Sleeping Bags for Newborns or Not?

[Tinyflutterby]

Hi, considering this is my second child I really should know the answer to this myself! However I was too scared to put my first into a baby sleeping bag because of the overheating thing. Does anyone know if it is safe to do so and if not, how old should they be? I have loads of really cute small sleeping bags and my 2 year old now still uses the bigger ones and loves them so I know they work. Thanks.

I think swaddling is much better for newborns

I never worried about the overheating, but found sleeping bags too big and cumbersome (although had big, let's long babies!) in the first couple of months.

I use the growbags as long as you make sure the tog size isn't too thick for the temperature they are fine, I always worry about blankets and duvet covers going over the babies head. X

Yes I used grobags, and used their "chart" for advice on what clothing to wear for what tog and what temperature the room was.

Here it is gro.co.uk/pages/what-to-wear I have a copy printed in her bedroom by the thermometer!

We started with a sleeping bag last week. DD is 10 weeks. She's big enough for it now and it's awful cold here. I don't agree with swaddling arms as I like babies to be able to use their hands. Plus DD doesn't jerk when she's going off to sleep so doesn't wake herself that way.

The sleeping bag has pops under the arms and there's no way DD could possibly slip down inside - it's fairly tight round her torso.

I used miracle blankets ( swaddling blankets) for my two previous babies until they were a few weeks old and I think they are great. Not sure if they made any difference but I felt like it was calming them down. They have a pocket for the legs too so there should be no hip typed problems.

Cambridge baby sell the merino from premature upwards

The important thing with sleeping bags is the baby's weight rather than age. Grobags recommend from 8lb 8oz (from gro.co.uk/faqs/about-grobag-baby-sleep-bags) so as my son was only 5lb 4oz at birth we waited until he reached that weight (about 8-10 weeks I think). He always slept really well in them and we will be using them again with babies 2 and 3.

I bought a gro swaddle blanket which is working really well for 4 week DD is kicks of her blankets as she is very active.
She is too small for sleeping bags at the moment but will be using them when she is bigger

I don't think swaddling is a good idea, babies should ideally sleep on their back with their hips in a frog leg position to help hip development. I was advised by a paediatrician because my baby had underdeveloped hip joints due to being breech and by making sure she slept in this position as much as possible we avoided the need for a brace and her hips are now normal.

Incidentally, this has recently been in the news:swaddling and hip development

A couple of cellular blankets is all you need, tuck them in the bottom end of the mattress to stop them getting pulled up or kicked off.

Aw thanks everyone, I really appreciate your advice. My first DS was 9lb 3oz(!) so he would have been fine. He didn't like having his arms in the swaddling right from the start anyway and since we started using Grobags when he was a few months old he seemed to like the security of them. Guess I'll wait and see what size this one is and take it from there! Thanks again!x