Love to Dream SwaddleUP review

When looking for a swaddle, the first thing on every parent’s mind is usually the safety and comfort of their baby – well, that or how on earth to get more sleep. Love to Dream’s swaddle offers all of this by the bucket load; the fabric is lusciously soft and light, and our mini-tester seemed extremely cosy and content.

The USP here is definitely the inclusion of some eye-catching ‘wings’ built into the top of the swaddle. At first glance, they're maybe more Batman than cute and comfy, but our tester found the movement this provided priceless for soothing her little girl, as it allowed her to sleep in her favourite 'arms-up' position.

This even gave our mini-tester enough wiggle-room to suck on her hands to self-soothe as she was dropping off to sleep. Her mum said she could hear her doing this throughout the night, which was comforting (and also probably very cute).

There is also a 50/50 version of the swaddle, where the wings are removable, letting you release your baby’s arms when she is ready to transition from a swaddle to a sleeping bag.

On top of all this, the swaddle is super-easy to use. Our tester was a big fan of the zip-up fastening, as it was easy to get to just the right tightness (which isn’t always the case with the traditional blanket-style swaddles).

Love to Dream goes above and beyond in this aspect, with a double-sided zipper allowing you to change your baby’s nappy without removing the swaddle as a whole – pretty helpful if you ask us, particularly during our ‘night-time test’. It made those tricky and bleary-eyed middle-of-the-night changes so much easier, with our mini-tester not even waking when we tested it out. Perhaps sleep-hazed re-swaddling really could be be a thing of the past.

We would say this may be a product better suited to younger babies who haven’t been used to tight swaddling, as it’s certainly a bit roomier than other options. When our tester tried it out with her older child he found it a little too loose, and some pesky fingers even poked out of the hole in the top, because he'd been used to a much tighter swaddle from day one.

To be honest, we think he probably just wasn't as used to sleeping in the arms-up position, which is where this product really comes into its own. It gives babies the benefit of staying in this cactus-like pose if they're used to it, but also allows them to feel more cocooned than if they weren't swaddled at all.

Love to Dream recommends its product for up to four months, or until the point at which your baby is able to roll over and lie on her front by herself. We have more information on the safest swaddling practices in our Buyer’s Guide.

The Love to Dream swaddle we tested came in a lightweight cotton, but there’s the option of a heavier fabric for the winter months. There’s also the choice of a few neutral colours, although not quite as wide a variety as some of the other products we tested – so maybe not for you if you like a bit of vibrance in your baby’s wardrobe.

By the end of their time extensively trialling all the different swaddles, our tester proudly informed us that this is the one she would return to time and time again for her youngest because they both slept so much more peacefully when she was tucked up in it. And if that’s not enough to give the Love to Dream Swaddle our Mumsnet Best, we don’t know what is.

The Stats:

Fastening type: Zip-up swaddle

Age range/sizes: X small (suitable for 4.5-7lb or 2-3.2kg), small (suitable for 6.5-13lb or 3-6kg), and medium (suitable for 13-18.5lb or 6-8.5kg)

Materials: Cotton (93%) & elastane (7%) fabric (but there are lots of other options, including a much lighter Summer Lite fabric and an organic option made from 95% cotton global organic textile standard and 5% elastane fabric)

Colours: Grey, blue or pink

RRP: £24.99

Machine washable & tumble dryer friendly