What blankets for baby?

[DeeBeee]

Hi all - possibly silly question about what to cover the baby with at night, but I am expecting DS1 and have no clue. I've been reading that babies should wear one more layer than you, so sleep in vest+babygro. Then you can cover them with a cellular blanket - however what if they are not warm enough?? Is it safe to throw a fleecy blanket over the cellular one? From what I've read, only cellular ones are safe enough to put over the baby at night, due to the risk of suffocation. But - they are so thin, how do they keep a newborn warm enough?

You can use a sheet as well under the blanket, or put baby in a cardigan :)

However, it's more dangerous for babies to overheat than it is for them to be a bit cool, so if in doubt, take a layer off!

To feel if baby is hot/cold/just right, feel their neck or their back rather than their face or hands :)

Baby sleeping bags can be good to keep them warm...
they can't kick it off and they can't smother themselves with it. This is what I intend to do when it gets colder :)

IME one of the most stressful things about having a newborn is trying to regulate its temp!!! I always erred on the side of caution and probably cooked dd as a result!!!

It does sort of depend on how warm/ cold your house is and what the weather is like. I wouldn't personally put a baby to bed in a cardi but would use a couple of blankets and take off or put on depending on how hot or cold I thought dd was!!

Sleeping bags are good, but they usually state that they are for babies of over a certain weight, so not necessarily ok for a newborn. Flannel sheets are good with a cellular blanket over the top, I tended to find the blankets were quite big so could be folded for several layers if necessary. From now until, well autumn really, you won't need any more than that.

Second flannel sheets with a cotton cellular blanket.

Mind you, DS was prem and tiny when he came home (under 5lb) we were told not to follow the usual advice, particularly because it was winter and we lived in an old, cold house. He slept in:

• long sleeved vest
• babygro
• woolly hat
• two sheets
• two cellular blankets
• woolly blanket

in a cot in front of a radiator...

Perhaps that's why now, six years on, I still insist on wrapping him up warm to go to bed!