Newborn Summer Sleep Style Bundle

Open the Cocoon and lay on a low, flat surface. Lay your baby on top, and zip up from the bottom. You can choose to have their arms down at their side, or across their chest when you zip up based on sleeping preference. If your baby prefers hands-up or arms-out, release their arms using the shoulder poppers, and add a Butterfly Cardi for hands-up.

To change their diaper, zip up from the bottom to release their legs and lower torso. You do not need to fully upzip the Cocoon, or release their arms, for this.
To transition to arms-out sleeping, open the arm-poppers at the shoulders before dressing your child in the Cocoon.

Sleep your child in their Cocoon Swaddle Sack with their feet touching the end of their bassinet or crib.

This little life-saver is for newborn babies who either prefer to sleep with their hands up near their face, or are transitioning out of a swaddle and into a sleep sack. If using for the latter, the arm pockets help ease the position by slowing transitioning from arms-in swaddle, to arms in a hands-up butterfly position, to arms fully out over 7-10 days.

To comply with safety requirements, our Cocoon Swaddle Sacks have a close fit around the neck, shoulder and chest area to prevent your little one from slipping inside, or pulling the swaddle over their mouth. A quick way to check if the neck is too tight is to see if you can put 2 fingers comfortably inside the neck opening. The material should feel snug against your fingers, but not tight. If it feels tight on your fingers, it may be time to go up to the next size.

We recommend using the Butterfly Cardi over a 10 day period to transition to arms-out sleeping. You can follow our simple step-by-step How-To Guide for the Butterfly Cardi, here.

You would choose a suitable TOG based on the temperature of the room your baby is sleeping in. We recommend placing a thermometer in baby's sleep space before they are born, to start getting an idea of how the room temperature fluctuates throughout the night and day.

To take the guesswork out of dressing your little one for sleep, please check our Room Temperature and What to Wear Guide (free with every Cocoon Swaddle Sack) to help you decide the right TOG rating, and how to layer underneath. If you have not yet purchased a Cocoon, and are unsure of your room temperature, you can reach out to our Customer Service team who will happily mail a Room Thermometer and What to Wear guide to you.

It is important that you choose the right size for your baby’s weight, for safety, and also to provide that firm swaddle feel. Please do not be tempted to upsize, to get more wear out of the swaddle. You can follow our Size Guide to see what size will be best suited for your baby. All newborn babies will fit the Newborn size from birth. A small-average baby my get 6-8 weeks in this size, while a bigger baby may get 3-4 weeks. We suggest buying 2x Newborn (0000) sizes to use at birth, and have 2x 0-3M sizes on hand ready for when they grow.

The Butterfly Cardi is a bolero style jacket designed to be used over any arms-out, sleeveless pouches. It's ideal for babies who wake due to a drop in temperature during the night, and with their arms feeling a little cool to the touch. The sleeves are 1.0 TOG rated while the body is a thinner fabric akin to a 0.2 TOG. This means it will provide some extra warmth, without causing the risk of overheating.

In the early days after birth, a newborn will experience a startle reflex. This reflex causes the hands and body to jerk during sleep, and this action can often wake or unsettle them. Using a swaddle can help contain this sudden movement and prevent waking. Swaddling can also soothe and settle them to sleep by providing a feeling of comfort and containment, similar to their experience in the confined space of a womb (or in your arms!). A traditional swaddle is typically used for the first 2-3 months of a baby's life.

Our zip-up Cocoon Swaddle Sack also has the following benefits:
Keeping baby’s body warm in the early stages when their ability to regulate body temperature is still developing, removing the need for loose blankets in their sleep space.
A hug! A baby would love to spend the whole night bundled up in their parent’s warm arms so swaddles help create that sensation of being hugged.
Can help a baby focus on feeding by keeping their arms and legs out of the way.
Prevents baby from scratching themselves with their nails.
Offers three different sleep styles for newborns; arms-in, arms-out, and hands-up (when using with a Butterfly Cardi).
Swaddling = a longer sleep for everyone!

• Keeping baby’s body warm in the early stages when their ability to regulate body temperature is still developing.
• A hug! A baby would love to spend the whole night bundled up in their parent’s warm arms so swaddles help create that sensation of being hugged.
• Can help a baby focus on feeding by keeping their arms and legs out of the way.
• Prevents baby from scratching themselves with their nails.
• Swaddling = a longer sleep for everyone!

The neck must be fitted to avoid a baby’s head slipping down into the swaddle. To check for correct fit, you should be able to fit two fingers in the neck hole when being worn.

Swaddles should be firm across the torso while still allow for full chest expansion when breathing, as those little ribs are still very soft and bendy so an overly enthusiastic swaddle has the potential to be too tight across the chest.
The swaddle should be loose around the hips and legs, allowing them to flop outwards in a frog-like position while the baby sleeps. Tight swaddling across the hips that hold the legs together is thought to contribute to and increase risk of developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH).

Babies don’t regulate their body heat very well and rely on their coverings to keep them warm but not hot. Do not overdress a baby underneath their swaddle and never cover their head at sleep time (e.g. with a hat or beanie). Chose a TOG rated swaddle such as our Cocoon Swaddle Sack to avoid using loose blankets in baby's sleep space, as they are bulky and have the potential to overheat a baby or cause suffocation. Remove any other suffocation hazards such as toys or cot bumpers from the sleep space.

Swaddling needs to be secure, without any chance of fabric draping over the baby’s face.