NOW CLOSED: Share your thoughts on keeping your baby warm at night with the team behind Grobags – £250 prize up for grabs

[AnnMumsnet]

The team at The Gro Company have asked us to find out your opinions and experiences of keeping your baby warm during the winter months.

The Gro Company say "Around 95% of UK parents of newborns choose to use a baby sleeping bag to keep their baby safe and snug during sleep and naptimes. In order to comply with the current British Safety Standard for baby sleep bags, Grobag does not offer a product with sleeves which means these parents sometimes feel concerned about their babies having chilly arms.

Designed to complement the multi-award winning Grobag, the new Gro-Suit keeps the baby's arm warm with thick quilted sleeves while the rest of the suit is a single cotton layer. Worn inside a Grobag it provides the perfect balance of warm arms and a safer body temperature."

They've chatted to parents before and find that often parents, who feel that their baby's arms and hands feel cold to the touch in colder winter months, are tempted to add extra layers to their children's bedding, which could potentially reduce the safety of the sleep environment.

So please share on this thread
~ Your overall views and experiences of keeping your baby (or your child when they were a baby) warm at night
~ Did you or do you worry about your baby's arms being cold at night? How do you judge if they are cold or too warm?
~ Do you use a room thermometer or use touch to gauge temperature?
~ Do you use a baby sleeping bag? Are you aware that to comply with British Safety regulations, baby sleeping bags should not have sleeves/arms?
~ What do you think about this new product? Do you think it's something you'd use in the winter months as an alternative to a standard baby gro?

Any other comments welcome - the team from The Gro Company are on hand on facebook to answer any queries you have but will also respond to queries raised on this thread.

Add your comments below - everyone who does will be entered into a prize draw where one winner will get Gro company products including Grobags and vouchers for high street stores to the value of £250.

Thanks,
MNHQ

Dd is 8 months. We use sleeping bags, have done since about eight weeks. Before that she was wrapped in a blanket.

We have a thermometer on the monitor and I am very aware of her room temperature as our house is cool, drafty and hard (or v expensive) to keep warm. inevitably it gets colder at night when heating is off. I was pleasantly surprised to find that our cool 16-18 norm is the recommended range for babies. We've put heating on earlier in the autumn than usual and higher, to keep it at 16 at night. We are also having sash windows reconditioned with draft excluders fitted, adding new radiators and improving insulation in other ways.

I have to say I am not particularly concerned about arms. At 16-18c dd wears a babygro in a 2.5 tog bag. If it may get colder she wears a long sleeved vest underneath, aimed at keeping her torso warm but also covering her arms. I think that's enough.

~ Your overall views and experiences of keeping your baby (or your child when they were a baby) warm at night
I dont recall having particular concerns about the cold. We had a heater for baby's room, which we set to come on/ go off automatically if the temperature went below/ above 18c.

~ Did you or do you worry about your baby's arms being cold at night? How do you judge if they are cold or too warm?
No I didnt tend to worry about babys arms. I used to check the back of her neck to gauge how warm she was and judge from this. I dont recall her arms or hands getting particularly cold.

~ Do you use a room thermometer or use touch to gauge temperature?
We used both.

~ Do you use a baby sleeping bag? Are you aware that to comply with British Safety regulations, baby sleeping bags should not have sleeves/arms?
We used a baby sleeping bag until she was 2 1/2 years. I always assumed they didnt have sleeves so baby keep a little cooler if it was hot, as they were unable to kick the covers off in a sleeping bag.

~ What do you think about this new product? Do you think it's something you'd use in the winter months as an alternative to a standard baby gro?
I dont think it is a good idea. I think it is better to try keep the room at a certain temperature rather than risk making baby too warm.

Hello - thanks for all your feedback. Am pleased to say Strugglingtothinkofanickname has been selected as the winner of the Gro company products including Grobags and vouchers for high street stores to the value of £250. Well done - I will PM you now.

My dd was a winter baby, so we worried about her getting chilly when she was tiny. We had a gro egg in her room and also checked her hands for temp. We use long sleeved vests and baby grows with a sleeping bag and add blankets if it's a really cold night. We tend to use pjs now and occasionally still a sleeping bag as she likes them! (now age 2). Prob wouldnt use one with sleeves as I would worry about over heating, especially when they're small.

Your overall views and experiences of keeping your baby (or your child when they were a baby) warm at night
~ Did you or do you worry about your baby's arms being cold at night? How do you judge if they are cold or too warm?
I did sometimes worry a bit when their hands were very very cold but used to reassure myself that if they were cold they'd wake up. I always felt the back of their neck to check they were warm. My babies were NOT good sleepers so they would definitely have woken if they were too cold!
~ Do you use a room thermometer or use touch to gauge temperature?
Usually touch - always to the back of the neck as hands/ feet can be misleading.
~ Do you use a baby sleeping bag? Are you aware that to comply with British Safety regulations, baby sleeping bags should not have sleeves/arms?
Yes I knew that. I also didn't use a sleeping bag until they were six months and in their own cot - I felt safer that way as I did worry about using bags on newborns. It felt safer once they could move around.
~ What do you think about this new product? Do you think it's something you'd use in the winter months as an alternative to a standard baby gro?
These sound like a really good idea but I think cost would be a prohibiting factor for me.