Stupid question alert - what do babies sleep in?

[benne81]

I'm a first timer and obviously don't seem to have a clue about babies at all. I'm getting very confused on even the very basic details like what do they sleep in!! I have seen the sleeping bag things - do you put them in them from birth with a sleep suit on? is that enough or do they need extra blankets? I have also seen swaddling blankets and cellular blankets and I'm really confused! Please will someone just explain to me what I need to buy and at what age its best to use what - any advice would be much appreciated.

I am sure to be shouted down on this one, but we found the best protection against SIDS was to actually watch the baby sleep whenever possible and not have her too far away.

We took shifts, for the first three weeks, of staying awake to watch her, and I held her hand if I really couldn't stay awake while she slept in the Moses basket. Once she was four or five weeks old I felt confident enough to have her in bed with me, and the theory is that a baby can pick up on your breathing and heartbeat as long as close enough.
Anyone else followed this advice?

Having just read the SIDS report that was helpfully linked to above, I can summarise it as:

Babies of 1 month age are at low risk of SIDS; babies are at peak risk at 3 months. I understand it that most babies will have rejected being swaddled by about 8 weeks as they prefer to be able to wriggle about, so therefore swaddling is generally used for newborn babies.

The report said that SIDS was higher in babies who were newly swaddled at 3 months - so were unused to that form of sleeping - those that had been swaddled since birth were at much lower risk of SIDS...

Hope that helps! I think swaddling is probably a good thing overall in babies that like to feel snug and secure, and if you are close to your baby in sleep they should regulate their breathing to match yours anyway.

Me told me that baby had to be over 8lbs before going into sleeping bag.

Dd was in NICU for three weeks, but when we got her home, (in a bitter bitter cold december last year) then it was vest, sleepsuit, hat, mittens, cardigan and a couple of blankets, but careful not to overheat...

she moved into a sleeping abg about 6 weeks i think.

i got mine either from primark or matalan.

You could wait until you see what kind of baby you have - don't assume yours will be happy to sleep alone in a moses basket straight off! My DD slept on my chest or next to me for about a month as she would not be put down. It was July and she was kept warm by either her sling (during the day) or my body heat (in bed), so she was just in a short sleeved body suit for much of the time.

She went in a sleeping bag in her moses basket at about 6 weeks - they give you instructions what the baby should wear and they come in different togs depending on the season. Basically in the height of summer they might just wear a short sleeve body suit and a 0.5 tog sleeping bag. In the depths of winter maybe a vest, a sleepsuit with long sleeves and legs, and a 2.5 tog sleeping bag.

You should have a sense of how hot the room is (you don't need to be accurate to the nth degree, but one of the room thermometers that come with the grobag sleeping bags will tell you if its increased/dropped 2 or three degrees from normal) and how hot they feel (check their tummies rather than hands/feet, which are often a different temp with little ones - they can have cold hands but a toasty little tummy which means they are warm enough!)

For grobags, sign up to the gro store mailing list- they often have bogof flash sales. You get 10-15% back thru quidco too. The travel ones are cheaper than the standard ones, but can be used as standard ones (zips in different places, that's all).

I've just got back from Sainsburys, they have a big sale on clothing & I picked up a couple of summer sleeping bags for £6 each!
Now all I have to do is persuade DD2 it's time to move from the swaddle to the bags...