Can my 12mo sleep without a bag?

[els6652]

My dd will be 1 next week, she has been a terrible sleeper since she turned 7 months (before this she slept through from 1 week old). She’s up every 2 hours, usually has a 2 hour stint of just being up and wanting to play and even when she settles after that she’s still waking every 2 hours until morning.
She sleeps a lot more soundly during naps and the only difference is she doesn’t nap in a sleeping bag. I’m apprehensive to put a blanket on her at night as I’m checking on her regularly during nap time whereas at night time obviously I’m missing big chunks of time whilst I’m asleep and she’s such a restless sleeper at night time, she’s constantly wriggling about and ends up in all sorts of places and positions- but then I’m now thinking this could be the bag making her uncomfortable. I just wondered when others gave their baby a blanket instead of a bag and how you went about it, were they warm enough, anything else I need to know etc?
Please don’t come for me, I have never posted on here before but I am in need of some
advice. I’ve spent hundreds on pillow mists, vapourisers, a humidifier, a new bloody mattress, mattress toppers, countless sleeping bags/suits, I’m just all out of ideas on how to get her to sleep soundly and she just seems to hate every bag I buy. I even bought her a togged sleepsuit which she hated even more. She’s currently cruising around the front room at 10pm and I’m just all out of ideas and not sure what I’m doing wrong.

I am wondering the same, my baby is 18months and can’t find any sleep bags in the size up. Not sure a blanket will keep her warm enough when she wriggles to much. Or worried blanket may cover face.

I would just add an extra layer under her pjs and see how she gets on.

If she wakes up and she's cold then use a cellular blanket on top. At this age she should be able to sleep safely with a thin breathable blanket

Thank you, I will try her!

John Lewis def do sleep bags in size 18-36months as i just bought some for my DD. They are very roomy so hopefully should last her a while. I'm keen not to move into a blanket as it seems to be a good deterrent to climbing out of the cot.

My 1 year old (Feb baby) has a duvet, pillow and a comfort blanket. Often kicks the duvet off but snuggles the blanket. We've not noticed any difference in sleeping behaviours changing from the sleeping bag. Do what you're comfortable with and won't make you anxious. Can you try naps in the cot with a duvet where you're awake to supervise?

A 2 yr old and twin 1yr olds never used bags. Always blankets, they don't get cold they find there comfy spot and off they go to sleep exactly like us adults. I or hubby always pull blankets back over before we go to bed, but they've never woken cold

Jojo sleep snuggler. Mine was in one from 6 months until 3. There is a Christmas one on sale now for a tenner, bargain considering they are usually £35+

I was terrified of blankets, so my twins didn't have them till 2.5.
Tommee Tippee do great sleeping bags for 18 months to 3 years - the Steppee ones.

Now at nearly 3, they're snuggled under a 4-tog duvet.

My bad the xmas one isnt a snuggler but they are worth the money at £35

Toddler quilts can be used from 12 months. Give it a try for naps and see how she gets on

You could try keeping her room warm, warm pjs and a cellular blanket.

DC1 slept well from 6 month, DC2 didn't until 16 months. Lots of factors but it's just awful when you feel like you've still got a newborn at night. Short term you can see your way through, but long term it destroys you, so I really feel for you.

My DTs never slept in the sleeping bags, they just never got on with them so they always slept with a cellular blanket or layers on. Admittedly they’re 5 now and the cost of heating was much lower than nowadays!

Thank you so much everyone for being so kind, mumsnet honestly scares me lol but I just needed some instant advice tonight. I’ve just put her down in a vest, footless sleepsuit and socks and put a cellular blanket over her from the waist down to cover the gap between the socks and the sleepsuit (the blanket is also firmly tucked) so we’ll see how she gets on and I will report in the morning x

Unrelated to the bag but look up "split nights" on google.
It sounds like your baby is doing the sleep she should be doing in the night during they day when she naps. You need to reduce the nap lengths. At 12 months I would say a max of 2,5 hours a day. 45 minutes in the morning and 1h45 after lunch.

Thank you, I thought this last week so have cut her down to one nap a day and she just does one big stint of 2-2.5 hours in the middle of the day which gave us 3 nights of her sleeping through at the beginning of the week but we’ve had 3 nights since of her being back up regularly again. I feel like I’ve cracked it and I’m like “oh this is what I’ve been doing wrong” and then it comes undone again almost immediately.

Good luck op. Also, what do you do when she wakes up in the night? If she's not crying do you just leave her, or go in to try to settle her?

I've never used sleeping bags but a few blankets instead.

Have you considered sleep training?

The only thing I would caution is that being in a sleeping bag makes it harder for them to climb out of the cot, so may buy you some extra months in future of easier bedtimes/mornings because they physically can't get out of bed. Not a reason not to try a duvet for OP if you think that might help your immediate problem, but something to keep in mind (and for anyone else reading and thinking about making the switch).

And to the PP who posted - Asda definitely do sleeping bags for 18m plus.

My 18mo has sleeping bags from Asda, M&S and John Lewis - they all do bigger sizes 😊

Mine have never used sleeping bags. I tried all 3 of them and they all spent the whole night desperately fighting to get out of them! I use blankets. 13mo has a good go at kicking his off as much as possible so I make sure he has on warm layers including socks under his sleepsuit on colder nights. Works for us!

It was some years ago (she's 8yo now!), but we swapped to a thin single duvet and toddler pillow at 16mo for DD1. We also switched to a floor bed using the cotbed mattress (Montessori style - you can Google what I mean), fitted the duvet sideways and tucked it in under both sides of the mattress to help stop her rolling out or kicking the covers off. She was a terrible sleeper up to that point (although this wasn't the reason we made the change. We Montessori-ed a lot of the house). She started sleeping through! It turns out she hates being hot and constricted... She prefers to sleep like a starfish and stick a leg out of the covers if she gets too hot: things that are impossible with a sleeping bag. With the benefit of hindsight, it is obvious to me some would hate sleeping bags as I struggle to sleep in them when camping for the same reasons, but the thought hadn't occurred to me it might cause sleep problems in a baby as Grobags are just 'what you used'.
Obviously, there are no guarantees it will make this much difference - we switched DD2 at 14mo with the same hope, and it made little difference - but it's definitely worth a shot! Give it a few nights and see how you get on.

Sleeping bags are a cery modern thing, my babies had sheets and cellular blankets. Your toddler will be fine.

Mine never used a blanket or bags but you can get footless bags from slumbersac that keep them warm but allow them to move

Thank you. I leave her to see if she settles herself until she cries but she usually sits up kissing and cuddling her teddy and watching the door waiting for someone to come and get her which absolutely breaks my heart!

Yes I was just coming on to suggest the footless bags from slumber sac. Mine wore those well into toddlerhood. Just stick on a pair of fluffy socks for sleeping