Poll At what age did you let your DC sleep with a blanket?

[urquie]

it sure seems like dd would be much cozier with a blanket... when she's not sleeping with us. is there a recommended age to let her start using one.

[luvbeinmama]

Looks like I'm first to answer the poll, and wouldn't you know it? I'm one of those "bad" mommies who has always put blankets on my babies and never used a sleepsack! LOL!! I think the big "to do" over blankets is directed really at the big fluffy ones (that I did not use). I mean, really, how is my child supposed to suffocate in a crocheted blanket? I have done the tucking in on both sides of the crib so they just slide around underneath or wrap themselves in it burrito-style and I do use a blanket sleeper in the winter. I also go in & check on the little ones just before going to bed & cover them up then. DS has quite often kicked his off by then and DD usually gets hers put on her then instead of right away. So, anyway, I just thought it was funny that a total blanket-user was the first to answer your poll.

ETA: I have no idea if there are any recommendations about when you are "supposed to" start using them.

[RwnMayfair]

I'm another one of those "bad" mommies who used blankets straight from the start too. It was cold in November when he was born! Plus, it was primarily just a knit one that my mother made for him that isn't very heavy and has small holes in the pattern of the knitting as well. Though I did sometimes use other blankets as well, but none of them were heavy or really fluffy ones, just lighter weight ones. When he was that little though, I always tucked the blanket under his arms and along the sides of his basket out of mild paranoia.

These days, he always kicks the blanket off anyway, so I'm not really sure how much good it's doing. ;) It doesn't stop me from putting it back on him when I check on him before going to bed though. :)

-Melissa

Taran, November 20, 2003

http://lilypie.com/baby1/041120/0/15/0/-5/.png
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_amber_9m.gif - Eleven months and counting!

[lisams]

Didn't vote - DD is almost 2 and still doesn't use a blanket only because she HATES them. They get tangled around her legs (she rolls a lot in her sleep) and then she wakes up mad trying to untangle herself. She has so many soft ones, I wish she would use them. Oh well!

Lisa

[westchicagomom]

I think we have always used them - our old house is very drafty. She slept in a mini-co-sleeper next to our bed for awhile and never moved around enough to create a problem (and I was obsessive about waking up to check her often).

The problem began around 4 months when she would only fall asleep w/ a blanket on her face. I would move it off her face and she would bring it back up. This was obviously a problem. So I would have to wait for her to fall asleep and take if off. I didn't know what we were going to do about that situation, but it resolved itself once she started flipping over and smushed her face into the co-sleeper mattress instead. ;)

Now she sleeps w/ us and her own blanket(s).

I guess it is supposedly "safe" to use a blanket when the baby can pull it off his/her face, but I don't know what the latest SIDs rec is. If she had been sleeping in her crib I *definitely* would not have put a blanket in there because I would have been getting up 10 times a night just to make sure it wasn't on her face, but that's just me....

[Judegirl]

I've been worrying about this too; I asked about it awhile ago and got a consensus of about 12 months as the ideal age, 6 months at the earliest.

But we've been letting her sleep with one since about 5 months (not including the Miracle Blanket). She can roll over with ease in all directions, she's strong enough to lift herself up to a military push-up position, and it's chilly in her room. I'm only letting her sleep with a Gymboree blanket - not at all fluffy - and it's around her in a loose swaddle, so it pretty much stays underneath her throughout the night.

Sometimes I get paranoid about it, though, and get up and check on her. I think I'll relax in a couple of months.

Jude

[pixelprincess]

We started fairly recently. It seems like he was 14 months or so. Turns out he likes walking around with the blanket too.

[KrisM]

We just started using a loose blanket, in addition to the swaddle, this past weekend. It's a very lightweight blanket. Also, he has learned to take things off of his face, so I'm not worried.

I don't know if there is a recommended age for this. I just figured that he can take it off, and can turn his head to get out well enough that it doesn't worry me now.

[lizajane]

just before 19 months, and it is afgan style- lots of holes. it ends up in a heap by morning.

[mamagoosie]

About 18 months. I don't think it's a good mommy/bad mommy thing, but I have an acquaintance whose 6-month-old baby died of SIDS. She had a blanket in her her crib. I don't think the blanket was the cause, but you can imagine how guilty she feels b/c she had been told not to use one.

Fleece sleepers + sleepsacks keep have always kept her plenty warm--more so than blankets because they stay close to her body. We have we started using a small afghan just to get her used to using a blanket--it's always in a heap in the am.

[flagger]

We have been using a blanket from the beginning.

[momma_boo]

I started giving DD a blanket at around 4 mos. It was a very thin receiving blanket (the one from the hospital, so it was quite worn and thin). Didn't really use it for warmth, she just liked to hold it in her hand. Gradually moved to a cotton blanket and these days, she's grown attached to a thick, knit cotton blanket. Still not for warmth, though - she moves around too much. More for holding and stroking.