Safest sleeping

[maloney123]

Hi All
I’m really struggling with the varying advice for how to ensure the baby sleeps safely at night. I am due in June and conscious that the upstairs of our house gets very very warm in the summer.
What is the safest option - a sleeping bag or a cellular blanket? Or something else? I have it in my head that blankets post a suffocation risk. What about sleep suits - should these be long or short sleeves?
Advice very gratefully welcomed!!

I don't like the sleeping bag things - too many tog options and you have to be careful about what tog to put the baby in depending on the room temperature. Also they are bloody expensive compared to a blanket?

Just go with a cellular blanket - if you follow the "feet to foot" rule then the baby won't be able to wriggle down under it and because it's got lots of holes anyway it's low risk

Also with blankets it's easier to add more/take away as the temperature changes in a room

Oh with the vests my bigger twin wears short sleeved under a sleep suit and little twin because she's so much smaller has long sleeved under a sleepsuit (my twins were in NICU for weeks due to being premature - they take their temperate in their every 3 hours wks adjust blankets/add cardigans accordingly hence why I tend to wrap little twin up more as she tends to be a fraction cooler than her brother)

As pp poster said I user cellular blankets in summer, I often would put baby in a sleepsuit, with a vest if chilly but in a warm house I wouldn't think a vest would be necessary.
Keep an eye on temp of baby by putting you finger under babys collar and feel chest which should give you a good indication of if they are warm or cold or fine.
Also I liked sleeping bags as they cannot be kicked off, and the gro bag by the gro company come with a little card thermometer to tell you what baby needs to wear with the bag which I always found really helpful.

I'd stick with blankets for as long as possible op and only bother with sleeping bags when they get all wriggly and mobile.

That's what worked for us (although obviously this may not work for u, you will need to try and see when the time comes). If u tuck the baby in securely (including tucking the blanket under the mattress at the foot end of the cot) and put baby in the 'feet to foot' position there really isn't a suffocation risk.

We found blankets to be much easier and the fact we received loads as gifts meant we saved a fortune too.

In the early days weeks there are loads of accidents (poo, wee, sick) so having loads of blankets made life much easier. Took the worry out things. I can't imagine having lots of sleeping all in the size and tog especially when grow so fast, seems very expensive to me. I know plenty of people do it this way though and would probably hate our way so it really is a personal preference thing.

I prefer sleeping bags. My daughters always been a hot child so has had lower than recommended togs. Any higher and she won't sleep/gets agitated.

I personally find them safer. I did start using cellular blankets but spent an awful lot of time awake worrying whether it was too close to her face 🙈

On very hot days a bodysuit or a sleepsuit are ample, it really depends on how hot it is as to what you go for. A thin blanket is low risk to baby but you can tuck it under the matress to help stop it going above shoulder height too.

Most sleeping bags are not recommended for below 6 months so check what they say when you buy.

Thanks everyone, that’s v v appreciated. For those who chose to use a sleeping bag, which brand did you use? I’m finding the grobag website very confusing and they don’t seem to have anything in stock!

@Chelyanne

Most sleeping bags are not recommended for below 6 months so check what they say when you buy.

Of course you should check but six months is a nonsense. They come in age-related sizes, like clothing. The smallest 0-6 month ones typically have a minimum weight of around 8lb / 4kg. If you have big babies they can be used from birth.

I used both for my Prem son, I'm sure the gro website has a great tool what to dress baby in, in different temperatures. I think Tommie tippee now sell the gro bags on their website
I have attached a pic from google to give u a rough guide

I have been having similar questions OP. I think most sleeping bags I have looked at are from about 8lb8oz so a very little one probably needs a blanket to begin with anyway.

I am not sure if it is safest to have lots of blanket at the sides to tuck under and hold it under the mattress, or not too much as then the mattress would be less flat?

I also got one of these, though looking at it now I am not sure what it is, clothing or a sleeping bag

www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-partners-baby-organic-cotton-bunny-bundler-white-0-3-months/p1713650

@Chelyanne

Most sleeping bags are not recommended for below 6 months so check what they say when you buy.

Rubbish. They are generally OK from 8lbs or so

New, firm mattress
Baby’s feet at the foot of the cot
Tuck the cellular blanket in but leave their arms out so if they raise their arms it doesn’t pull the blanket over their head
When they get to about 3 or 4 months old and a bit more move-y, sleeping bags are brilliant - means they can’t pull the blanket off in the night, can’t wiggle underneath it etc
In my experience John Lewis sleeping bags are the best - lovely soft cotton. Use 1 tog for warmer days, and 2.5 tog for winter

DC2 was born in June (it was VERY hot if I recall correctly) he slept mainly in a short sleeve vest, sometimes swaddled in a massive muslin. Once he was big enough (he weighed 5lb, 5ozs - born at 35+2) we used sleeping bags, by which point it was cooler at night so warranted using them. I used to tuck the end of the sleeping bag into the end of the cot initially & add a tucked in flat cot sheet over him in place of a blanket as the sleeping bags were a lower tog (DC1 was born in the spring so they were summer weight ones being used in winter)

Go off how warm you are. Some nights last summer I had to co sleep downstairs on sofa bed with LO as our bedroom was soo hot 25 degrees! So we co slept on sofa bed with a room fan on and baba was in a vest and muslin round his legs. Other nights when it was warm he wore the same but in his next to me crib. Autumn and Winter he wears a sleeping bag and blanket as it gets cold in the night. Judge it at the time and use common sense as its not always black and white

I had June baby and the week after he was born we had a massive heatwave for a couple of weeks.Our bedroom was boiling hot and the fan was pretty useless.He was wearing either light T-shirt or just a nappy and covered in big muslin if it was a bit cooler.