When is it safe to...

[TLC1994]

cover baby with a blanket in her crib at night and/or leave some toys in the crib for her to play with if she wakes up before me in the morning and would like to play?

I've been diligent about no blankets or anything in the crib at night but now that my daughter is 11 months old, I realize the SIDS risk is reduced, so I'm just curious about using blankets, etc.

Thanks!

[suzska]

How well does your daughter move around in the crib? I've never used blankets only because my son pulls them off--he gets really frustrated. However he sleeps with about a half dozen stuffed animals (small to medium) in his crib. Most of them are pushed to the outer edges. But he likes to snuggle with one most of the time. Sometimes when he's napping I'll leave small plastic toys in there with him (like his favorite little car), but I don't like to leave them overnight. He's pretty strong and rolls all over the place so I don't worry about leaving stuff in there (I just don't want him sleeping on top of a plastic car all night). BTW, he's now 15 months old.

[jenneric_2000]

If you want the baby to feel warm and cuddly...check out the sleep sacks at babycenter.com and onestepahead.com. They come in larger sizes for older babies. We have them in fleece and in cotton and they are awesome. My little one is a kicker so it prevents her from getting upset if she loses her blankie in the middle of the night.

[egoldber]

Does your baby get cold enough at night to need a blanket? Mine is a little steam generator at night. She only sleeps in a onesie and is still very hot to the touch. And like Sue said, mine moves around so much, that there's no way she would stay covered by a blanket even if I used one... I also have a blankie toy called a "Lovie" (by Dakin) in her crib which is her comfort toy/sleep aid and a few very small little stuffed toys in there as well that I added at about 6 months. I figured once she was moving around the crib and turning over on her own that it was OK.

HTH,