Blankets at night

[Rachels]

I know you're not supposed to have loose bedding in a crib with a baby, but Abigail has fallen in love with her receiving blankets, and nothing else will do! She has been sleeping in our room or in our bed until now, but we're about to try her crib. What have you done with your blankie-lovers at night?

-Rachel
Mommy to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[emmiem]

My Dd sleeps with her blanket. It's not the thin blankets that are the problem in the crib. The danger of SIDS comes from poufy coverings like quilts and comforters.

[newbelly2002]

I'm soooo glad to hear you say that!

DS's hands are always freezing, so I have been using 2-3 blankets at night out of desperation, and feeling like a terrible mom as a result. Not quite a Horrible Secret (see another topic) but a bad one nonetheless. I figure that if he gets sick from being cold that's not good either, right? I have woken him up more nights-after 40 minutes of rocking--trying to diligently tuck the blankets below arm level into the heavy rustling plastic of his pack-n-play (We bought a crib this week, yay!). And still I spend half the night listening to the monitor and hoping for a noise.

Sigh. Thanks for making me feel better.

Paula

[KathyO]

DD is also a great blanket-displacer, and I was constantly waking her up trying to get them back on, or just lying awake in my own bed picturing her freezing to death uncovered... So I got a light fleece suit with foldover bits on the hands and feet, and put her inside that. She can flip and flop and kick all she wants now, and she stays warm. And we both sleep better!

HTH,

KathyO

[jojo2324]

Hey! Are you referring to me and my horrible secret? :) Well, DH learned from that one and so did I. DS has been sleeping pretty regularly in his crib since then. We were using blankets and I felt the same way. I am always worried about him being cold too. Also, DS is a light sleeper so even if I just drape a blanket over him he starts kicking his legs up and whipping his head from side to side and then he wakes up. Forget tucking it into the mattress! We use sleep sacks. Maybe since the receiving blankets are so thin you could try them together and not worry about overheating. Why don't babies come with temperature guages? Overheating, being cold, need a hat, don't overdress them, one more layer than you, AARGH! That could save us a teensy bit of worry. LOL

PS I asked my ped about his cold hands and she said it was perfectly normal because their circulation systems are still working out the kinks (at least at his age). I still don't like it though...I can't stand when my hands are cold, what about a little baby?

[newbelly2002]

Joanne,
No harm meant with the "horrible secret" :) I actually intended my comment as in "this confession is not MY horrible secret" (yes, at 3 months I already have one.). I realized in reading your post that it could have been misinterrpreted. So sorry!

Glad to hear Dante isn't the only one with cold hands. It makes me feel better. I just kept thinking it was because he was on the small (3 mths and only 12 1/2 lbs)side, less blood, etc--crazy thoughts, I know. But hearing that Gannon has it too. . .well, now my mind's at ease.

Thanks! And loved your "long" post. It really made me giggle. Much needed as I've picked up a cold somewhere and am feeling less than understanding about the world right now.

Paula

[cara1]

I have a couple of blankets (one is a hand-knit one, so a bit heavier than a simple receiving blanket) I've been throwing on DS at night. Every time I walk by his crib, I have to put them back on him. He's 9 mos now, so definitely able to move away from them. I can't see any real danger like when he was a newborn. And there are lots of toys in his crib, too. Am I a bad mother? Are we not out of danger with SIDS at this point? We used sleep sacks when he was younger, but I think he'd hate them now because they'd stop him from crawling and standing.

[mamahill]

Is the fleece suit you refer to a sleep sack? I've been meaning to get one for DD but haven't made it to BRU yet. Maybe I can order one online. DD loves her blankets, and loves being wrapped in one (arms free, finally!) as well as a bigger fleece one on top. But on Sunday morning I went into only see the blanket in the crib - she was under it! My heart leapt (sp?) into my throat as I whipped back the blanket. And there she was, rosy-cheeked and asleep (the one morning her cheeks and hands haven't been cold). PHEW! I immediately thought of Joanne :) and her "Horrible Secret." I've woken up several times each night now since, and go in to check on her.

I suppose I should get more than one sleep sack, or whatever they're called? So glad that others have blankets in with the baby - don't feel quite so guilty. Maybe we should form a club - blankets anonymous. haha.

[KathyO]

The ones I have (I have two) are the fleece buntings they sell in various places as outerwear, but just an ordinary, low-grade fleece, not the super-dooper Polartec 300 stuff or anything (don't wanna roast the kid!!!) She wears an ordinary sleeper, then the fleece on top. Getting the double-zipper design helps with diaper changes.

The sleep sacks look just great too, but I went for the style with legs because she likes to pull up and wander around in the crib when she wakes up in the morning. She seems to like it, and I like not having to go in every twenty minutes to put the !@#$% blankets back on her!!

On the occasional nights where she seems to need swaddling, I just wrap her from the waist down in a stretchy crocheted blanket... which she has usually shed within the hour.

HTH,

KathyO

[mamahill]

oh - thanks for the great idea! DD isn't pulling up or acting very mobile (thank heavens - I hear that's when the real work begins), but we often go to my parents and she falls alseep there, then sleeps in her infant seat on the way home. I can't imagine trying to wrestle her into something else, while trying to keep her asleep. The fleece thing with legs would help with that, definitely. Thanks for your help. I think Land's End has some like what you're describing. LOVE to order from them. Thanks!

[daisymommy]

Joanne,
Josh has cold hands too (just like his Daddy). We still put those "no scratch" mittens on him at night and in the morning before it has warmed up, to keep his littles hands from turning to ice. Of course because his hands are so darn BIG :) we have had to look around for some that didn't say "newborn." Target sells some Winnie the Pooh ones that fit him great (for now.) You moms with smaller babies could use the regular newborn size no-scratch mittens. Of course, if I had 3 seconds to myself I could easily sew several soft fleece pairs (that'll never happen!)