title: Swaddling: a traditional care method rediscovered.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study was undertaken to compare the sleep profiles of healthy infants in swaddling and sleeping bag conditions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Polysomnographs of 85 healthy infants (40 in the study group, 45 in the control group) with a mean age of 7.5 weeks were recorded in the sleeping laboratory. A positive decision from the local Ethics Committee and the written consent of the parents were obtained for the study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Swaddling significantly reduces the rate of spontaneous waking (events/h: 1.39 [0.85-2.77] vs. 2.81 [1.49-4.53], P=0.020) and the number of sleep stage changes (events/h: 3.82 [2.97-5.16] vs. 5.37 [3.58-6.67], P=0.015). Swaddling promotes quiet sleep (36.37% [29%-40.31%] vs. 30.2% [24.45%-36.78%], P=0.032), the time spent awake was decreased (8.98% [4.62%-14.25%] vs. 14.17% [9.2%-18.94%], P=0.001) and sleep efficiency was increased (91.02% [85.75%-95.38%] vs. 85.83% [81.06%-90.8%], P=0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Swaddling promotes a more quiet sleep in infants.
authors.affiliation: Carl-Thiem-Klinikum Cottbus gGmbH, Clinic for Paediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Academic Teaching Hospital of the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Cottbus, Germany. l.meyer@ctk.de
authors.forename: Lars Eckehard
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Erler
mesh_terms: D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D001512:Bedding and Linens; D003020:Clothing; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007224:Infant Care / Q000379:methods; D017286:Polysomnography; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology; D012894:Sleep Stages; D013398:Sudden Infant Death / Q000517:prevention & control; D016683:Supine Position