The traditional way of wrapping babies, in swaddling clothes, is becoming increasingly popular – but it places risks to the babies’ hips, an expert warns today.
Wrapping infants tightly leads to unnatural straightening of the babies’ legs, according to Professor Nicholas Clarke.
Professor Clarke says this problem can be avoided by ensuring that children’s legs are not wrapped tightly.
But midwives today said there were other reasons to avoid swaddling – as it could overheat the baby.
In the UK in 2010 sales of swaddling clothes increased by 61%.
Writing in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, Professor Clarke, a paediatric orthopaedics surgeon at Southampton University, UK, says healthcare professionals should encourage mothers to swaddle children safely and prevent hip problems later in life.
But Jane Munro, of the Royal College of Midwives, said its advice to parents was to avoid swaddling.
She said: "We advise parents to avoid swaddling, but it is also crucial that we take into account each mother’s cultural background, and to provide individualised advice to ensure she knows how to keep her baby safe, able to move and not get overheated.”
Swaddling and hip dysplasia: an orthopaedic perspective Archives of Disease in Childhood 29 October 2013; doi:10.1136/archdischild-2013-304143 [abstract]
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