Newborn in April - what do they wear to sleep?

[Shortbreadfingerss]

DC is due mid-April and I am really confused on what they will wear to sleep at night. I presume once older they will wear a sleeping bag but is this ok for a newborn? Would a swaddle be better and if so which one is appropriate in April? Our house is a fairly normal temperature so maybe I need to two thicknesses as April can be a bit cold?

If anyone can shed any light this would be helpful!

Love to Dream swaddle sleep bags are great for newborns, they come in different tog ratings for different seasons and help stop the startle reflex during the night.

Our DS was born at exactly the same time of year. We used swaddles for quite a long time not least because he didn’t seem to settle to well in the early months unless he was tightly wrapped.

Buy a few of different thicknesses as the temperature can of course fluctuate massively over what will be their first few months throughout the summer.

Make sure at least one of them is pretty much just a thick cotton swaddle as you’ll be thankful of it if there’s a heatwave. We had a week or 2 of extremely hot nights when DS was only a few months old and anything thicker just had him sweating buckets.

Have a wonderful time. Spring babies are great as it’s much nicer being out and about with a newborn when the weather is nice rather than having to cope with winter straight away.

The Halo swaddles are approved by the lullaby trust, they're a great design because they can't ride up above the babies nose/mouth.

Room should be 16 - 20 degrees, and at around 18 baby can wear vest, sleepsuit and 1 tog swaddle. If they need an extra layer I put a blanket over that's tucked really firmly under the mattress each side, and is no higher than mid-chest height - this is how a midwife showed me and has been working well with my dd who was born in December. If it's warmer, lose the vest. Best can be long/short sleeve depending on temp too.

Check babied temperature by popping two fingers down the front of their clothes and feeling their chest. Should feel comfortably warm, remember they were super warm when in the womb!

Ultimately, if they're a touch warm/cold on one or two nights while you're working it out it won't do any harm, and you can always adjust what they're wearing during a night wake if you feel you've mis-judged it!

When you buy swaddles most of them actually come with a guide on what to wear at each temp too!

My 1st ds was born end of march - 12 years ago though! From what I remember it was a vest and onesie, then a waffle blanket over the top, or a lighter/summer weight sleep bag. 0.5 tog I think. He hated being swaddled though! Although a few years back it snowed mid march, so it could be any temp in April!!

There's a minimum weight on the sleeping bags, so it will depend on weight at birth. It's around 4kg IIRC.

My DD1 arrived late March and wore a short sleeve vest, long sleeve sleepsuit with hand bits folded over and 2.5tog sleeping bag. On the odd very cold night I would add a blanket (although I know that's not the done thing). DD2 arrived in May and never had a blanket

Just going say that not all newborns like being swaddled – DD1 was over being swaddled before we'd even left the hospital, and DD2 tolerated it for about 24 hours. (They didn't like tightly tucked blankets either, clearly my children were only too glad to escape the womb.) I'd suggest something that gives you the option for arms in or arms out, so you can easily go with what suits baby. We had grosnugs (I think called swaddlebags now), but I'm sure there are others out there.

@Shortbreadfingerss this completely depends on the normal temperature inside your house and not which month it is.

18 degrees is far different than 20, for example and will require different layers. 16 degrees will require much thicker sleepwear, brrrrr!

One of ours was a mid April baby. I seem to remember vests under sleep suits and light breathable blankets. She wouldn’t tolerate being swaddled (not all of them like it!) but when she was maybe a couple of months old we discovered the Love to Dream ones referenced by a PP and she loved them as she slept with her arms up anyway

Mine slept in Love to Dream swaddles from the beginning. They have a clothing guide you can use as a starting point. You can save some money by buying 2nd hand and they keep their value quite well. I also tried the arms in swaddle from Tommee Tippee but mine hated it. Not all babies are the same though so whatever you buy there us a risk they won’t like it. I brought some normal 0-6 month sleeping bags and never used them. We used the Love to Dream transition swaddles instead (with arms out once closer to rolling).

My son was an April baby. He was in a short sleeve vest, baby grow and a velcro swaddle wrap for sleep. It depends on how warm the rooms are though, you can get layer guides for different temperatures

Like this one https://images.app.goo.gl/KEdFynXgX4JvbpWC7

Also - we got some bargains at nct nearly new sales - especially sleep bags for when older. As they were being sold quite cheaply (£4 instead of £25 gor new about 12 years ago) we could chance getting different togs in different sizes. Worth keeping an eye out for sales near you. Also got some equipment from these - baby bath seat etc, playmats etc and some items get sold on for a bargain price even if never used/opened as outgrown etc.

I’ve managed to get most items second hand including some sleeping bags for when baby is older so will probably just try and get hold of a few options from those mentioned and see which works. Obviously will go according to the temperature of babies room and not the outside temperature, but our house does get much hotter when it’s warm outside and vice versa.