Table of Contents
ToggleResources:
- Learn more about this amazing swaddle.
- Follow Swaddlou on Instagram.
Episode Highlights:
- How this new and unique swaddle came to be.
- What makes this swaddle different.
- The ability to use this swaddle from birth to help calm your newborn & get better, longer stretches of sleep.
Sleep Struggles Solved + Results Guaranteed
Podcast Episode Transcripts:
Disclaimer: Transcripts were generated automatically and may contain inaccuracies and errors.
Welcome to the kids sleep show, where we help tired parents from around the world to get their children to fall asleep independently, sleep through the night and build healthy sleep habits for life. I’m your host, Courtney Zentz. Now let’s sleep together. Hey, everyone, welcome back to the kids sleep show. I am so excited to be here today with a friend of former sleep plan and someone who is near and dear to my heart, creating a product that is near and dear to my heart, Miss Courtney Fox Peters, who has come up with the most amazing product she’s going to tell you about today. But I want to say first and foremost, Courtney, thank you for joining me here today. And it’s such a pleasure to have you on the Kids Sleep show. So Introduce yourself. Tell everybody a little bit about the amazing Swaddlou and what it is how it came to fruition. And just a little bit about you. Oh, thank you so much. I’m so excited to be here. I’m a huge podcast fan. And so when you asked me, I was like a horse. I’m a little nervous. Um, well, I think you have to go back I have to start with from the very beginning, I had trouble having my daughter, Claire. And so you know, I took a few years to have her so when she came to be and I held her in my arms, I really couldn’t stomach hearing her cry, it killed me, it broke my heart. And it really set me up for some, some not so great sleep habits as a mom, or as a as a mom. So I struggled with sleep with training Claire to sleep. And that’s really where Courtney came in a few years, well, a year or two later. So I had Claire and then I had ki at 17 months, they were 17 months apart. And we were really struggling with with managing their sleep. So that’s when I reached out to Courtney and she came in really on a white horse and save the day for us, and really taught us what we were doing how to how to manage our daughter’s sleep problems. And I felt like I became really an expert. Like I had it down after I worked with you. And so shortly after that I became pregnant with identical twins. So I had Yeah, so um, that would if you’re keeping track that was that’s for kids under three and a half. Um, so I actually though after working with you, I felt like so ready like I I had really struggled with with Claire. And by Kate I thought he was actually one of those kids. That was a pretty good sleeper but I had butchered things so bad with Claire that I really wanted to do things right with her. So I actually going back I called you when I think Claire was like, two and a half maybe and K was closer to like nine months. Um, so um, so anyway, yeah, I felt ready after working with you for these twins. Um, so anyway, the twins came to be and I really had it down. I had it like I was doing a really good job and something frustrating started happening though. They started breaking out of their swaddle. And that’s really what was the start of my, my idea. So So tell me a little bit about the name SWAT Aloo, because I love it. And you know, just tell folks a little bit about what it is and how it’s different and really, you know, I mean, a lot of swaddles on the market, right? There’s right in swaddles there swaddled transition products, there’s Velcro, swaddles. And often people come to me as a sleep coach and go, Hmm, what recommendation Do you have, the first thing I tell clients is always like, hey, go back to your ultrasound picture and look at how they’re like, right? If for nine months, they’re like this, their arms are Up above their head and you think you’re gonna straight jacket them into a swaddle, like they’re probably not comfortable. So they’re going to spend 20 minutes every time they go to sleep fighting to try to get their hands up above their head. And, you know, that’s frustrating for family. So there’s a product that supports that, right. And then I talked with clients like, I’m not personally a fan of using Muslim blankets to swaddle because I feel like they can get loose and it’s a safety hazard, right? You can tie that thing a million times over those kids are Houdini and I just never liked the idea after kind of that day or two home from the hospital to use a blanket to do the swaddles because I just always felt like they were dangerous. And I’m a huge proponent of safe sleep. So my kids were straightaway in the crib, there was nothing in that crib, the room was cool, calm and dark, like you know, I just I follow ours because I see too much in what I do. And you know, and with the swaddled transitions, it’s like somewhere around kind of that eight to 12 weeks, they do start to get a little more muscle Killer and get there. But there are some kids that still really like the protection of the swaddle. And that manages that startle reflex right and wrong thing, and you can teach great skill, you’re still going to have a kid that punches themselves in the face. And so that’s what I found. Yeah, yeah, there’s the balance of it. So tell us a little bit about the SWAT Allu. Like, the second you called and told me we’re doing this, I was so excited, because I always see, you know, there’s great products that are on the market. There’s a lot that I refer to often a lot for different reasons. But what you did, and the way you explained how it works is so cool to me in the space because nobody’s done it yet. So right, I don’t want to steal your thunder, but I’m so excited about it. So what happened was, and honestly, I don’t know, if I didn’t have twins, I don’t know if I would have saw the power and what I was doing. So what happened was I had them just in a Muslim rap. And actually the miracle swaddle, which I think is actually a good product for, but they can break out of it pretty quickly. So I had them in the miracle swaddle and they after, like, they were doing really well in it. But after two or three weeks, they started breaking out. And sometimes one baby wouldn’t break out and the other baby would. And I could just tell how if they didn’t break out, it was really extending the length of their sleep. So if you know anything about twins, like they have to be on the same schedule to survive. And so, you know, if one baby would break out earlier than the other baby than that other baby would have to wake up and I was like, This is not working for me. Like I need to figure out a way to keep them compressed and happy in a safe and cool way. So that they don’t break out of these models. So anyway, one night it was like two in the morning. And I I put I they were swaddled and I actually put that swaddle and zip back. And it worked really well. But I woke up and I was a little sleep deprived. I woke up the next morning, and I was like, that was great. But it was also to your point, like I was worried about he and it was just a little too much. But it worked. So well this idea of kind of doubling the swaddle, doubling the the hold for that. So anyway, I called my mom and I said, Mom, I figured this out, like I figured out and they slept eight hours, they doubled what they usually sleep, because they had that extra compression. So I call my mom and I said how do I how do I combine this? How do I make a zip swaddle that holds that compresses now, now there are zip swaddles out there, however, they tend to ride up pretty easily because they don’t they don’t kind of secure the arms Well, there’s there’s one brand that has Velcro that I’m not a huge fan, I’m I’ll go into my belt, I’m used to being Velcro free, but also the way it kind of binds the arms down. Um, I think it kind of makes for a hot environment. Um, so anyway, that’s really where that this Waterloo was born. It was how do we keep our these babies snug, compressed in a in a way that safe and, and secure. And also, for me, Velcro free was really important because, um, sounds silly. Like there’s a lot of reasons I’m not a fan of Velcro, but the sound for twins was one because you know, you make that big sound and, and also it like bunched up and I didn’t really have time to like unbunch it when I have the other baby prime like I really needed to be fast and like I needed something that worked really well and quickly. And it was like a no nonsense swaddle. And that’s really where I came up with it. So no, I hate the Velcro when it hits the face. And please yeah, like cuts their face and I’m like, gosh, it looks like I scratched him but it was just the Velcro you know, so I totally understand where you’re coming from. So this is funny. So I I am like I think I’m going to get on Shark Tank I really do someday. And I I just really think that I thought of it that I was like I should give one shark of velcros blanket and one shark a non Velcro blanket and say which one would you rather wear because like really the idea of kind of wrapping your kid in Velcro racket wrapping anybody in Velcro is very unappealing. Like it’s just funny that that’s I think people do it because that’s what everybody does. And we haven’t figured out a way to do it better until now I you know so I’m just really, you know all about I just really believe in this and I really am not a huge fan of Velcro. When I think to your point keeping twins on the same schedule. Super important and when you’re in there and one is sleeping and you’re ripping the other one out of it right waking up like if you don’t want that one to wake up because they just settled and you have a little bit of flexibility there. You’re waking them up. Yeah, yeah, exactly. It’s, it’s definitely, especially at three in the morning, like if one is sleeping through the night and one is waking up still to feed. Gotta take them out of there to change or to burp or whatever. Right? Yeah, you end up waking one that was sleeping interrupting their sleep cycle. So I totally am with your mat. Yeah, I wanted to do the best to balance like with, you know, with regards the the safety and the security of keeping their arms in because that startle is strong. And it’s there for a while, right? Yeah. You know, so from an age standpoint, like what age do you recommend with a swaddle loo that parents are able to start using the product like can they use it from birth is it some both have to be like, like, I know, with certain ones, you have to be three months or 12 pounds. Now it’s more of like swaddled transition products and stuff. But like, talk a little bit about when can you put a baby in the swaddle, so you can put a baby and this Waterloo, right when they come out, we had it on a like a five and a half pound baby and it worked fine. What we’re finding is so successful is so the outer wrap is really what is where a lot of the compression is coming from. But that is there’s also little buttons that allow for some flexibility. So if there’s smaller, you can, you know, do it a little tighter. And then as they grow, you have flexibility with that, that outer wrap. So, um, so we have a small size. But we really believe that most people that small size will actually take you through the whole life of swaddling your baby, we are making a larger size as well, because there are some babies that are very big, that might need the two different sizes. But that’s we’re kind of just kind of waiting to see what the customer feedback is. But right now, like we have, we’ve had a baby right now that’s 11 pounds that’s been in this small since they were six pounds, and it’s it’s working great. I’m so so. So sizing, there’s there’s flexibility to it. Now for for the life of a swaddled child, right? Like, they can start to roll early. Right? You know, it depends on a child and when they roll, because obviously, if they roll in it, they have to come out of it and then position to, you know, wearable blankets, sometimes they transition and nothing. I think it kind of depends on the child. But what do you see, you see, they typically get through the swaddle, you know, my like it like my girls until I had to take them out when they started to roll. But they didn’t like what obviously, we had to be very safe about that. But since they were preemies, they didn’t show signs of rolling until five months, they were in there for five months. I mean, they they show no signs of rolling and they it kept them secure and snug for five months. I know that’s a long time. But it was great for me because by five months, they were ready for some formal sleep training that you’re a little more, you know, I was more comfortable at that time doing that. And so it really it for me it it prevented that kind of middle stage that I know that a lot of people experience where it’s like, they still have that startle reflex, they still they still need that compression, but they’re but they’re, you know, breaking out and too strong. And, and so it, it lasted for me the whole time until we were ready to do some till they were ready to start sleeping on their own. Ya know, and it’s free, you know? And the reason I ask is because sometimes, like the compression is important, right? Because I think people like to feel tight. Oftentimes I deal with clients, and I’m sure we talked about I talked with most clients about it. When you put your baby to bed, where do you put them? Usually, right when you’re in the crib, like what part of the crib center? Right? Every parent does it? Yeah, like human nature to lay your kid down right in the center. Right? What do they do? They spend 20 minutes going? Yeah, right. And they try to shimmy themselves to the front corner to the top left to the side, I have a lot of kids that just flip sideways. And they do it because they want the pressure. That pressure, the pressure is a spenserian right. And so it’s been nine months in your belly tight as a ball. And they want that because that’s how they spent nine months. So they come out and it’s like, holy crap. The world is my oyster, you know? Yeah, they miss the comfort and compression. So a lot of times I have parents, I’m like don’t touch them. Leave them alone. They’re spending 20 minutes getting there when you lay them down at night. Lay them there. Don’t lay him in the center. Right? Yeah, you’re gonna spend 20 minutes getting there because they like their head up against something their arms pushing against something, right? Like they want to feel that sense of comfort in, you know, in the, in the product. So it’s like that same type of thing is happening with the SWOT Lewis like you’ll see with kids like they they want to be up against something and that’s okay. They’re safe. You know, you can according to the AAP You can’t use anything in a credit. No, right? None of that stuff is like technically approved from an AP standpoint. Now the guidelines change from when this is recorded to like what the next AP update is, but you gotta like, trust the process and know that right and going back to when I started with you, I you know, I had a lot of really unhealthy sleep habits for my daughters where I you know, I liked them in the rocking play because I, I could tell they were just so comforted by that space. And that’s why I just believe in this swaddle so much because it puts them in a safe environment, but they still have that comfort, that that comfortable compressed space. I think it’s one of the reasons why the dockatot so popular, and they put it in cribs, and they and people really shouldn’t be doing that, either. I think it’s that, you know, it’s that idea of trying to, to create a soft, nice environment for your kids or for your babies. That’s been do for kids. Maybe Yeah, conducive, but it’s, um, it’s hard to make that safe. But we’ve done that. So we’re really excited. That’s awesome. I know, they just come came out about a week ago with a recall for all of those I heard, which was the doctor x or the bank, the dockatot is on there. There’s about six a month that they just said, we’re done with this now. Yeah. Don’t quote me on that. But yeah, there were about six of them. I was I’m happy that they did it. Yeah, you know, I have to read the release. Again, from Consumer Reports. It’s up on my website, I I browsed it to see all of the different products, but I don’t want to name drop and be like, Yes, that one definitely is because I’m not 100%. But yeah, pretty sure it is because it’s not safe at all. You know, saying it’s just that safe sleep. Like, when people say to me, like I you know, how do you create an environment that’s comfortable, right? The swaddle is great, it’s cotton. It’s cool. It’s comfortable, right? Like, that’s something I want a baby to be up against. Right? As a parent, I feel good about that. But then nuzzling their face. Like, there are some some swaddle products where they like suck on the fabric. I’m like, Oh, I just don’t know where that fabric was made. In a period of a couple of weeks, like, you know, a couple months to a couple years, like depending on which product right? I don’t necessarily want you sucking on all of that. Yeah, I’m, I’m a huge fan of sheets that also go with like the swaddles Hold on, I got my arsenal of product here, my basket, but these types of products, like with the soft sheets, they’re sure, yeah, they’re soft. Like that, to me is a safe cozy environment, they travel well, so kids kind of know, hey, I’m, you know, I’m in this a different looking crib, but it feels the same and it’s soft. And, you know, I think that that’s an important now, from your standpoint, as far as like temperature regulation, right? I know that kids typically like a room between 68 and 70. Give or take, right? A lot of people always ask me, What if they overheat? Does this product overheat them? You know, even some of the products that look a little bulkier, like they don’t they’re cool and comfortable. I tell clients all the time. And I’d love for you to comment on it because I’m sure your research on it, right? Like, we as adults sleep with a damn feather comforter and a sheet on every night in the middle of July. What Yeah, right, our house is set at 70 we sleep comfortably. I like being covered, man, you know. So, you know, it’s probably the same for babies. But obviously, you always want to pay attention to the overheating. So talk a little bit about the swaddle, though, I’m sure you’ve looked at that as well. Yeah. So um, if you look at some of the other zip swaddle products, they bind the arms by having Velcro, like I would Courtney and I can see each other on video, but so we can we’re like kind of like, visually doing it. But it’s hard to do it through a podcast. But yeah, they kind of bind the arms across the chest. And so it’s challenging, or it’s not challenging, it’s, in my opinion, really easy to overheat. And for a while, I was wondering why, like some of those brands, it’s all mesh, and I couldn’t understand why because there’s not much fabric and I was like, why is it all mesh, and then I realized it’s really the way they have these arms bound down, that creates a really hot environment for these babies sleeping. So um, the way that ours it’s just so gentle, the way that you kind of wrap the wrap the swaddle around the arm and just gently to the back, and then there’s nothing that’s like, they’re compressed, but they’re not like stuffed in there, like a like a sardine. Um, so it’s, um, so the overheating It was a concern of mine because there’s a wrap around it, but you really don’t experience that because there’s nothing that’s like super tight, that’s like really, that’s really you know, suffocating their bodies like um, so it’s, it’s like a hard thing to describe why it works so well. But um, you know, if it’s Velcro like there’s no give and Velcro, there’s given In this fabric, so, um, it really it, although there’s a little bit more fabric, generally it’s a lot cooler, because you don’t have they’re not just like, smushed together in it. So awesome. Yeah, I’m so excited. So tell me, I know we’re recording this a little bit before it’s launching. So let’s talk a little bit about availability. Where can you get it? What does it look like? how, you know, what is the shipping? What are the colors? Like, tell us what the good fun stuff. But, you know, again, moms that are listening and are interested, where do they get one of these so you can get it@sewaddle.com swa DD l o u.com. And then I would love for you to follow our community on Instagram, which is at SWAT Aloo. We’re really in addition to the swaddle where our goal is to create, we’re on a mission to create a community for parents wrapped in love. It’s tied to that hole wrapped around the swaddle. But we really want to be like the village for parents, I feel like sleep is what really important until I saw you, I didn’t feel like I could be the best version of myself because I was struggling, my life revolved around getting them to sleep because they never would sleep and like I felt like I could become a human again, once they were sleeping. And so kind of piggybacking off of that, that mission, um, we want parents to become the best versions of themselves. I really think my swaddle is a step for a lot of parents to get some sleep, which is right there and getting to be the best version of yourself. And on that platform. We’re also going to talk to specialists, experts all over in all different fields. That will help parents hopefully, you know, learn learn a thing or two, that will inspire them, help them you know, either baths, get their groove back all that stuff. So, um, so that’s what our Instagrams all about, in addition to the swaddle. We should be live in a week. Wow, actually. So, in July, we will have a full inventory. So we’ll be ready for orders. We should be ready for orders this week. It’s late June now. But uh, but yeah, so um, so that’s where you can get them swaddle. Ooh, calm. I’m excited. Talk to me about colors. What do we have colors? That’s it. Um, so right now, it’s just a beach. It’s pretty simple. But we are. We’re already in the works. So we should have a Navy. They’re all neutral all earthtones maybe I think there’s 100 green in the lineup. We just for manufacturing purposes, we want to keep it pretty simple to start. And then, I mean, I can’t wait to start to do all that fun, fun stuff. I think the beauty in the product to it. It is kind of the magic Merlin I feel like started out really like kind of simple with that like yellowy color beige color? Um, because I do think the magic Merlin’s a good product and it and it does. It does work too, for a lot of babies. And I mean, our product works. So then you’re going to buy it because it works. But I am excited to get into all the colors and the style and that sort of thing. Now, are you guys thinking if this is successful, which I know it will be making, like a swaddle transition product, right? Have you started to think about that. So we actually did do that for the twins we made. Um, we did make a transition product that actually just swaddled around their, their torso. And so that that worked for us. They liked it a lot. Um, the so we are we are already thinking about that we’re trying to do the baby swaddle really well, like that, like, do one thing and do it. Yeah. Well, before we are, but we, we had some foresight when the twins were transitioning out of this model to say, you know what, if this works, people might be asking for another stage of it. And so we did, we did create a product that that work that transitions them out of that, that the swaddle the baby, baby swaddle. Nice. I always know it’s gonna be asked, because with the marulan, the next question was always like, is that what do I do next? And they have the transition product now, you know, so I got a question of like, Okay, well, what are you going to do next? So I figured, it’s probably in the works, which I know is exciting. And I don’t want to put the cart before the horse. I’m just excited to get my hands on one of these badly. Yeah, well, you should have it this week. Very excited because I really believe in what you’re doing. And I think there has to be, you know, something for parents that are looking for the right choices, right and why? And I don’t think people understand like, when I registered for swaddles, I was like, Oh, this one’s pretty. Yeah, this one’s good. Oh, my friend said to get this one, you know, and by the time I was done, I had 742 swaddles. I remember having a nervous breakdown. We still lived in Conshohocken, we had a barbecue and Max was like maybe a month old, and I legit almost had a nervous breakdown in the back. Because I couldn’t get the wearable baby wrap thing that I was using it was some big seven feet of fabric. And I’m like, how do you put this thing on? How do you make this baby sit here and do what it’s supposed to do. And I almost have like a nervous breakdown with just a baby wearing products like, let alone this bottles, you know, because you just don’t know and you don’t know what your baby’s gonna like and what they’re going to be comfortable with. So I think getting the education out about like, why the swallow, right, like, why not blankets, right will work for somebody, I just don’t think they’re safe. Right? So maybe a parent didn’t think of that goes Oh, you’re right. You know. So I think giving people the education around. Yeah, like not just this is the greatest product ever. Well, here’s why. Right. And yeah, it is a Velcro free option. It’s a double swaddle, it’s safe, it’s cotton, it’s made in America, you know, like all these positives with a product. And, you know, it’s just such a cool thing. And I’m so excited for you and where you’ve come with it. And I know you’ve worked so hard and countless hours on building and designing it. And like I said, I can’t wait to have my hands on it before this podcast airs, I probably will. I’ll be sure to talk all about it on Instagram over at tiny transitions sleep coach, and you will find the episode and then all of the notes out on my website, tiny transitions calm, I’ll make sure to link to Courtney, her amazing site and everything that she’s doing. So you can stay on top of the news. And then maybe we’ll just have to put together some sort of little sleeping swaddle giveaway for Amazon live something out. But I’m excited. So again, we’ve got everything going to be available in July swaddler, calm, I’ll put everything out in the show notes. Everybody will be able to find it there. And then any questions, you know, just reach out to me and dm us on Instagram, email us, you know, it’s, it’s a community, it’s, you know, let’s talk about what we’re having trouble with what we like and, you know, to your point, corny, like, there are great, like, you know, somebody said, aren’t there a lot of swaddles out there, and I was like, there’s a lot of pizza places out there, it’s good to have options, you know, it’s not like, you know, it’s, it’s, uh, let’s just find something that works for every baby. And I think this is gonna work for a lot of people. But you know, it’s it’s okay to talk with each other about what’s working, what’s not. And I’m just really excited to, to get this product out there. Yay. Well, I’m super excited to have had you on the show. I’m very excited about the product coming out. And I thank you so much for coming tonight. Thank you, if I didn’t get my if I didn’t have you? Well, I’m excited. And it’s always an honor. You know, I talked to so many parents and work with so many parents. And it’s just the cool part about what I do is that it is life changing, you know, and so some days are hard. And frankly, some people are a little more stressful than others. But you know, I’ve done this for seven years, I’ve probably worked with 1000s of clients at this point. And the coolest thing is like, as hard as some of the cases are right that I work with. It’s so cool to see the transformation because you’re you’re changing your life as a parent. Your kids lives to man, like they need sleep, don’t cry as much anymore. It’s so funny. Like you think you’re being nice. And really, you’re not because they cry so much more when they fight it. Yeah. And they played it for a lot longer. And you think you’re doing them a favor by rocking them 400 times at night and stuff and like, you can build healthy sleep habits from the start. People always ask me like, how do you sleep train a newborn? And like you’re not sleep training a newborn? You’re coaching them to learn good skills. So you never have to sleep train? Yes, right? Yes, that’s what I do is like the first three months of life, you’re teaching them good skills without needing to sleep train, no single tears, right? When you hit four months, like you’re getting into sleep training territory, because they got three months of baggage, right? And then when you hit about 18 months, you’re moving over to toddlers, right? It’s no longer coaching, you’re in behaviors now, right? Yeah, know what they’re doing, they’re choosing not to, because whatever the shiny object is, is more exciting, right. And so you kind of balance this evolution of like sleep as it happens over the course of a couple of years. And it can be very overwhelming. It’s just, it is very cool to see. So many parents kind of go through those different waves. And once you build a good sleeper, they’re a good sleeper, you know, and that’s the cool part about it’s like you do set as I always say like sleep is the foundation for which the house is built. And like when you build it, it’s solid. You’re consistent, right. And that’s the coolest part. So I’m very excited to talk more about and to share everything about it. And thank you so much for coming on the show. Thank you for you for having me. I appreciate it. And I’ll tell everybody all about it. So for tuning in, and just remember at my Facebook groups lumber Made Simple. We’ll post the video version of this as well. So you’ll be able to see that if you want to catch Courtney’s beautiful face and we’ll put stuff all over and look forward to catching you guys in the next episode. Otherwise, bye for now. Bye. Thanks. Hold on. One more thing before you go. As a valued listener of the kids sleep show. I want to help you build a great sleeper not just in the times you’re listening to the show, but all day every day, every week of the year. I have a new Facebook group called slump Made Simple. It’s a place to gather with other parents looking for sleep support, laughs and the latest in sleep research, to build a family that is rested and at their best day in and day out. If you want to be part of the community where you can get free sleep support, weekly training sessions, unbelievable content and so much more. Head on over to tiny transitions.com forward slash community. That’s tiny transition stuff comm forward slash community or head over to Facebook and search slumber Made Simple. drop me a note and let me know when you join. I can’t wait to see you there.
