Dad Gives Swaddling His Best Shot on Newborn, Outcome Has Internet Creasing

Becoming a parent is a life-changing event, and there is no way that every parent is going to know exactly what to do when the bundle of joy arrives.

Fortunately, there are plenty of resources online to help, but it doesn’t look like this dad turned to the internet for advice when attempting to swaddle Declan for the first time.

Swaddling is when the baby is typically wrapped entirely, leaving only their head exposed, in the traditional method of gently wrapping the young one in a light, breathable blanket. However, it doesn’t look like Declan’s dad read the instructions because his baby son’s hands are visible.

Mom Katelyn Moore, who lives in Missouri, has shared the outcome on TikTok, and the clip has racked up more than 2.2 million views. The 24-year-old told Newsweek: “My partner was getting our son ready for bed, and I was getting myself ready for bed. I walked out of the bathroom and found Declan like that.

“I died laughing so I videoed it and sent it to my friends because it’s so funny,” Moore said. “We were new sleep-deprived parents who were just trying our best.”

Most of dads’ time with their children is spent playing or providing care, according to data from the 2021 American Time Use Survey. Fathers who live with children under the age of 18 spend 1.02 hours a day providing care and assistance to them. Playing with them lasts 0.36 hours; and giving them physical care (like bathing and dressing them, changing their diapers, and getting them ready for school) for 0.32 hours.

Pew Research Center has also revealed both mothers and fathers say that parenting is a lot or somewhat harder than they thought it would be. The results found that mothers are more likely to say this.

According to the comments, both women and men find swaddling their baby a tricky task.

One user wrote: “My husband also leaves out the hands. ‘He likes his hands free’ no sir you just don’t know how to contain him.”

“Listen, I COULD NOT figure those out. My husband has to show me,” posted another woman.

A third commenter added: “I showed this to my fiancé/father to my kids and he didn’t see the issue.”

It is normal for parents to make mistakes; it’s all part of the process. A survey conducted by OnePoll of 2,000 adults, ages 23 and up, on behalf of Boudreaux’s Butt Paste, previously found that American parents make 221 mistakes per year.

The most-common parenting errors were reported to be letting kids use screens too much (65 percent), unintentionally teaching kids swear words (42 percent), and letting kids watch stuff that wasn’t appropriate for their age (39 percent).

If you have a family dilemma, let us know via [email protected]. We can ask experts for advice, and your story could be featured on Newsweek.