Blanket question for fall/winter STMs

ohioloveyou · June 2014

Did you use lighter swaddle blankets like the Aden & Anais that everyone recommends, or should I invest in some that are heavier? I don't want baby to be cold, but I don't want him/her to overheat either!

Jansheski · June 2014

I personally like the lighter weight blankets like the Aden and Anais. There are also sleep sacks you can buy that have sleeveless arms so that's always an option too. On really cold nights for my boys I would put a small heater in their rooms to help keep it warmer.

AppleGrapeMSTK · June 2014

I would get something light like a swaddler or receiving blankets for indoors, then a few warmer blankets to drape over the baby while in a carseat. We had a really mild winter when DS wa born, so we had a few fleece/minky blankets that we would toss over baby to keep him warm.

mandapear · June 2014

We used both A+A blankets and swaddle sacks at different points. I think both are helpful- swaddle sacks for squirmy times, the blankets for multipurpose use (especially helpful when traveling, as they can be blanket/swaddle/burp cloth/ changing pad, etc.)

Eastie156 · June 2014

We mostly used A&A swaddle blankets in the fall (Fall 2012 was a warm one in Boston) and Swaddle-me's during the winter. I only had one or two Halo sleep sacks and used the heavier ones during the winter. Like a pp mentioned, you may want a couple different options to see what LO likes best.

SusieBW · June 2014

It always annoyed me that most of the sleep sacks out there have no sleeves. I found some fantastic fuzzy warm long-sleeved sleep sacks at TJ Maxx for DD, and we cycled through the same three of them for bedtime all winter her first winter.

yella726 · June 2014

Thank you for asking this question and for all of the ladies contributing with answers! We live in an old house (from 1865) in Maine and typically use our wood burning stove as our main heat source from fall through....well...I'm hoping that our last fire was a couple of days ago! For DH and I, it's easy to just snuggle under blankets when the house gets really cold overnight. So I'm worried about a newborn sleeping comfortably! I've registered for several Halo fleece sleepsacks in hopes that it will keep LO warm. I'm also not sure how I feel about having a space heater plugged in and running all night long (makes me nervous).

meggiev123 · June 2014

@yella726 Aden and Anais makes amazing winter weight sleep sacks. We barely use ours because even in the winter indoors it's not so cold, but in a cold house it would be perfect.

We had some in different weights depending on the indoor temperature. I'd say the first months we used the Halo swaddlers the most, both a fleece one and a lighter cotton one. I suck at swaddling with a blanket, but DD did well when swaddled so these were the easiest option for us.

yella726 · June 2014

@meggiev123 Ahhh, thank you! Good to know!

raynes · June 2014

My LO was a May baby, so he was a lot older by the time the cold weather returned, but we ended up putting a small space heater in his room. I think at that point he was in the swaddle sleep sacks and either thicker or fleece footies.

Emerald27 · June 2014

DS was an October baby but hated being swaddled, so we just used blankets for his carseat to keep him warm. We have a few light swaddling blankets and a few heavier blankets. It's nice to have a mix so that you can layer and take off as needed.

Heartwood0519 · June 2014

This might be a really dumb question, and I suppose I could Google it, but I thought I heard that you're not supposed to put anything in the crib with the baby, including blankets. So, are those sleep sacks that everyone's talking about supposed to take the place of a blanket when they sleep? Holy hell... I feel so unprepared right now...

BBBrady · June 2014

When they are little and still swaddled, we always just put baby in a onesie and then a swaddle me for overnight. Then we would swaddle with an a+a for naps when dd was wearing clothes during the day. I actually love the a+a blankets for nursing covers (you and your baby will be a furnace, no heavy blanket needed). I would not go out and buy a lot of blankets. People love to buy them as shower gifts, and you will end up with a million that you may not use. So for me, blankets go into the category of waiting until after baby to see what you like to use and then go buy.
We did not start using a blanket to cover baby until she was 1. Before then it was a sleep sack- in the beginning we did swaddle me, then the "wearable blanket" kind when we stopped swaddling at 3-4 months.

ohioloveyou · June 2014

Heartwood0519 said:

This might be a really dumb question, and I suppose I could Google it, but I thought I heard that you're not supposed to put anything in the crib with the baby, including blankets. So, are those sleep sacks that everyone's talking about supposed to take the place of a blanket when they sleep? Holy hell... I feel so unprepared right now...

The way I understand it (correct me if I'm wrong!) is that loose blankets are not okay, but if you're swaddling tightly it should be fine. Sleep sacks would be fine too as they are worn by baby and not loose.

jcsumm0 · June 2014

We keep our house cold in the winter and our dr recommended a space heater. You can get one that is cool to the touch and turns off automatically if turned over. You might also want to invest in a baby monitor with a temperature read-out if baby isn't going to be sleeping in your room. It can provide peace of mind that the temperature is ok in the middle of the night.

We used a mix of A+A swaddle blankets and swaddlemes and then once she wasn't swaddled anymore, footed sleepers under a fleece sleepsack kept her plenty warm.

Emerald27 · June 2014

For FTMs wondering about winter house temp, it's generally recommended to keep the house cooler and dress baby warmly (as opposed to keeping the house warmer and dressing the baby lightly).

Dressing baby warmly may mean a onesie and a footed pajama, or it could include swaddling - whatever works for you. "Cool house, warm clothes" is just the healthier and safer option for nighttime.

hippohat · June 2014

I know we're in the same area, so I'll chime in

With DD we did a lot of layering (Feb baby, COLD winter) because she always felt cold (onesie, socks, sleeper, hat, flannel blanket swaddle). Then someone gave me a sleep sack - so much easier! I plan to do more sleep sacks earlier on this time - we would do a normal sleeper then the sleep sack on top of that with a hat until she was a little older, then we dropped the hats. We have a Carter's sack that had long sleeves which was great.

I would have a few options, or may try to borrow a sleep sack/swaddler or two to try out - they're expensive! It's also hard to guess how warm/cold baby will be, and how warm/cold our winter will be.

colacrock · June 2014

My mom and grandma made my sons some blankets that are flannel on one side and cotton on the other with no batting in the middle (so fairly lightweight but still 2 layers for warmth). They are so perfect to tuck around baby in the car seat and take naps with. We rotate through about 6 of them still with my youngest son.

When baby is brand new, we use the hospital blankets/material. I'm not sure what it's called, it's sort of stretchy and square and bumpy, lol. They are perfect for swaddling if baby likes that.

turtlewifey · June 2014

The A+A blankets are amazing for swaddling! We never ended up using any of the receiving blankets we had been given, just the A+A ones. LO1 was a Nov baby and we found that a sleeper plus one blanket was plenty warm - it wraps around a newborn like 3-4 times so even though they are lightweight, they are warm. You can layer the A+A ones easily if you need more warmth. By winter, baby hated swaddling and we switched to a fleece sleep sack.

Those A+A blankets are the best. They are very versatile. They are great for swaddling, in the carseat when they are little, when they are a little older they are great starter blankets in the crib, and they are fantastic for a lightweight blanket when it is warm (LO1 is 2.5 and we still use them in the crib).

MrMrsandBaby · June 2014

I'm cheap and refused to pay A&A prices but we had a ton of lightweight blankets to swaddle with during the winter. DD actually didn't like it at all after about 2 months so we just went with warm pj's after that. She never used a sleep sack either (we never tried it). If it got really cold we would put socks on her feet under the warm pj's but she was fine with the light blanket swaddles.

And we "broke the rules" and started putting a blanket in her crib around like 4 months or so...bad mommy!

ADH0906 · June 2014

Are hats at night considered a suffocation risk? Seems like it would be easy to shift around and cover the face, but am I reading a suffocation risk into everything I see now?

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