Probably a dumb question but... what is the point of baby blankets?

[cherrylime]

Starting to gather together a shopping list and it seems like baby blankets are listed everywhere on 'newborn essentials.'

But I'm confused because you're not supposed to have blankets in baby's sleeping area for first year? What's the point then, assuming you have separate swaddles and foot muffs for pram?

Help a confused FTM!

Still 230 absolute tragedies, but not as alarming as 3600.

The vast majority of these deaths would have had nothing to do with blankets or even cot bumpers and other things in cots. Most SIDS cases are still down to parents falling asleep accidentally with little ones on sofas or parents sleeping with children after drinking excessively and using drugs. The S in SIDS still stands for ‘sudden’ - it covers a vast range of causes and sometimes no known cause at all, sadly babies do sometimes stop breathing for no known reason, if lucky in their parents arms and if unlucky when everyone is asleep an unaware. But that is not common. It’s not called ‘cot death’ any more for a reason. Babies passing away in cots for no reason is massively rare, especially since they are now put down on their stomachs.

especially since they are now put down on their stomachs.

Backs?

My half siblings had Grobags, my stepmum raved about them. That would have been around 18 years ago.

But I remember when I was pregnant with DS1 who is now 12 that there was still really only Grobag as a brand available. They were expensive - like £30 each - and therefore not that accessible to everyone especially those on a low income. Blankets were still very much the default assumption then. It was only a couple of years later that baby sleeping bags started to be everywhere, easily found second hand, cheaper in supermarkets etc. Now they are so common/popular I don't think blankets are really talked about any more as the assumption is you'll use a sleeping bag.

Meant to add I got the impression they were a brand new thing 18 years ago.

Fairly sure they didn;t exist for my eldest, who is 23, but did for my second who is now 17...

My eldest is 22 and Grobags were a fairly new thing then. Not brand new but mostly just the Grobag company selling them and a few others beginning to start.

You can get more sleeping bags now, but do check they meet the required standards. We used a swaddle when dd was newborn as she was far too small for a sleeping bag. After that I used sleepsuits and a small blanket until she was big enough for the sleeping bags.
Blankets are so handy even if you don't use them for night time.

We thought the same. I only used a blanket on a couple of occasions in the car seat transporting baby to the car . That was all.

Now pregnant with twins and not bothering!

@RickiTarr

Yes backs! 🤦‍♀️

[quote Rosesareyellow]@RickiTarr

Yes backs! 🤦‍♀️[/quote]

The NHS actually recommends that you use blankets with holes in the knit because babies can breathe through them. Nobody’s telling you not to use them - they are a far sight safer than the types you wear. Mothercare used to regularly recall them because of mislabelling (eg 10 tog being sold as a 2 tog) & babies needed to go to hospital.

Car seats, pram, baby carrier, skin to skin etc...

For night time, DS never liked sleeping bags so we used cellular baby blankets safely from day one. That's what they used at the hospital too so they must be pretty acceptable. I used them

I think that advice is starting from the assumption that the baby is swaddled and they're not 'counting' that as a blanket or something in the cot, even though swaddling is just wrapping the baby up really tight in a blanket. I really can't imagine many people are putting babies down at night just in their sleepsuit with no cover - either a sleeping bag or a blanket, either tucked over them or used as a swaddle - at all any more than many of us sleep in our pyjamas but with no cover.

What to expect is an American book though, isn’t it?

I've always used blankets I've never been a big fan of sleeping bags

I've always used blankets I've never been a big fan of sleeping bags

Same here! We've always used (cellular) blankets and DS seems happy.

We used them in the pram (December born baby) and also used a lightweight blanket to tuck under the mattress and hold him in place as a newborn. I also used to wrap him in them and cuddle him on the sofa. We have a cold house and it was a miserable snowy spell when he was born!

I used blankets with all of my babies. For sleeping, and for wrapping around them while feeding, cuddling etc.

Just to say everything that the pp have said but we ended up with a variety (gifts/ hand me downs)

The ones that look like they have been crocheted are great for the summer
The fleece ones are great for winter
The ones that look too big but fold thin are great for on the go (picnics, baby massage class)
The ones that look like duvets are great for the garden as play mats as they are soft or on decking
I have no advice about which ones are best for swaddling because I never managed to do it ...

All the best

I've just become a first time Nana. Yay. But I am really trying to catch up on new methods. Why can't a baby have a light weight breathable blanket over them when they are asleep?

They can ☺️ it should be cellular one though and tucked in under their arms.

I think it's American advice not to use blankets at all. In the UK it isn't considered unsafe as long as you're sensible with it (feet to foot, etc)