Safe sleeping for December newborn

[Bea1985]

Hello all,

My first baby (a little girl) is due at the start of December and I want to ensure safe sleeping - I think/worry about it a LOT.

My house is old and prone to drafts/cold although I'll do everything in my power to keep it cosy for the LO.

I'm terrified of the baby being to cold, too warm or having a blanket/something else cover it's face.

So far I've been given:

^Moses basket and 140 x 70 cotbed (new matresses ordered for both, "breathable" mesh cot bumpers ordered for cot bed)

1 x 0-6 month grow bag sleep sack 2.5 tog

1 x 0-6 month grow bag sleep sack 1 tog

2 x fleecy baby blankets and a selection of thin cotton swaddle blankets

I've also ordered a digital bedroom thermometer.^

I'm wondering what else I need to get in terms of bedding, and what I need to do in terms of putting the baby to bed, in the winter, when she is small. I'd be amazed if I had a large baby, my hubbie and I are small people!

The growbags seem HUGE for a small newborn baby and I'm worried her head might slip inside, but I'm scared of using blankets no matter how well tucked in they are.

I can't find any sleepsacks (or similar) for babies less than about 9lbs. When my baby is new, in the winter, I highly doubt it will be 9lbs.

Any top tips or opinions from those more experienced appreciated!

The baby's arms will stop their heads going inside. But cellular blankets are recommended rather than fleecy. My baby was 6lb 11 and I put in 0-6 sleep sacks and was fine

Gro bags minimum weight is 8lb 8oz - 2 of mine were over that at birth, the middle one was there in 3 weeks so I used gro bags from birth with dc1 and 3 and cellular blankets with dc2 for the first few weeks.

You'll need more than one gro bag - aim for a wash a wear and a spare! Sainsbury's own ones are good and much cheaper.

My first was a December baby - he slept in a vest, a babygro and a 2.5 tog gro bag.

Ooh, and you will need cellular blankets (breathable but also trap air so bizarrely warm!) rather than fleecy.

Gro bags vary in their minimum weight. I had ones from mothercare which were suitable for 7lbs plus at the time.

You can get a grobag that is a sleeping bag /swaddle combined, which is suitable from 5 lb. I brought my DD home from hospital at the end of November (she was prem but due early December) and I put her straight into the grosnug. She slept in a chicco next 2 me attached to the bed.

Not that many babies are 9lbs+, you'd be surprised how much newborns fill up the neck of those grobags.

I imagine you won't get much use out of the 1 tog tbh. I'd definitely buy another 2.5 tog as they posset on them a lot.

You can use the fleece blankets as sheets under his head widthways, it's nice and soft and if/when he pukes in the bed you can just whip it away and the normal sheet underneath will be intact. But cellular blankets only on top.

Tbh it's likely baby won't go into the Moses basket for the first month - they can really really protest about being away from you which can be hideously stressful. So you could investigate Sleepyheads/Cocoonababys etc also. They are very safe if the baby demands to sleep in the bed with you.

The grobags seem massive when babies are small but they have extra poppers under the arms to make the arm holes smaller so baby can't wriggle down into them and when you put baby in it just make sure that the neck hole isn't so big it could move up. It won't tho; there's a minimum weight and my baby went in it at that weight and it was fine.
You might want to get some long sleeve vests tho as I didn't buy many and that's what she sleeps in when I'm the grobag.
You'll want some cellular blankets (with little holes) and then you can use a guide of how many to put on based on the temperature but it won't take you long to start figuring it out yourself and remember it's safer for baby to be a little on the cool side as they'll wake up if cold and let you know.
And just remember to always put baby at the bottom of the cot and blankets tucked underneath their arms/shoulders.
I was really anxious at first but it gets easier with practice.

The Lullaby Trust should be your bible for safe sleep. It is the charity that researches and informs SIDS guidelines for the NHS

www.lullabytrust.org.uk/safer-sleep-advice/

Some key things from your post:

● The "Clear Cot" recommendation not to have any loose bedding in the cot. So blankets should not be used unless very tightly secured
● Cot bumpers are considered dangerous. I appreciate that some manufacturers say theirs are safer than others, but tge recommendations are to not use any bumpers. At all.
● breathable blankets (with holes in) are safer than fleece blankets. If baby does her tangled in the blanket, fleece is harder to breath through
● There is often a minimum weight recommendation on sleeping bags. That said, a swaddle and tucked in blanket would probably be most useful in the early weeks. By the time baby is growing out of the swaddle, she should be plenty big enough for a sleeping bag.
● You may need a baby monitor when baby starts sleeping alone from 6 months. I mention this only because most have air temperature sensors on to tell you the room temperature without needing to enter the room. This would have been a better but than the bedroom thermometer.
● I doubt you'll use a 1 tog 0-6 month sleeping bag. These are for the height of summer and baby will probably be in 6-18m sleeping bags by then.
● Regular dummy use lowers SIDS risk

Top Tips

○ But dummies
○ Remove one side off the cotbed (cotbed are usually designed to allow this) to made a 3-sided sidecar cot and zip-time it to your bed. Use from birth.
○ keep the moses basket for downstairs naps. Babies grow out of these quickly though
○ get a bouncy chair. Fantastic for daytime naps downstairs out of the newborn phase
○ Did I mention buying dummies? Seriously, the best possibly thing you can buy.

Remember safe sleeping advice is for a room to be 16-20c. I found this is actually a lot colder than I expected

Thanks guys that is all so helpful. Apologies for delayed response, literally did sit down till 10.30 last night!

I'll check out the lullaby trust guidelines thank you, I'll sent the bumpers back if they're not recommended. Just worried about baby's limbs getting stuck!

I also forgot that the Angelcare baby monitor my dad is buying for displays the room temp so will also send back the digital room thermometer!

I'll get my hands on a few more 2.5 tog 0-6 month sleepsuits and see if I can get one or two smaller ones/grosnugs.

FATEdestiny the cotbed I have is 140 cm x 70 cm. I could actually fit this next to my bed.... would you recommend putting a newborn in a cot that big though? Feet at the bottom of course.

• did not sit down till 10.30!

It is safe for a newborn baby to go straight to a cotbed yes, if that's what you want to do

DC1 is a December baby. We used 0.5 and 1 tog grobags and followed the advice on the thermometer that cones with them about how many other layers to wear. You can fold the end of the grobag and tuck it under them when they are tiny.
We had the Moses basket in the cot at first, DC looked so tiny in his big cot and wouldn't settle!

I know technically the recommendation is still for no cot bumpers but we used the air wrap mesh ones and I cannot see how a child could possibly injure them with them.You can breath through them, there are no ties or loose parts, and you can't stand on them to get out of the cot as they just push down to the level of the mattress. We found them useful for keeping dummies in the bed, but DD still got her legs caught in the bars on occasion as she'd put her legs over the mesh, but by the time that was happening she was about 8 or 9mo and perfectly capable of letting us know immediately that she was stuck. Even at 2y9m with only one side still on the cot she still occasionally gets her knee stuck, silly girl!
I would second the recommendation to swap the 1tog grobag for another 2.5tog one.

Thanks both,

I think cot bumpers are a tricky one but I'll take the safest path.... I'll see what the lullaby trust has to say about the mesh bumpers in any case.

:)

DD was born in December. I had her in a vest, sleep suit and swaddled with 2 cellular blankets over her. She slept in a cocoonababy which we placed in a Chico next to me. From about 6 weeks she slept in a 2.5 tog sleeping bag. I have a 1 tog sleeping bag that I have had loads of use out of this summer, and a 0.5 tog one that I use when it is extremely hot.

would you recommend putting a newborn in a cot that big though?

Yes, absolutely!

If baby is in a sleeping bag or swaddle, you don't need to worry about feet-to-foot. That is only when using sheets or blankets that are tucked in. Therefore you can position baby within arms reach.

Cotbed are ace for sidecar cots specifically because they are big. It means you can physically lie your whole torso into the cot to snuggle up to baby. Many a time in the very early months I would wake with my legs in my bed and head and arms encircling baby in the cot.

Gets them used to sleeping in the cot, being settled in the cot. No need to change sleeping environment at a later date. Plus no need to buy any extra equipment.