The Best Swaddles of 2024

This go-to swaddle brand has wide, adjustable wings that wrap around your baby to help create a secure feel. To use it, you tuck your baby's arms through armholes on the inside and zip up the sack. Be sure your baby's arms are at their sides, then use the wings to hold them in place. (Take note, though, that long flaps can potentially overwhelm a small newborn.)

A SleepSack Swaddle is also good for when your child is ready to transition out of swaddling. Just remove one arm for a few nights, then the second arm, and voilà, your baby is in a wearable blanket. It comes in four sizes and many fabrics, including cotton (shown), microfleece and Velboa. In fact, we named the SleepSack one of the best baby shower gifts for new parents.

"This was the only swaddle I could use for my baby, who would escape everything else," says Textiles, Paper & Apparel Lab Executive Director Lexie Sachs. The zipper can zip up from the bottom, so you can change a diaper without unwrapping your newborn.

Also, look for fun patterns from this brand, including its Disney SleepSack Swaddle and, for babies 6 months and older, Harry Potter SleepSack Wearable Blankets.

Newborns can be a little gooey, considering all the drool, spit-up and dreaded diaper blowouts. This affordable set of three means two swaddles can always be in the wash.

As with the HALO SleepSack Swaddle, the SwaddleMe has winglike flaps on the outside to easily secure baby's arms, no origami-style folding required. The wings stay in place with simple hook-and-loop closures. The number-one thing our testers told us was that these swaddles were easy to put on, even in the bleary first days of parenthood.

The pod shape helps newborns keep their legs snuggled together, like they were in the womb. But these small cotton swaddles won't be appropriate past 3 months, when your little one needs to be able to kick and stretch out.

Note that this style doesn't have a zipper at the bottom for easy diaper changes, which might be fine by you. If you unswaddle your baby for a late-night feeding, you can change their diaper, too, before rewrapping them. But if a bottom zipper is important, the brand sells two-packs of its Easy Change Swaddle.

No wings on the outside here. This option secures arms beneath zippered fabric. There are three flaps inside. First, you place your baby in the swaddle, and then you secure their arms so they're down at their sides and held in place with the hook-and-loop closures on the flaps. Next, you bring the third flap up between your baby's legs and secure that one on top of the other flaps. Finally, you zip up the outside of the sack, and your baby is firmly swaddled. That said, despite how quick and easy the process sounds, we found that securing a baby takes longer than the promised five seconds.

The Sleepea is meant to fit fairly tightly and has mesh panels to prevent overheating. The two-way zipper means you can zip from the bottom for diaper changes. It's made of organic cotton and comes in about 10 colors and patterns.

Sleepeas are from the creator of the SNOO. If you're not familiar with that bassinet, see our review of the SNOO Smart Sleeper and find out why it may be worth a try. The SNOO comes with its own swaddles, called SNOO Sleep Sacks, which attach to the bassinet mattress. This Sleepea Swaddle is for people who don't use a SNOO but want their baby to be securely swaddled in a different bassinet or crib.

The founder of Happiest Baby, pediatrician Harvey Karp, M.D., popularized the five "S"'s for soothing a baby, including swaddling, along with shushing and swinging. He's called swaddling a "cornerstone of calming." We like that the arms of the Sleepea can unsnap, so you can stop using the inside flaps and let baby's arms out when it's time to transition to a wearable blanket.

Created by an Australian mom, Love To Dream swaddles are for newborns who prefer to sleep with their arms up in a sort of "V for victory" position — and for those who are set on sucking on their little fists for self-soothing. This swaddle doesn't secure a baby's arms by their sides like others do, but it still provides the snug fit that newborns find so reassuring.

In short, this is the swaddle for babies who don't want to be swaddled in the traditional, almost straitjacket-style sense. Will your baby prefer the arms-up position? As with so much baby gear, you won't know until you try it. Know, though, that if your baby is very tall, they might grow out of this swaddle.

The Swaddle Up is made from cotton with some elastane for stretch. At 2 or 3 months, you can switch your baby to the Love To Dream Swaddle Up Transition Bag.

Tuck your newborn into this peanut-shaped sack with their hands crossed near their heart. Then zip it up. For parents reluctant to restrict arm and leg movement, this one allows babies to move somewhat inside the sack. The stretchy cotton-with-spandex fabric lets an active baby kick to their delight, because some babies actually sleep better when they're able to do that, rather than waking themself up if they can't. Your escape artists can move around in there — but they can't actually break out!

When your baby is ready to transition to having their arms out, you can simply unsnap the armholes to open them. Like some of our other best swaddles, this one has the two-way zipper for easy diaper changes, a feature our testers repeatedly said they appreciated. A downside: There aren't as many patterns and colors to choose from compared with other brands.

We're also fans of the Woombie Grow With Me AIR, which has cooling mesh panels and the ability to fit a baby (with their arms out) up to about 9 months.

Always swaddle your baby in the Ollie with their shoulders out. That and the fact that this swaddle is made with lightweight polyester-spandex fabric can help keep your baby cooler in the summer or if you're in a warm climate, especially if you dress them in a short-sleeve bodysuit.

Unfolded, the Ollie is a blanket with three strong hook-and-loop closures. You lay your baby on the blanket, shoulders above blanket level, and pull and secure your baby's left side and then their right side, making use of the closures. Though functional, the closures make a loud ripping sound when you unswaddle, we found. Also, note that the Ollie is pricier than other options.

A big point of difference for this swaddle is that you secure the bottom with an included elastic band. Watching the instructional video from the brand can help you get it right, but home testers told us they found it easy and that the design is very adjustable, able to fit long and tall babies.

Certain things in the baby-gear world (hello, baby carriers) develop an almost cultlike following, and the Miracle Blanket falls into that category. Parents who love it constantly sing its praises. It's a large, stretchy cotton-knit swaddle that you can wrap multiple times around your newborn for a warm and snuggly fit. No closures, no snaps.

You lay this blanket flat and put your baby on top, with their shoulders above the blanket. Their feet go into an inner foot pouch. Their arms are secured at their sides with flaps that are also inside the blanket. Then you wrap the outside around and tuck the end of the fabric under your baby.

This is another one that testers said was good for wiggle worms. "My daughter could Houdini her way out of almost anything, but there was a nice window when she couldn't get out of this," one tester said. Because a newborn is so tucked in, this works well in northern climates and for winter babies whose nurseries might get cool at night. As for diaper changes, this swaddle requires a little more work than some other options, since you have to totally unwrap your baby to change them.

Another product from the land down under: An Australian mom brought these muslin swaddle blankets to the United States, and now they're sought-after parenting gear. These have a long life apart from swaddling, as a nursing cover, a stroller shade, a hasty play mat, an emergency burp cloth and more.

But first, swaddling. We like this classic version, a breathable cotton muslin that rolls up compactly when you take it on the go, yet each large blanket has plenty of fabric to wrap and tuck your baby in a swaddle. You'll have to bundle your baby the traditional way, like they do in maternity wards, but the brand has a YouTube video tutorial to guide you. If you're still nervous, check out the Aden + Anais Essentials Easy Swaddle Wraps, which are designed with outside flaps that use hook-and-loop closures.

If you fall in love with the brand's patterns and fabric, you can keep going with muslin drool bibs, muslin crib sheets and a muslin Dream Blanket that's sized for a toddler or preschooler.

A smooth polyester-rayon fabric blend is ideal for babies who prefer a stretchy knit over gauzy muslin. You have to learn how to swaddle, but that's a small price to pay, considering this receiving blanket can be used as an all-purpose blanket after the swaddling phase. Plus, it's good for families who are looking for an option that can function as a stroller blanket now and a toddler blanket later.

Two big selling points are the number of delightful, trendy colors that can complement your nursery's decor (coral, gray, light blue and even black) and the fact that you can buy a matching baby beanie for most every Copper Pearl blanket.

Made of silky viscose and spandex, these lightweight and stretchy blankets also come in a huge array of up-to-date fashions and colors, including popular prints like camo and florals. Just take note: The brand sometimes promotes the fabric as being made of bamboo, but viscose is actually a type of rayon, and there’s no bamboo in the finished fabric.

With more than a half-million followers, Posh Peanut might be the most Instagrammable swaddle brand. It's constantly rolling out new holiday designs, special collaborations and more. Watch the brand's video on how to swaddle for tips and pointers, as traditional wrapping is necessary for this pick.

Every blanket comes with a bonus head wrap for added cuteness. If you want to incorporate even more of the brand's fabric and patterns into your day-to-day life, Posh Peanut also makes baby rompers and robes for new moms, so you can twin with your little one.