Are you like me and worry about your baby getting too cold or too hot while they sleep? Today, I want to help you and me out by talking through how to dress your baby for sleep with safety and comfort in mind so that we don’t have to worry about this thought keeping us up all night.
Safety Concerns
First of all, my main reason for writing this blog was to address the safety issue here. While writing my blog post on SUID this past fall I found something interesting. It has been found that SIDS cases are higher in the winter time. This was interesting to me and I wanted to know more about why this was true. It didn’t take me long to figure out the reason for the dramatic increase. During colder months of the year, parent’s tend to over bundle their babies in fear that they will get too cold during the night. This fear results in some parents putting extra layers on their baby for sleep and placing loose blankets on their baby. If you read my SUID blog post you know that over bundling and leaving loose blankets in the crib before the age of 12 months old increases the risk of SIDS. I am also led to believe that parents don’t keep a fan on during the winter time in fear of it getting too cold in their baby’s room. From recent studies, we know that fans circulate clean air and reduce the risk of SIDS. Over-bundling, leaving loose blankets in your baby’s sleep space and not having good clean air circulation in your baby’s room all increase your baby’s risk of SIDS. With winter almost in full swing please remember these important factors! Ultimately, we always want our babies to sleep SAFE! That should be our first priority.
-Do not over bundle your baby for sleep. ( Over-bundling can result in overheating which increases SIDS.)
-Do not leave loose blankets in your baby’s crib if they are under 12 months old. ( This is a suffocation risk.)
-Keep the fan on. (Fans circulate good clean air to your baby while sleeping and has been found to reduce the risk of SIDS.)
Now that we have the most important part covered, let’s move on to how many layers your baby should sleep with depending on their nursery temperature.
Dress your Baby by Nursery Temperature
To know how many layers to dress your baby in for sleep you first have to know the temperature in their nursery. The recommended temperature for your baby’s sleep environment is between 68-72 degrees Fahrenheit. It can be anywhere between this range. Once you know your baby’s nursery temperature refer to the chart below to know how to dress them for comfortable and safe sleep.
The big thing here is to not over do it. We naturally sleep better in cool environments rather then hot. For time sake I won’t get into the science of why that’s true, but just know it’s natural for us to sleep better in cool environments for baby’s and adults. Personally, I know for myself that if I get hot while sleeping I WILL wake up and I am usually not a happy camper. I imagine our babies feel the same way. No one likes to wake up in a sweat. NO ONE! Keep this in mind!
Conclusion
I hope this blog helps calm your nerves about how to dress your baby safely and comfortably for sleep. The biggest thing I want you to take away is the safety concerns. The Bedtime Attire Chart above is going to insure that your baby is dressed warm enough for the given nursery temperature and that your baby is sleeping safely. You will see on the chart that it refers to the TOG of the sleep sack for the given nursery temperature. I will be talking all about TOG on Friday on my social media platforms. Helping you understand what it means and the benefits. Stay tuned! In the mean time, make the adjustments needed to makes sure your baby is sleepy safe and comfortable during this cold season, but also all year round.
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