Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to apparatuses used to secure the arms of infants and, more particularly, to accessories that may be used with swaddling cloths, swaddling blankets and the like to secure one or both arms of an infant
The age-old practice of swaddling is a method of wrapping babies in garments of various materials and styles. Studies have shown that the benefits of swaddling include a reduction in sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) as well as improved sleep habits. Unfortunately, there is a safety concern associated with swaddling. This issue relates to securing an infant's arms in an effective manner to avoid the arms wriggling out of the swaddle. If the infant's arms are not properly secured, there is a risk of the swaddle garment moving upwards towards the infant's face if the infant attempts to free the infant's hands. This is a serious concern, as no swaddle garment should cover an infant's face. In some instances, the infant's arms are simply too strong to hold in its swaddle.
In other instances, parents may have difficulty mastering the unique swaddling technique. Many swaddle garments also pose a challenge of holding infant's arms in place due to the lightweight fabric that is often used. All of these issues may be compounded. It is common for parents who experience these challenges to simply abandon swaddling their babies altogether for fear of their child's safety. Therefore there is a need for securing an infant's arms in a fail-safe manner when using a swaddling cloth.
The problem is to secure the arms of an infant in a fail-safe manner when used with a swaddling cloth.
In a first aspect of the present disclosure an infant securing device is provided. The infant securing device includes a pouch having an open end and a closed end, the pouch configured to receive the infant through the open end, an elongate piece of material having a front side, a back side that is opposite the front side, a vertical axis and a horizontal axis, the axes respectively bisecting the piece of material, the elongate piece of material being attached to an extension of the pouch, a right wing having a right fastener at a right end that is distal from the vertical axis, the right fastener part disposed along the horizontal axis and on the back side, a left wing having a left fastener part at a left end that is distal from the vertical axis, the left fastener part disposed along the horizontal axis and on the front side, and a sleeve attaching component attached on the front side of the elongate piece of material and located at an intersection of the axes, the sleeve attaching component including a pair of sleeves symmetrically disposed about the vertical axis, the pair of sleeves including a right sleeve and a left sleeve, the sleeves disposed and configured to respectively retain right and left arms of the infant. When at least one of the right and left sleeves retains a corresponding arm of the infant, the right and then the left wings are foldable over a chest or a front midsection of the infant and the fasteners cooperate to secure the folded wings in the folded condition.
Another aspect of the present disclosure a device for securing an infant is provided. The device for securing and infant includes a pouch having an open end and a closed end, the pouch configured to receive a torso and lower body the infant through the open end, an elongate piece of material having a front side, a back side that is opposite the front side, a vertical axis and a horizontal axis, the axes respectively bisecting the piece of material, the elongate piece of material being attached to an extension of the pouch, a right wing having a right fastener at a right end that is distal from the vertical axis, the right fastener part disposed along the horizontal axis and on the front side, a left wing having a left fastener part near a left end that is distal from the vertical axis, the left fastener part disposed along the horizontal axis and on the back side, and a sleeve attaching component attached on the front side of the elongate piece of material along the horizontal, the sleeve attaching component including a pair of sleeves disposed at least substantially on the right side of the vertical axis, the pair of sleeves including a right sleeve and a left sleeve, the sleeves disposed and configured to respectively retain right and left arms of the infant. When at least one of the right and left sleeves retains a corresponding arm of the infant, the left and then the right wings are foldable over a chest or a front midsection of the infant and the fasteners cooperate to secure the folded wings in the folded condition, and the left wing is tuckable behind a back of the infant and between the back and the elongate material.
These, additional, and/or other aspects and/or advantages of the present disclosure are: set forth in the detailed description which follows; possibly inferable from the detailed description; and/or learnable by practice of the present disclosure.
The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certain embodiments of the present disclosure will be more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbers are used to depict the same or similar elements, features, and structures.
Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below to explain the present disclosure by referring to the figures.
In this detailed description and the appended claims, terms such as left, right, bottom and top refer to the figure where the reference is first introduced. The exception to the terminology is made when referring to an infant's left arm and right arm; where the usual meaning applies. The term swaddling cloth refers to any blanket, cloth or other garment that is used for swaddling an infant. The terms front and back refer to the front and back of the swaddling accessory when the infant is lying on the swaddling accessory. The term hook component and loop component refer to components of a hook and loop pair of removable attachment means such as, but not limited to VELCRO brand hook and loop fasteners. Two hook and loop pairs may have share a single component. The same numeral is used to refer to a specific item in different figures if it refers to the same physical item, independent of the figure's view. The term flexible material refers to a cloth or other fabric or material suitable for use in swaddling an infant.
The third step, also discussed later with reference to
The left arm 100BL of the infant is secured similarly. The right wing 110R of first embodiment 100 is threaded between the left arm 100BL of the infant and torso 100BT, then around the front of the left arm 100BL of the infant and then under the infant. The right end 108R is pulled firmly to the left under the infant's back so the left arm 100BL of the infant is held snugly. The right hook component 10411R is then attached to the right side of the center loop component 104LC. This secures the infant's left arm.
100 is replaced by two loop components 206LL and 206LR.
300 functions as indicated.
The one arm swaddle of third embodiment 300 assists parents with weaning their infant off the swaddle blanket. One-arm swaddling is a fairly typical approach to this transition. The challenge with this is similar to the challenge with swaddling in general; babies often work their way out of them. Parents are highly motivated to keep their infant's arms secured for as long as they can because of the “startle-reflex” which is a known term to depict the infant's inability to control their arms from moving around while they sleep which often wakes them up. Therefore many want to swaddle as long as is practical and when they are ready to transition out of swaddling, they often attempt to do this one arm at a time. Third embodiment 300 will assist with this. The three embodiments are dimensioned and configured so they functions as described.
The actual dimensions of the swaddling accessory are a design option. Typical dimensions for the first embodiment are 15 em (6 in) height and 70 em (23.5) length; however, these dimensions can vary, depending on the size of the infant using the swaddling accessory. The shape of the swaddling accessory can also vary as long as it functions as described herein. Other removable attaching mechanisms may be used instead of the hook and loop means such as buckles or snaps. A knitted fabric of the swaddling accessory works well when also used as the material for a companion swaddling cloth; however, other fabrics may also be used. Several different sizes of swaddling accessories may be used to accommodate the infant from birth until a swaddling accessory is no longer used. The swaddling accessory can also be used in certain situations without a swaddling cloth; for example in a doctor's office to secure the infant's arms during an exam. The elongate flexible material may be made from on or more pieces of material that are attached together by attachment means such as gluing, or stitching.
Referring now to
The device 700 includes an elongate piece of fabric 702, a sleeve attachment component 704, fasteners 706 and 708, and sleeves 710L and 710R.
The elongate piece of material 702 may be in the shape of an ellipse, as illustrated. However, it is to be understood that other shapes are both possible and contemplated. As illustrated, the elongate piece of material 702 has intersecting vertical and horizontal axes (700V and 700H). The vertical axis 700V defines respective right and left sides of the elongate piece of material 702 and divide the elongate piece of material 702 into respective left and right wings.
The elongate piece of material 702 includes, at a distal right side and on the back side, a first fastener part 706. As will be explained in detail below, the first fastener part 706 cooperates with another fastener part (708) to retain the wings in a folded condition. The first fastener part 706 is disposed along the horizontal axis 700H.
The elongate piece of material 702 also includes, at a distal left side and on the front side, a second fastener part 708. The second fastener part 708 is disposed along the horizontal axis 700H.
As stated above, the fastener parts cooperate to retain the wings in a folded position. To this end, each fastening part may be of a loop or a hook configuration, to yield a hook and loop fastener system, such as VELCRO®.
The sleeve attachment component 704 includes two sleeves 710L and 710R and attaches sleeves 710L and 710R to the elongate piece of fabric 702. To this end, the sleeve attachment component 704 is attached to the front side of the elongate piece of material 702. Further, the sleeve attachment component 702 may be removable attached to the elongate piece of fabric 702.
The sleeve attachment component 704 is illustrated as rectangular in shape. It is to be understood, however, that other shapes are both possible and contemplated. Also, the sleeve attachment component 704 is located at the intersection of the axes, as illustrated in
The sleeves 710 are each adapted and configured to accept and removably retain an infant's arm. As illustrated in
Optionally, the sleeves 710 may be removably attached to the sleeve attachment component 704 in an entirely removable, partially removable, and/or adjustably removable manner. Also, optionally, the sleeves 710 may be one continuous material or may open and close via a flap method.
In operation, an infant's right and left arms are inserted into the respective right and left sleeves 710. Then, the right wing is folded over the infant's chest. Thereafter, the left wing is folded over the right wing. In this folded condition, the fastener parts 706 and 708 come into contact and removably fasten (or bind) the wings. In this way, the device provides two levels of arm security. First, the sleeves 710 each retain an arm. Second, the wings retain the arms. Advantageously, because of this two layer arm security, only one of the infant's arms needs to be inserted and retained in a sleeve 710 to adequately swaddle an infant when one arm swaddling/securing is desired. Here, when one arm swaddling/retention is desired, the right and then the left wings are foldable over a chest or a mid section of the infant and the fasteners cooperate to secure the folded or straightened arms in the folded or straightened condition.
Referring now to
The device 700′ is similar in construction to the device 700 of
Referring to
Referring to
The elongate piece of material may have (i) a right wing having a right fastener at a right end that is distal from the vertical axis, the right fastener part disposed along the horizontal axis and on the back side and (ii) a left fastener part at a left end that is distal from the vertical axis, the left fastener part disposed along the horizontal axis and on the front side.
As the foregoing illustrates, the applicant has discovered an innovative independent arm-security device and securing method, which can work in conjunction with virtually any existing swaddle blanket. Embodiments of the present disclosure may also be used as a standalone device to assist with administering medical care by restricting arm movement for either or both arms.
With arms secured in either the vertical or horizontal sleeve position, device is configured in such a way as to restrict elasticity and movement, either inward/outward or upward/downward. Also, arm can be secured, independent of one another, or together.
Referring to
Referring to
The open end 1003 may be enlarged by a cutaway portion 1007 that detachably opens as in
In contrast, when the arms are in a vertical position, sleeves 710L/810L & 710R/810R may be attached on an outer surface or an inner surface of the pouch 1001 to retain the infants arms. That is, the arms may be retained within the pouch or outside the pouch by the sleeves 710L/810L & 710R/801R.
Each example provided herein is a non-limiting example.
The various disclosed embodiments may be selectively combined.
Although selected embodiments of the present disclosure have been shown and described, it is to be understood the present disclosure is not limited to the described embodiments. Instead, it is to be appreciated that changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the claims and the equivalents thereof.
This application is a continuation in part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/155,174 filed Jun. 7, 2011, which is a continuation in part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/871,695, filed Aug. 30, 2010, which claims the benefit of the U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/278,477, filed Oct. 7, 2009 by the present inventor. Both of these applications are incorporated herein by reference.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20140373275 A1 | Dec 2014 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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61278477 | Oct 2009 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 13155174 | Jun 2011 | US |
Child | 14484024 | US | |
Parent | 12871695 | Aug 2010 | US |
Child | 13155174 | US |