advice on baby sleeping bags

[Lottie994]

Hi, although already a Mum to my 7 year old daughter, I am now (finally!) 8 months pregnant with my 2nd baby. There are alot of products on the market now that weren't offered when I was pregnant first time round. I am seeing lots of baby sleeping bags everywhere so I presume they are good but at what age should I put my baby into one? Should I swaddle first? Any advice to this old newbie would be greatly received.

I swaddled for the first couple of months with Ds2 then put him in a sleeping bag. He has just come out of them at 2.6. He moved into a bed in one. I love them.

DS1 went straight into them as he managed to sleep okay without the swaddling.

I would swaddle with a thin blanket and then lay a soft wool blanket on top dep on temp until they are 3m, and then move onto sleeping bags. My DS is 17m and that is what we have done.
TKMaxx usually has some nice "name brand" ones for less, or when they are tiny Primark and Matalan have good ones. Ebay is good too. I think when the are around3-6 months they need a-few bags as they get grubby quickly.

I used sleeping bags from newborn with both my DC - they are generally suitable from around 7.5 lbs or so, but this varies between brands. Most important on a 0-6 month size one is that there are poppers under the arm holes so that you can reduce the holes for smaller babies.

Grobag are the best IMO, although pricey, but they last well.

Generally from about 6 weeks plus. But you can swaddle for longer. I'd recommend the Merino sleeping bag it goes from 12 weeks to 2 years so you don't have to buy a new one every couple of months for growth and season change. Ours have washed well too.

www.babysleepshop.com/acatalog/Bambino_Merino.html

A bit for expensive to begin with but you save the £ later.

i got some for my ds2 when he was a baby from home bargins only a fiver each , i loved them

good advice above, I bought mine from vertbaudet - there's some great offers around at the moment and they are just lovely quality with pretty designs.

I used them pretty much from birth. My ds was a "kicker" and could shed the tightest of swaddling within seconds (and it was a cold winter) so he went straight into the bag. Absolutely fabulous things.

TK maxx often have half price gro-bags. We have a 2/3 in each size of different togs. Cost a few quid but spread over a few years it's not too bad.

i swaddled dd until 3 months then moved on to regular cot bedding but she kicked it off and woke herself up all the time so i bought sleeping bags from jojo maman bebe. they are brilliant they really help keep her asleep but if she wakes to feed i just pick her up in the bag its so much easier!

other are right though you need two or three for the exploding nappies!

Have seen grobags, seem to be very popular and nice designs. Will look into, thanks.

Look at these beautiful designs using this voucher you can get £15 off and free p&p. I'd buy at least 2, they get poo & sick on a lot!

Wow, didn't realise how quick the responses would be, thank you girls!

bumpto3.com sell Grobags and if you buy 2 you get one half price. I think that Grobag is the best make as they are cotton whilst some of the other makes are polycotton.

Used a Grobag from about 8lbs. Swaddled my first until she hit 8lbs. Interestingly now have a 12 month old and was advised by midwife in hospital that they no longer recommend swaddling. Wouldn't be without a Grobag, couldn't cope with kicking off covers etc. Good luck with your new little one.

I used Grobags with both DD's practically from day 1 and they are fab...no kicking off the covers and getting cold. DD1 born in Jan and DD2 born in Oct so cold nights. I would recommend. They wash and wear well so second hand could be a good option. I had 3. So 1 in wash 1 in use and 1 spare.

Many congrats on your pregnancy.

hehe I Gene just said Bakewell and I just read BakewellTarts right at that very moment.

I'm a simple person at heart.

Oops wrong thread. Ignore me

grobags are brilliant!
really good value half price here and free delivery if you use code CLEARANCE at the checkout.

i did swaddle first, then moved to grobags at about 4 weeks old.

Yes, they can be expensive, but I had 3 kids and managed to get away with only 1 grobag (yes, 1) which served all three. Although it did need a replacement zip by the time we got to dd3 (thanks, mum). Thank heavens for tumble-dryers.

Lottie 994, interested to note that your dd is only seven and you didn't encounter grobags. Oldest is nearly 11 and bags were all the rage even then. Guess you missed out, but gladly not 2nd time round! Good luck with new arrival.

The smallest grobags have a lower weight limit so we used a blanket until DD was big enough (she was only 6lbs at birth) - I think it's just so their head doesn't slip through the hole.

We love ours and we've even got a travel one that enables it to be worn in a car seat. Great for tranfering DD from car to cot. Bargains to be had on eBay too, that's where I've got all four of DDs from!

Didn't use from newborn as they're a faff when you need to change nappies through the night. Decided to try them again at around 16/18? weeks when he was rolling onto his front in the hope of restricting him. It worked for about a fortnight .
Now I like it because at 24 weeks he's moving all round the cot and at least I know he won't get cold.

What I would say - (& especially with doughnutty's comment above) I found bags which zipped round the bottom Soooo much easier that ones that zip in the middle.
Makes it much easier if you do need to change bums in the night etc.