging method.

Apart from this, there is no place or value in the treatment of applying double diapers or thick bandages to the baby.

On the contrary, it wastes the baby's and family's time, delays treatment, and causes the family to lose the very important bond they have with their baby, as if they were treating the baby themselves.

Many babies who have undergone double Arabesque treatment, which is unfortunately still being practiced, come to us, and the first 2-3 months of treatment, during which they could have responded very well, are lost.

However, their treatment continues for many years afterward.

Abroad, especially in the United States, a method called “secure swaddling” is used, in which the upper extremities, i.e., the arms, are tightly wrapped, and the legs are left more relaxed.

However, follow-up studies have shown that this swaddling method can also be harmful, and this practice is gradually being abandoned.

In our country, the term “swaddling” is considered to be either beneficial or harmful, which is very risky from our perspective. Rather than explaining a beneficial swaddling method to a family, it is recommended that swaddling not be done at all.