experiences with Merino Kids sleeping bags pls

[Beesok]

Apologies if this has been asked before but I really wanted to read some recent experiences of anyone using the Merino Go Go bags - I have read great reviews but still not sure if they are the right choice....

Are they really suitable from birth? On the website there are two sizes but how can one be suitable from birth to two years?
Do they really "regulate" baby's temp?

Is there anything special about this particular brand (Merino Kids) or are all 100% merino bags similar?

Thanks for the advice in advance :)

I'm a bit suspicous about sleeping bags that claim to be suitable from birth, as I've read elsewhere that you shouldn't use them from birth and also I don't think they are necessary.

We just swaddled DS in blankets/sheets until he was about 8 weeks, then we moved onto sleeping bags. If you were to put a newborn in a sleeping bag, you wouldn't get the advantages of swaddling, and believe me, swaddling is fantastic! It really helped our DS sleep for longer periods and made him understand that once he was wrapped up, it was bedtime!

Sleeping bags are fantasic after you can't swaddle anymore though, I use them all the time - 1 tog when it's hot, 2.5 tog when it's not. I wouldn't worry about a particular brand though. TK Maxx tends to have a lot at bargain prices!

Hope this helps.

Thanks anniroc - I am a bit confused as the size of a newborn and a two year old varies considerably hehehe

I am going to try swaddling as well, will wait to see if my LO likes it and won't buy the bag until later anyway just in case she hates it - if she tries it and doesn't like it at least I can send it back.

Re TK Maxx - is there any store in London that does baby clothes? I have heard so many good things about them but so far haven't seen any baby stuff in the London stores :(((((((

All wool (which includes merino) regulates temperature and humidity. My husband and I have recently bought a wool duvet as he gets way too hot in bed and doesn't throw the cover off in his sleep. It does the job fantastically.

There have been studies that say that because wool regulates your temperature and humidity so well you enter REM much quicker and so get more (they said 25% more) deep sleep than you would under a synthetic cover. That can only be good news for anyone with a baby.

Personally I'll be using blankets to swaddle my baby at first (currently knitting a soft woollen one- using cashmerino wool) and then I'll be looking around to see if I can get my paws on a sleeping-bag made of something non-synthetic.

Cellular blankets are brilliant for swaddling as the holes in them prevents baby getting too hot.

I'm afraid I'm not an expert on TK Maxx stores in London as I don't live there anymore, but the one on Clapham high st definitely does baby stuff. I remember going in and buying a breast pump there one lunchtime!

We have these and they are really too big for newborn. But from about 4 months my ds has loved his. They last well, and wash well, and he always looks so comfy and suggly in them in comparison to the grobag ones.

The concern with sleeping bags from birth is that the baby will be able to slip down inside them and get them over their heads - if the neck hole can be adjusted such that this can't happen they are perfectly safe.

Not all babies like being swaddled - DD hated it from day 1. But as she was born at 9lb 12 she went into a 0-6 month GroBag within about a week of being born with no problems (I think they say they're OK from about 7lb). That said, I've always been tempted to try a natural fibre bag but never felt I could justify the cost - but might let myself succumb this time round :)

Thanks everyone - I guess this is one of those "see how you get on" - I'm going to check if my baby a) likes swaddling b) big or tiny (hope her head isn't too big!!;) and get the sleeping bag after she's born

Was thinking of maybe getting a merino blanket for the meantime which could be used for swaddling as well? I have a few cotton ones including one cellular one with holes - would that be enough or is the merino worth considering? She will be an October baby so not sure cotton blankets will cut it at night.....

I am also a great believer in using wool to sleep under like whizzyrocket. My baby is due in September and I have knitted a couple of blankets as I don't think cotton will cut it in my house at night. Did you know wool is also naturally house dust mite repellent?
I would wait till after birth to get sleeping bags as my DD2 hated having her feet hemmed in at night so much that in the end I cut all the feet off her sleepsuits and didn't use her Grobags.

Sadly I can't knit :) anyone know of some good quality and reasonably priced soft merino blankets? ;)
Thanks

Try ebay. It does rather depend on the definition of "reasonably priced". Merino is pricey- to buy a ball of merino wool you're looking at £5, so naturally the ready-made blankets aren't cheap. These are the blankets I've been eyeing up: www.thewoolcompany.co.uk/baby-bedding.html and www.thewoolroom.com/prods/wool-baby-blanket.html -these are more expensive though but the pixie dot one is gorgeous!

Thanks Whizzy - I saw those while googling and also found a gorgeous one on Manuka baby but it's £80 ....it's really hard to predict what type of baby she will be - if she doesn't like swaddling and being constricted in sleeping bags then a blanket is ideal and these are quite large (100x110 cm) so will last for longer I think? The ones you linked up are smaller so not sure how long they can be used for?

so confused and not sure what to buy now!!

These are also great..
www.bambinomerino.com/Merino-Swaddling-Blanket/c-42/p-50/

Thanks mrsrvc this website is great and now I am even more confused ;)

OK To recap - I was thinking of buying either the big merino blanket from Manuka BUT the sales person said she thinks they are too thick for swaddling (even though it says on the website they are suitable)

OR the other option is to buy the swaddle warp from bambino merino (which can also be used as a blanket) + the bambino merino sleep suit
is that too many merino layers?

Just thinking about how we sleep in winter - we have a warm down duvet and usually try to keep the room at mild temp - now with the baby it will have to be max 20 degrees so am confused about what LO should actually sleep in - is a cotton body suit under merino blanket suitable/enough? Or should I get the merino bodysuit for extra warmth?
How thick should the blanket be - even though all the above are made of 100% merino the thickness varies so I'm assuming so does the "warmth"?

Sorry for all the dumb questions - just wanted to make sure am getting something I will actually use don't want to throw money down the drain....

....or is the following option suitable - vest or sleep suit + swaddled in muslin cloth + cover with merino blanket?

sorry have a day off and too much time to think

Sorry to be completely ignorant and to hijack here- I have bought all sleeping bags to use from newborn. I have a cotton swaddling thing too. Should I put my baby in this and/or a woollen blanket to start off with? Do I need anything else - over-sheet etc?

G1nger welcome to the Confused Club hahaha hopefully someone experienced will come along and enlighten us ;)

I love love love my merino wool sleeping bags - being hugely paranoid about over heating and all that! I didn't use it from birth just cos I found that a sheet and cellular blanket was a bit easier with nappy changes and cleaning up poo explosions etc. But once nappies had settled down a bit we used them (around 2 or 3 months I think) They have extra poppers under the arms to make them smaller for the tiny babies to stop them slipping down.

Dc1 only had the normal (not the winter bag) for our first winter and he had no heating in his room but we used to put him in a short sleeve baby gro, long sleeve baby gro and sleepsuit plus extra cellular blankets over the top when it got cold (4 at one point when it got down to 7 degrees in his room!!) I love that merino wool nightwear tho

Dc1 never liked being swaddled and dc2 was prem and the scbu nurses gave me a big lecture about how swaddling is bad so I was too scared to try despite having been bought that beautiful merino wool swaddle. I don't believe them tbh, all the mw on the post natal ward swaddled the babies but you know what it's like!

Thanks earshot in the end I decided to get the merino blanket and will use that with/without a sheet (probably good idea to have the sheet in case of the nappy explosions yikes! just to protect the blanket a bit ?) and once she's 2-3 months old I'll get the merino sleeping bag and, if needed, merino sleep suits etc - I don't want to spend money on clothes now when I have no idea of her size etc and a thick merino blanket + cotton sleep suits should be OK considering the room won't be that cold...

Sorry I haven't read the whole thread but I loved ours. DS did grow out of it at around 18mo though. We bought the regular not winter one and it worked beautifully. There are poppers in the arm holes so the the baby's arms can't slip inside and get stuck when they are tiny. It washed incredibly well too. Can't praise them enough.

hagrid did you use from day one or was it too big for a newborn? I know it depends on the newborn size :) but just out of curiosity when did u start using yours?

We did use it from day 1 but then DS was 9lb 12oz :0

well in that case am hoping she doesn't fit from day one hahahaha :)

Personally, having had a larger baby, I wouldn't get any expensive swaddle wrap things - I wound up with 2 (cotton and cheaper!) ones for DD and she was too big for them at birth. If you get a "newborn" sized baby and they like being swaddled in a sheet or something cheap then, for me, that would be the time to think about getting one.

re. nappy explosions - not all babies will have exploding nappies every day, or even every week. You'll most likely have at least 5-7 days of grace, especially if you BF, as it will take that long for your milk to come in and the meconium to work it's way through your LO's system - in the early days you're at more risk of needing a chisel to try and get the meconium off (early application of vaseline to small bottom can be very useful to try and avoid this problem!). By the time you're into a risk of exploding nappies you should have an idea of whether your LO likes swaddling or not.

I don't know whether we lucked out with our baby/nappy combination (we deliberately got a trial pack of each brand to see what fitted best and stuck with that till outgrown, then got trial packs again - DD fitted different brand nappies at different ages ), or if we were just lucky with her digestive system, but I honestly think we had less than a dozen exploding nappies in the first year. Then again, DD did prefer to wait until her nappy was off and then do the big squirty poos (I got very good at constructing barriers and dams out of the nappy that had just come off to avoid having to redecorate).

hagrid - snap :o. I found a bigger baby great - quite enjoyed giving birth to her (labour was intense, but there was very little of it I'd describe as painful), and she latched on like a pro (MW had a theory that big babies found it easier as they had a bigger mouth to latch on with). Plus there's something to pick up - little babies frightened me!

Tangle my thoughts too - I have a bunch of cheap cotton blankets and some large muslins that I will try out to see if she will enjoy swaddling and then consider getting a more expensive one if needed - so far the blanket seems like the safest choice as it will def. be used esp as we will be travelling etc and having a snuggly super soft blanket on a plane is nice :)