Sleep sacks

Re: Sleep sacks

• Allie30 member

  October 2010

  Sleep sacks are not swaddlers. They are like safety blankets -- they can keep the baby warm without slipping over their face or worrying about them kicking it off. Think of them like an infant version of a slanket or snuggie -- they are little sleeping bags with sleeves.

  Swaddling is a soothing technique for newborns. It wraps the baby up tightly to simulate being held or embraced by the walls of the womb. It makes the baby feel safe and secure -- as well as warm.
  

  The sleep sack is really just to make a baby feel warm. 

  So that's the difference as I understand it. I have both -- swaddlers and "miracle blankets "(which are like "swaddling blankets for dummies") for swaddling, and then the sleep sacks for when the baby is older and I'm not swaddling, or if I'm putting her to sleep without swaddling but before I feel comfortable covering her with a normal blanket for warmth.
  

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• Ananke member

  October 2010

  If you mean a swaddling sleep sack/blanket (like the Swaddle Me, Halo Swaddle option, Miracle Blanket), the benefit to those over basic swaddling with a blanket is that they are easy to do and LO has a more difficult time getting out of them.  Regular blankets pose  suffocation risk if LO is able to kick them off.

  If you mean regular sleep sacks, they are just a sleep option to keep baby warm without having loose blankets in the crib. And in my experience, sleep sacks are supposed to fit big - as long as the arms fit, thats what matters - but we don't these yet since we swaddle, so I could be wrong.

  We use the SwaddleMe wraps and love love love them! Swaddling helps newborns feel more confined like they were in the womb, and it also helps reduce the Moro reflex and minimize flailing of their arms which helps them stay calm and sleep better.

   1ht 

  

  

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• wini77 member

  October 2010

  We just started using the Halo sleep sacks this week, as DD kicked out of her swaddle every night.  Our experiment seems to have worked - she slept 5 and a half hours straight the first night in the sack, and 5 hours last night. 

  

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• amymatt615

  October 2010

  We used a sleep sack for the first time last night. LO hated beingswaddled and confined and would cry as soon as we put her down to try and get her hands out... With the sleep sack last night she slept 4 hours straight!!!  YAY fingers crossed!!

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• smitt2619

  October 2010

  Looks like you've got a great explanation already.  Swaddle is for wrapping the arms up tight like a little burrito the first few months, and a sleepsack as a wearable blanket for safety and to keep warm.  We used Halo Sleepsack Swaddles until he was 4 months old, then removed the swaddle feature and he slept in the sleepsack part, of which he still does.  And yes, sleepsacks are supposed to be long so that LO has room to kick around a bit.   
  

  

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