Doc warns get hip to swaddler dangers

MOTHERS who tightly swaddle their babies to prevent colic are being warned to stop.

The practice – practically eradicated in the 1980s following a series of educational programmes – is now back in fashion with websites marketing tight swaddlers as an aid to keeping babies warm, helping them sleep and avoiding the crying associated with colic.

But Professor Nicholas Clarke, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Southampton General Hospital, said the unsafe form of swaddling is leading to more cases of hip dysplasia, a condition which disappeared 25 years ago.

Professor Clarke said: “Now, I and my colleagues across the UK and in America are witnessing its revival, with swaddlers being advertised on the internet that tightly wrap babies. For the hips, that is exactly what you don’t want to happen.”