Wondering if you should buy the a+a line or buy aden + anais for amazon, Target, Toys'rus or little77? Well, I bought a+a for Target and little77 and they DO NOT come close to these. These are not only bigger, but the thread quality/count is higher than the swaddle cloths produced for one of the companies. I wanted to save $10 and bought them at Target and now that I have some of the original ones at home, I wish I had invested in them straight from the beginning. They really do become softer the more you wash them. Just like Indian Prefolds fluff up and become all nice the more you wash them, these are really soft too!
***EDIT**** 9 Jan 2012
I just saw that now they have added cheaper ones for $35 among the original sized ones listed above beware those showing up for the original price of $35 are smaller you can see this under the product information. They are 44 x 44 and not the regular 47 x 47. The ones with the original price of $49.95 are the boutique and much nicer ones!
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First of all, I will say these are great blankets...big, breathable, cute, etc. but if you've read any of the other reviews, you already know all of that. Here's what I wished I had read before I purchased:
1. If you are like me, you have no idea what the heck muslin is. Well, as they say, it's a soft breathable cotton. The best way to describe it is like a cotton gauze, much like the material used in burp cloth diapers. The exception is, this is much higher quality, making it stronger than gauze, and it's only 1 ply, so it's more breathable than a cloth diaper.
2. This listing is confusing, because it mixes up the wraps and the blankets. If you want the larger 47x47 wraps, then go for the ones that have $49.99 listed as the list price. If you want the smaller 42x42, then go for the ones with the list price of $34.99.
3. What is so great about these blankets? I was trying to figure out why everyone was so in love with these things, and here's what I've deduced...these are MUCH larger than other swaddling blankets, and also much thinner. So, you can wrap your baby up in a nice tight swaddle,with the blanket wrapped completely around them and under their back and they are not too bulky. If you were to have a typical swaddling blanket of the same size, by the time you wrapped up the baby, they probably wouldn't fit in the bassinet, and their head would be 4 inches off the ground.
4. You still have to have swaddling skills. This is not like a swaddleme or sleep sack swaddler. No velcro, no magic. Personally, I am a terrible swaddler and my baby was out of this blanket in 6 minutes flat the first time I used it. But I'm getting better. I have no choice, since my rather large 3 month old has outgrown all of the magical swaddling options.
All in all though, a nice functional set of blankets. And I have no doubt these will still be getting tons of use while the swaddlemes have long been donated away.
Best Deals for aden + anais Classic Muslin Swaddle Blanket 4 Pack
I bought one of these on clearance for my 3rd(and last) baby. I bought this 4 pack for gifts for friends and so my 2 older kids could have a blanket in the van on trips. These are the BEST blankets for swaddling when the babies are little. I'm a pediatric nurse and also work on the mother/baby floor and wish we had these at the hospital. These blankets wash like a dream, don't hold on to stains and get softer and softer the more you wash them. My kids love theirs and I will be buying more as my friends and family keep having babies! :) One more thing I love about these blankets, they are light weight and fold down into a very small compact size to fit in a diaper bag (I fit 3 in my glove box for trips) but are big enough to double up for warmth. I also found they are great for covering myself when the baby is nursing and neither of us get too hot from a bulky blanket, like I did with his sisters. I highly recommend and think they make a great shower gift. I buy the 4 pack and give away 2 at a time, one to use and one can be in the wash. Slightly expensive but so worth it (my first blanket is over 15mo old and still looks brand new)!
Honest reviews on aden + anais Classic Muslin Swaddle Blanket 4 Pack
When I first received these blankets, I hated them... I knew they were lightweight when I ordered them, but didn't realize how light weight... these are not blankets that will keep a baby toasty warm. I also had to figure out how to fold them to the right size for the regular basic swaddle technique. So, I didn't use them a lot in my baby's first few months.
But then, he hit about three months and figured out how to break out of a regular swaddle. But I wanted to continue to swaddle him (A review of the evidence on swaddling that was in Pediatrics journal says "swaddled infants arouse less and sleep longer. ... improved neuromuscular development, less physiologic distress, better motor organization, and more self-regulatory ability when swaddled. When compared with massage, excessively crying infants cried less when swaddled, and swaddling can soothe pain in infants." Swaddling a baby and lying it down on its back also seems to lead to the same longer stretches of sleep that a baby would have laying on its belly, but without the SIDS risk of sleeping on its belly.)
So, I tried a different swaddling technique that these blankets were PERFECT for. (Search on YouTube for Double Swaddle How To. Note: some specialty swaddling blankets like the Miracle Blanket work somewhat like this, but none of those blankets worked right on my little preemie they just didn't fit! These Aden & Anais blankets can adapt to any size baby.) Double swaddling worked fabulously our son slept longer stretches when swaddled. All the other parents in our baby group reported the same thing. We all kept our babies double swaddled at night till around 7 8 months, then they figured out how to roll onto their bellies while swaddled that's not a safe sleep situation, so that's when you need to give up on the swaddle. But, it was fabulous until then! So, double swaddling is the first reason I love these blankets.
The second reason is the "canary" technique. Once babies reach about three months, it can be hard to get them to nap in a car seat or stroller, as they are so busy looking at the world. These blankets are so thin, that you can lie them right over the top of the car seat or stroller (like draping a blanket over a canary cage to settle the birds down hence the name), and they are much bigger than a typical receiving blanket, so they cover well. From three months to 13 months, and counting, this is how I get my boy to nap! If we're going for a car or stroller ride and we don't want him to nap, we don't cover him. If we do want him to nap, we give him a not-too-interesting toy to play with, "canary" him and he's out in a few minutes, and stays out for much longer. This has been an especially helpful technique on trips. Instead of having to stay in the hotel room with him for nap time, we can take him out with us everywhere we go, and the blanket signals to him that it's nap time and keeps out all the distracting sights while he snoozes.
I suppose they're also great nursing cover ups too... I don't use them for that. I just pull my shirt up from the waistband when I nurse my baby (rather than unbuttoning from the top), and he keeps everything covered up just fine.
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I ordered these after buying what I thought were the "originals" that everyone on here raves about. I had found them in a local store and thought I was getting a deal. When I realized they were different, I ordered these to see if I could differentiate between the two and thought that I may as well have more baby blankets than not if they turned out to be as amazing as everyone says.
When they arrived and I compared them to what I already have, I couldn't tell the difference at all. The feel of the fabric was 100% identical to what I bought (for less money). Amazon also sells the ones I bought and at the same price--I would have gotten them on here if I hadn't thought I was getting a deal elsewhere; they're the ones that are around $35 and two inches or so smaller on each side than these.
I wound up returning these since they weren't amazing enough for me to spend so much money on and have so many blankets in the house. They are definitely huge--but the smaller size are large as well and I think they'll be just fine for me and for our new baby girl. In fact, I was surprised that these blankets weren't softer from the way everyone raves about this brand and the way the reviews all refer specifically to making sure new parents order the "originals" instead of the others which are still brand name.
If I had to do it again, I'd stick with my decision to keep the less expensive, slightly smaller version rather than spending a lot more for a couple more inches on each side.
