One of my biggest regrets with the Swing Swaddle was that I didn't get a before video of Andrew trying to swing WITHOUT his safety harness. I would place him on the swing all by himself and with the littlest of pushes he would start trembling and screaming. I thought it a bit dramatic but it was what initially got me thinking about creating something to hold him in the swing and help him relax. Once I had created my prototype and got Andrew to try it I couldn't believe the night and day difference of his attitude from when he would swing without it vs. with the swaddle. And I don't have any video to prove before the harness but you can see in one of my first videos of him using his "swaddle" his reservations and fears were all gone. He didn't even hesitate to jump in the swing once he understood I had something to hold him in and he could trust it like his own mommy holding him in.
May 2012
Yes. I know it isn't 2012 anymore. The post date shows it is now 2019 but because life happens I was never able to log this journey like I wanted to before now. So I'm hoping this is the space where I can map out the timeline of how the Swing Swaddle came to be. Here goes...
I remember it being May 2012 because I had just had my third baby and for the first time in awhile I wasn't working and had plenty of time to be home and just be a mom. Actually, we didn't have a home (we were waiting on the purchase of a new home in Hyrum) so we were living with my parents till we could move. I love looking back at the videos we took at this time and seeing my childhood playground now being used by my own children. Super fun! And to have a swing set at hand was so nice because my oldest kids were at that perfect age of obsessing over swinging. Beckah (age 4) was a natural and swinging all by herself but my second oldest, although longing to swing big like his older sister, just couldn't work up the nerve or daring or whatever it takes to get a child to gamble on trusting his body to basically free fly through the air on such an insecure contraption as a swing. I guess I can't really blame him. I became his security by holding him in my lap while I swung big and if you've never attempted to hold a toddler whose reservations about swinging are clearly obvious (yet desperately wanting to do it anyway!) while trying to hold on to and pump the swing yourself then you won't understand why I complained I needed an extra set of arms and a massage for my lower back.
Here is the initial video I took of Andrew (age 2) using the very first swaddle design I created (many more to come!). I couldn't grow an extra set of arms but I decided to try my hand at creating something that could hold him in the swing for me. I had used some old sun worn fabric from a large shade umbrella my mom had recently decided to get rid of and some carabiner type clips my mom had lying around. I remember not being able to sleep all night after having the thought to make something like this because my brain was designing and figuring out how I would assemble it and what things would make it strong enough to hold a 2 year old. This initial design was only the beginning and especially after the success and excitement my 2 year old had with it/for it I quickly realized that this was something I, or he, was really going to use and it deserved more effort on my part to make sure it was even more safe and more strong if I was going to trust it with my most precious cargo!
To come... more video of the initial tests we did on the swaddles strength!
