ergoCocoon

When Hannah was born, the midwives at the hospital showed us how to wrap her in a tight, comforting swaddle. It took quite a few goes, but eventually I became somewhat of an expert (self-proclaimed) at the art of swaddling.

However, what I didn’t realise was that newborn babies are quite placid. They don’t move a whole lot, but it doesn’t take long before they start kicking, wiggling, wriggling and doing whatever it takes to escape from even the most well-wrapped swaddle. Our little girl was also quite a long baby, so she had extra length to work with when kicking her way out of my efforts.

Once it became apparent that she couldn’t be contained in a simple muslin wrap, panic began to set in. As soon as Hannah was unwrapped, she then felt insecure, so she woke and cried. On top of that, loose fabrics were a huge worry for me. I’d wake up every five minutes to check she was okay.

After some quick research I drove, bleary-eyed, to the local shops and purchased two products. One was a wrap-like device that was supposed to be more secure than a wrap with a standard sheet. It was not. Hannah was out of it quicker than ever. The other product was an ergoCocoon sleep bag. I bought the 0.2 TOG, 0-3 month bag as it was during a hot summer.

Right away it made sense. It was snug (not as much as a tight wrap, but still comforting). Hannah was used to it very quickly. The two-way zip along the front was secure, (there was no escaping!) while also allowing for easy, quick night-time nappy changes. A neat, extra piece of fabric at the neck allowed the zipper to be tucked away so that it didn’t disturb the baby. It was made out of cotton, so it was good for Hannah’s sensitive skin.

The next day I was sent to the shops to procure another.

In my experience the pouches were durable. Hannah outgrew them before there was much in the way of visible wear. The zippers felt robust and were always smooth. The pouches were thrown in with the regular washing every couple of days and hung out to dry. They even survived the occasional 5-minute tumble dry finish (I’m fairly sure the instructions said not to do this, please follow the instructions). They became the only things we used for Hannah in her bassinet, except for the addition of a tightly tucked-in cotton blanket when the night-time temperatures started to drop. The only small thing that we found in the way of durability was the Hannah got to the point where she was able to slip a finger out through the neck hole. This was never a real problem, it just made for some cute photos.

A neat little feature of these sleep bags is the poppers on the armholes. For Hannah, we almost always kept these done up so that her arms were tucked in to her body. This was because she would startle herself if her arms were allowed to flail freely. Only right towards the end of our time with these bags did we release her arms, as we were concerned that she might roll in her sleep (this actually took another four months!). With her arms tightly and securely by her side, Hannah appeared to be comfortable.

Hannah has almost always been a good night-time sleeper. Whether the ergoCocoon (and following ergoPouches) have assisted with her sleep I’m unsure as, since those early days, she has not slept in anything else. There are other options, such as the Bonds Newbies Sleeping Bag and a variety of Grobag products, but I haven’t used these. I’d always recommend looking for cotton bags, especially if your baby has sensitive skin, like my baby does.

My experience of the ergoCocoon has been very positive. I would buy this product again and I have now purchased five of the company’s similar product – the ergoPouch.