Halo SleepSack - Cotton or Fleece?

[shyviolet]

I'm planning to register for a couple of these, but I'm not sure which I need. We live in Louisiana, winters are fairly mild and summers are HOT, HOT, HOT! However, DH is very hot-natured and can't sleep unless the house is cold in the summer. I get so cold in the summer I put an extra comforter doubled up on my half of the bed, to give you an idea of the inside temperature. He's not so bad in the winter, for some reason, so the house stays warm enough to me. I'd think living in my climate the cotton halo would be fine, but factor in DH, and I have to consider the fleece. I'm thinking about buying fleece ones, and using a cotton or terry sleeper when it's cold in the house and a onesie when it's fairly warm. Or should I buy the cotton ones and always use a cotton or fleece sleeper with a onsie underneath as needed. I know it's a SIDS risk for a baby to be too hot while sleeping, that's why I'm so confused! Can anyone help me decide? Also, how many should I get? I do a small load of laundry everyday anyway. Thanks!

[kensjen]

I would say in your climate the cotton would be fine. You could always put a warmer sleeper underneath. Then you could use the same one when it is warmer. They fit for quite awhile. I would think 2 of them would be fine, you could always have one in the wash. I didn't wash them after every use, unless there was some sort of accident, LOL.

I had a few in size small and one medium. I think I only used them until DS was 6 months.

HTH!

[squimp]

The cotton is pretty heavy, so you might be able to get away with the cotton halo. My DH is also a hot sleeper, and now so is DD. She gets really sweaty, so even the cotton halo was too heavy for her. Cotton pjs have been best for us (and we're in Oregon).

Fleece really doesn't breathe, so we found it to be really icky for sleeping, especially for my little sweaty sleeper.

[HallsofVA]

I have both - cotton and fleece. We used the fleece one during the winter, but only put a long sleeve shirt on under it to keep my son's arms warm. Anything more, and he'd get too sweaty. The cotton one is extremely thin and light. We've been using it all summer. Because we also keep our house cool (around 72-74 degrees), I put a full cotton sleeper (with long sleeves and feet) or a cotton sleeper with no feet and socks on him under the sleepsack. He's been sleeping through the night ever since I settled on this routine, and I found that if I skipped the sleepsack, or put him down in his daytime romper, he was likely to wake up when he got cold, than if he was warm enough to begin with.

Regarding how many, I've gotten by thus far with one of each, but two of each would have been nice, so I could be washing one while using the other. With one, I have to make sure the laundry gets washed, dried and back in the nursery before bedtime.

[chicagojo]

I'd agree that cotton would probably be fine for year-round use for you - you could always just put warmer layers under it. The cotton one I have is actually quite thick. We also sleep with our house fairly chilly in the summer, but DD has been fine with just the cotton sleep sack with a onesie underneath.

I had 3 in the beginning b/c DD was a pretty bad "spitter" and could go through all of them in one night. Now that she's sleeping through the night, we only need 1. But we like them so much, we just ordered the next larger size in both cotton and fleece. DD likes to put EVERYTHING in her mouth/over her face and I still don't think she'd be safe with a blanket, but maybe I'm just being a neurotic overprotective mom...

[mommytotwo]

The Halo sleepsacks are great -- they really helped my first son sleep through the night and kept him warm. We had two sleep sacks of the small size but only needed one as he got older. DS1 used them until about 20 months and looked forward to getting zipped in it as part of his bedtime routine.

We used a fleece Halo sleep sack with a onsie or diapers in warmer weather, and the Halo with a sleeper (or just one of the Carters brand sleep sacks) in winter as we keep our home quite cool too.

My second son seems to prefer more swaddling, so we're using a Miracle Blanket and he seems happy, his arms stay tucked in, and he's *sometimes* sleeping through the night now. He seems to wake himself up when his arms are free, so we haven't moved him to the Halo yet.

(Thanks to the people on this board that suggested the MB -- it works really well.)

[wreckgirl1]

I'd go with cotton, and wear a footed sleeper underneath when it is cooler in the house (and maybe some extra socks if you notice the little one is too cool).

My DH is the same way, and, as it turns out, so is my DD! She actually had to wear fewer clothes than me to stay comfortable after about 3 months. We had a few fleece ones which we only used when it was cold in the house in the winter (old house, big temperature gradient, not an issue in LA).

HTH.

Cynthia

[kcampo]

Like you need more to think about, Kiddopotamus makes a version of the sleep sack that has velcro on the shoulders and zips around. It looks easier to put on. Anyway, I've been thinking about the same thing. I didn't use these with my 1st 2 kids, they were both born in San Diego, CA where the temp is pretty mild all year round. We just used heavier sleepers w/no blanket or receiving blankets in Winter. Now we live in Northern CA where the weather is very chilly during winter and much hotter in Summer. I'll definitely watch this thread for my own information.

[TahliasMom]

We tried the cotton Halo sack with our 4.5 month old. It worked great from when she was 2.5 months until recently when she decided she hated having her feet trapped! She kicked so hard last week that she broke the zipper! So now she's in footed sleepers. We just bought the lullabag (it zips around the bottom) and might test it on her when it starts getting cooler next month.

The only thing we didnt' about the Halo sack that it's a pain to change the diaper in the middle of the night. You have to unzip it almost all the way, tuck it under the baby, undo the onesie and then you can get to the diaper. It would totally wake our daughter up in especially at night. That's why we waited until our daughter was 2.5 and slept for 3-4 hours at a time.
have a blessed day
Katherine