Please help a new mum re SMALL newborn sleep attire

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I’m at my wits end.

We was originally using a 2.5 Love to Dream swaddle suit.. perfect. It fit great and baby love it. However the 2.5 has become a bit too hot for him. I bought the same in a 1.5 tog but for some reason the head hole on this seems bigger. My week old baby has a very small head and the guidance says not to use sleep suits or swaddle suits if the head can fit through the hole.

We bought another 3 sleep suits.

1 cannot be worn as it says for babies 8.8lb and over (little one is 6lb 4oz)

2 cannot be worn because once again the head holes are too big for his tiny head.. he would easily be able to cover his face with the suits by slipping down slightly.

We have been using tightly tucked in cellular blankets but they worry me sick because no matter how tightly we tuck them he is able to kick them loose. It’s stopping me sleeping because I am so worried about him kicking the off and them going over his mouth.

please help a new mum in a sleep deprived state figure this out!

am I ok just to have baby in a vest and baby grow if he seems warm enough?

does anyone know of sleep sack specifically for tiny babies?

Sorry when I say sleep suit I mean the sleep sack… I can’t get the post to edit

My daughter was a tiny baby and we swaddled her in a large muslin until she was big enough for a sleeping bag. The midwives showed us how to in the hospital. It was 8 years ago so advice may have changed but she slept really well that way. She absolutely could not have slept safely in a sleeping bag at that stage. I feel your pain, OP, it's hard anyway and even more so when the baby is a tiddler and nothing fits!

What's the temp in the room?
A vest and sleep suit with a cellular blanket tucked under his arms should be absolutely fine.

They're not supposed to wear a hat to sleep indoors in case they overheat.

The Tommee tippee swaddle bags I think. We had the older version fro snug/snuggle maybe for our eldest and she was just under 6lbs, she barely used it but it was smaller than the newer ones

we also had ones that you wrapped the top so there wasn’t a head hole, Gro brand which was bought by TT

PS don't swaddle if you're co-sleeping (we had a cot with the side down next to the bed).

Swaddling was the only option we had, he was 2.2kg. Even premature baby clothes were too big. He wasn't premature.

"It's just common sense" What a shitty thing to say to a new mum asking for advice.

OP id swaddle baby in a muslin blanket, make sure their body feels warm but not hot and they should be fine. I can't actually remember the recommended room temp (DD is 9) but stick a thermometer in there and check it's right. You could always Google what should baby sleep in at a room of X temp too.

Good luck

We had a summer baby last year and the purflo ones in the smallest size worked a dream for us

What about an ergopouch hug me blanket?

I used a cellular blanket tucked in for my tiny baby.

Maybe it’s just the particular Love to Dream you have? My 5lb13oz baby slept in a 1.5 tog suit from birth and the head hole seemed small enough. The Tommee Tippee ones are also suitable for small babies.

Well it's not 'just common sense' given you've just given bad advice with the bonnet 🙄

I can't really help OP as I had two big lumps, but if it's warm enough then vest and sleepsuit is fine - you can usually buy thicker more wintery sleepsuits as well.

I’ve reported this post to see if MNHQ will remove it due to giving unsafe sleep advice.

My eldest was a little one (5lbs 12oz) and we used the tommee tippee grobag when she was very tiny. I think there used to be an extra small size that was for 5lbs upwards? This was 5yrs ago so not sure if they are still around, but might be worth having a search. Good luck - I remember the stress of every sleepsack being for 7lbs upwards!! 🫠

Actually, i just looked on the tommee tippee website and it looks like they all start at 7lbs now? But this is the one we had (photo might take a minute to upload) and it definitely says from 5lbs so you might have more luck on other websites / vinted.

Halo did some Tiny baby sleep sacks which fitted our 4lb little one when she needed more than a muslin to swaddle her!!

It was summer when she was born so their 0.5 were great and last a while as she was slow to size up!

When mine were tiny they wore cotton babyhood then a cellular blanket laid over them, absolutely fine. None of these other things had been invented

Mine was less than 4lbs
And every sleeping bag was over 8lbs
She slept in blankets till she weighed that much

As to hats, the jury is out, they always put them on in hospitals, but I personally didn’t at home, I had 6lb babies in wintertime and neither were cold using cellular blankets. Swaddling was considered dangerous then! See advice changes

Baby gros not hood!

We had something like this for our summer born 6lb 2 DD. But looking at them the head hole does look big, maybe her head was just fairly big as I don't remember a problem?

amzn.eu/d/0gDFOIVE

I would never swaddle or use a sleep sack on a newborn. Where I’m from, it’s strongly advised that it can be dangerous, and as far as I know, the UK doesn’t consider swaddling as safe as it once did either.

Since your baby is already kicking (mine was the same), I’d just go with a breathable blanket.

What worked for me was placing my baby on their side, as they hated being on their back, and then gently moving them onto their back once they were in a deeper sleep.

How can you criticise swaddle or sleep sacks which are perfectly fine by Lullaby Trust standards and then advising putting baby on their side, which is a completely no no?! 🤯

The risk of SIDS is particularly high for babies who are usually placed on their back to sleep but are sometimes placed on their front or side.

https://www.lullabytrust.org.uk/baby-safety/safer-sleep-information/safer-sleep-overview/

https://www.lullabytrust.org.uk/baby-safety/baby-product-information/mattresses-and-bedding/