halo sleep sack sizes

[first_timer]

I recently registered for a two pack of halo sleep sacks, one is newborn size and the other is a size small. I know it really depends on the size of my baby, but I'm afraid the newborn size will be too small. Does anyone have any experience with this? How many of each size would you register for?
Thanks!

[babymama]

My son was 7 lbs, 5 oz. at birth, and he was able to wear the NB size Halo up until around 2 1/2 months or so - he has consistently been in the 70+ percentile, so he's not a small baby. The lengths on Halos are really generous, but my memory is that the armholes on the NB size are a bit small.

I wanted to let you know that before the baby, I was wild about the Halos. I *had* to have one - ended up buying 2 (1 NB size and 1 small size). Unfortunately, my experience was that it was very hard to swaddle my son with a Halo on (we were following the 5 S's in the Happiest Baby on the Block). So he only used the Halo every now and then. The swaddling was VERY necessary for us, as DS would startle and wake up if his arms were not wrapped up - he had a very strong Morow (sp?) reflex. I had better luck swaddling in just footed sleepers or open bottom gowns. We got minimal use out of our NB Halo and even less use out of the small size Halo.

If I had to do it over again, I would have skipped the Halo and invested in a Miracle Blanket.

Mama to Santiago, born 11/16/03

[AvasMama]

I agree with babymama! I swaddled Ava from birth on and still swaddle her at 5 months. We never had and never would have used the NB halo sack and used the small size just once. I do have a med. sleepsack in cotton that I sometimes put her in for naps if the AC is on and I think she might get cold.

I can't recommend swaddling enough. I know it doesn't work for every baby, but it has been great for Ava. I also use the Miracle Blanket (www.miracleblanket.com) and it was worth every penny.

Robyn & Ava

[icunurse]

You might also want to look into a sleep sack that's made by Carter's. You can find them at BRU and Kohl's. They cost less, fit a longer age range (like 0-9 months) and have long sleeves (which were nice in the winter). Of course, we had to fold them up for a while, but at least you get more time to use them.
Traci

[August Mom]

We were loyal Halo sleepsack users until about a month or so when DS decided he didn't want to wear them anymore (at about 21 months). I love them. We swaddled DS for about 2 weeks after birth and it didn't work for us. We then immediately switched to the small sleepsack. DS was 7 lb. 6 oz. at birth and has consistently been in the 10th percentile in most things. Our last sleepsack was a large. Personally, I think that you can go straight to the small size and be fine. It looks a little big, but that's not a big deal IMO. I think DS wore the small for around 6 months. If you go with a Carter's sleepsack, plan on the arms being too long for a newborn.

[induetime]

we too bought a halo sleep sack but have ended up swaddling thus far. (we've LOVED our kiddopotamus swaddler.) that being said, our sleep sack is size S and has fit DD from birth to 3 mos, when we've used it.

[first_timer]

Thank you all for the advice. I've decided to only get one small size sleep sack to start off with and a swaddler of some sort (miracle blanket perhaps). I'll see what works best for us and buy more as needed.

[HallsofVA]

I purchased two Halo sleep sacks before my son was born. One fleece one in size S, and a cotton one in size M. I started to put him in a sleep sack when we first came home from the hospital, but it was so huge on him, we just swaddled him and tucked him in tightly with a blanket in the bassinet. We continued to swaddle him as long as we could, which was somewhere around 2 months or so. Then we started using the Small fleece sleepsack. That worked great, because he had room to kick his feet, but couldn't kick the cover off, making his feet cold and waking him up. He started sleeping through the night sometime just after we started using the sleep sack.

Now that it's summer, we've been using the cotton sleep sack, which in a medium is still huge on him, though he's a fairly large baby. We keep the house so cool, though, I still put a sleeper on under the sleep sack on most nights, or dress him in the fleece one. The fleece one is much better made than the cotton one, but the cotton one can't be beat for keeping him covered yet comfortable during the summer.

One thing to think about to go along with the sleepsack is long sleeve shirts or undershirts. I didn't have too many, and ended up using a variety of outfit tops to go on under the sleepsack. You may want to get or register for some to use with the sleepsack.

[babymama]

I tried my size small halo again tonight. AS my previous post says, we've gotten minimal use out of our Halos. DS is 7 mo. old, consistently in the 70-75% percentile for height and weight and the small still fits him.

Have to say though, it's a bummer to have to figure out a way to cover his arms. I prefer our sleepers with long sleeves. I did receive as a gift one sleepsack with long sleeves from a brand called In the Nile (organic cotton) - which we used alot back in the fall/winter. Think I'll try it again. I'm just not feeling the love for sleeveless sleepsack.

Good luck with your Halos.

Mama to Santiago, born 11/16/03