A reminder on blanket safety - a bit scary but ends OK

[Samuel's mum]

I'd like to put this experience here as I think we can all learn from it:  It's from the La Leche league (breastfeeding organisation) board.

It is by the grace of God that my son is not dead tonight. I went to the store with DS taking a nap. His legs were cold so I covered him with a light blanket. DH was cleaning up the living room. He said that he just had this sudden urge to check on DS. When he went in there the blanket was wrapped really tightly around his neck and head. He was flailing but not making a SINGLE NOISE. DH quickly unwrapped him and his lips were blue. He smacked him really hardly and made him cry. He started breathing.

He said he just held him so close and cried. I fully believe that it was the Holy Spirit that told my husband to go check on him. I cannot wrap my mind around why the hell I put a blanket in the bed with him, I know better than that. It blows my mind beyond comprehension to think that a few more minutes and my son would not have made it. I shudder at the thought. I've finally stopped crying (though the guilt won't go away for a while) and just wanted to send a reminder. Don't put your LO's down to bed with a blanket until they are old enough to sit up I guess. He can roll over and I didn't think it was a problem.

Just be careful. Please.

[SallyDom]

Oh my god I feel quite sick after reading that. I usually use a sleeping bag but if Dominic is asleep when I take him to bed (if fallen asleep in pram or whatever) I cover him with a blanket. Never Again.
Thank you Emma, I really appreciate you giving us this
x

[texasmom]

scared me to death.  i always use a blanket for naps b/c he is in a onsie, and i worry about him being cold. 

is that right - when they can sit up it's ok to use one? 

thank you so much for the info. 

[Fife_Mum]

Very worrying but I'm glad there was a happy ending. But, what would you use before that age? I used blankets with both of mine from newborn... feet-to-foot and blankets tucked in at bottom & sides. I thought there was a minimum age for sleeping bags - or do you get tiny ones.

[SallyDom]

Yup my little one was in a sleeping bag from about 14 weeks, you can get them in 0-6months, 6-12 etc. I didn't use one from newborn though cos Dom liked to be swaddled and didn't want him to get too hot with sleeping bag and blanket

[Spectra]

My baby is almost 10 months old now and loves to cuddle with a receiving blanket to fall asleep. I always take it out as soon as she falls asleep, but is that too young still? How old should they be really to be able to have a blanket in bed all night?

[Bensmama]

Do you think the danger is the same when you swaddle?

[Tuty]

Wow, this is so scary! Do you have any idea how old is her boy?
My DD is almost 9 months and I cover her at night before I go to sleep (it gets really cold at night now). Unfortunately the AC is located right by her room and makes a lot of noise. I'm using a thick blanket and tuck it under her arms so I don't think it can get wrapped over her neck (I definitely hope not!) I'd better get the quiet fans.
At what age can they safely sleep with a blanket?

[leticia]

Hi, I have the same question, at what age would it be safe to cover them, my lo is 10 mths .

[Wilsmon]

I don't know what age is appropriate but I have always just layered my kids instead of using blankets.  Mainly b/c they seem to just kick them off anyway and don't know how to pull them back up until a lot older - seems my daughter was at least three before she would wake up at night and put blankets back on by herself.

Anyway, right now my ds is 22 months and I put on a t-shirt, two piece long sleeved pajamas and then a blanket sleeper.  I guess my theory is that the blanket sleeper is his "blanket" that he can't kick off.  However, my dh did also cover him with a light blanket last night (by this age I think it is ok). 

DS has had a blanket for a "lovey" since he was 6 months though and has always slept with that (actually both mine have blankets as loveys).  I think that is different than covering them with a blanket because as they roll a blanket used for cover will wrap around instead of a blanket they sleep with as a lovey which is generally balled up and cuddled with.   Just my thoughts.

[Tuty]

Hey,
What do you mean by a blanket sleeper? Do you refer to a sleeping sack?
DD keeps standing up in bed, so a sleeping sack is not safe for her.
Tuty

[Tuty]

DD is at the stage where standing up is what mostly gets her excited and with a sleeping sack she keeps falling and banging her head on the crib's bars (ouch!).

[Samuel's mum]

The baby from the LLL post was born 6/5/2006. And that post was from early November.
The mum is from the US so that means 5th June (We do it the other way in the UK). So he was a day shy of 5 months when the incident happened.

She says this later on the same thread:

I have finally calmed down and stop checking on him. He's dressed warm enough so that he doesn't need a blanket. His sheets are pulled tight, and he's sound asleep with his fingers in his mouth. About an hour ago he woke up screaming hysterically and I thought DH and I were going to kill eachother trying to get to him fast enough.

As I sat down to nurse him I was reminded just how much I love this child and couldn't stop thanking the Lord for sparing him. Its pretty amazing. His eyes were closed and he was very tired while he was nursing, DH at my feet...but he just unlatched, opened his eyes, looked right at both of us and smiled the biggest, hugest smile ever...as if to say "I'm alright you two, relax" DH almost lost it again and had to leave the room.

Thank you all for your kind responses. We are heading to bed now and are thankful for the companionship and encouragement you all have offered us.

IMHO I think he was perhaps at the dangerous stage of being very wriggly and mobile but not quite strong enough to sort himself out properly.

I would agree with Stacy that standing in a sleep sack is not a problem. Lots of people use them up to 3 yrs. Doesn't everyone go through a banging head on the cot stage with or without a sleeping bag?
I'm not sure what the alternative to a sleep sac is. I know that millions of babies sleep with blankets and are fine but I guess first baby blankets are normally sold with tiny holes in them for a reason.

[Wilsmon]

The blanket sleeper I am referring to is like a sleep sack only it has legs and is footed.  Basically, fleece, footed pajamas with a zipper front.  They are very common - I am sure you have all seen them. I buy them big so I can layer.

[tinachris]

Over here we are told to use sleeping bags only. We use them from birth on, you can buy them for very little babies already. In the winter we have snow and it is really cold, but our baby boy had never problems because of being cold (when I think it is really freezing I put him extra socks over his pyjama under his sleeping bag). As I am usually quite frozen I drove my DH mad during last winter when we came home with our baby from hospital and I checked him every time I woke up whether he is too cold. After 2 weeks we put a thermometer in the sleeping room

A friend told me that her boy woke up once a couple of times during the night till she figured out he was too cold then she put him an extra body on under the sleeping bag. So obviously babies wake up when they are too cold.

Also getting the sleeping bag out of the room for naps and night sleep and putting LO into the sleeping bag is part of our bedtime routine now.

And by now (he is now 11 mths old) he is all over the place in the bed (he never liked being swaddled) - so we are quite glad that we use a sleeping back only and no blanket.

Martina

[SallyDom]

If it's cold when I'm putting Dom to bed I put him in vest, sleepsuit, long sleeved t shirt and then into his sleeping bag. I've got 2 sleeping bags and both are 1 tog. They don't feel that warm but we are warned so much much about babies over heating that I would rather layer him up if I feel I need to.

[NiknLily]

This info came with my sleep sacks, thought it might go well with this thread.  They do suggest a blanket for very cold conditions but as they also describe the 2.5tog sack as regular weight I wonder if its possible in colder climates to buy a heavy weight one of maybe 3.5tog?  This info is for UK climate.

Room temp         Which bag?                   What to wear
25degC +                       sheet sleeping bag 
22-25degC         1.5 tog                         cotton bodysuit
20-21degC         2.5 tog                         cotton bodysuit
17-19degC         2.5 tog                         cotton bodysuit & sleepsuit
14-16degC         2.5 tog                         cotton bodysuit & sleepsuit & spare blanket*

*I guess as the concern here is the blanket, instead of this, as suggested above extra socks or Tshirt or both would most likely be a good replacement.  Warm feet warm everywhere, cold feet freezing everywhere, thats my experience.
newmum
PS. very scary stuff my LO slept in a blanket, wrapped not swaddled for first couple of months then just a muslin for a few months because of heat wave then back to blanket until she was at least 5-6months old before I got her first sleep sack!

[Sugarmama]

What about the safety of swaddling? My baby is a wriggler, so we've started swaddling in larger and larger sheets, so we can really wrap them around and tighten, but she still does sometimes get loosened. Sometimes she scoots down so that the layers of sheets are near her nose/face when I go in to her? What other alternatives do we swaddling mothers have. Any ideas? My LO is nearly 20 lbs! Thank you!

[FujiApple1]

I have the exact same situation with swaddling. I just quit swaddling my son because he wriggled out of his swaddle and kicked the blanket over his head. My husband was horrified to find him struggling and screaming with the blanket totally covering his head.

The problem is, our little guy moves around so much that unless his arms are secured to his side, he can't go to sleep. We've tried the velcro swaddle bags but he manages to work himself out of those too. I'm at my wits end about this problem. Does anyone here have any ideas?

[WillowFae]

I have the exact same situation with swaddling. I just quit swaddling my son because he wriggled out of his swaddle and kicked the blanket over his head. My husband was horrified to find him struggling and screaming with the blanket totally covering his head.

The problem is, our little guy moves around so much that unless his arms are secured to his side, he can't go to sleep. We've tried the velcro swaddle bags but he manages to work himself out of those too. I'm at my wits end about this problem. Does anyone here have any ideas?

Firstly, welcome to the forums

Secondly, how old is your son?  If he is still very young and you are swaddling him because of flailing arms etc then I'm not sure what to suggest.  However if it is because of warmth, have you thought about grobags?  We stopped swaddling DD when her flailing arms waking her up weren't a problem, and put her into a grobag which she can't kick off and wake up cold because of it.

[FujiApple1]

Secondly, how old is your son?  If he is still very young and you are swaddling him because of flailing arms etc then I'm not sure what to suggest.

My son is a little over 2 months old. I was swaddling him so he wouldn't startle himself awake with arms he still can't control...

[WillowFae]

Ah.  DD was fine with startling by about 1 month old so she went into a grobag then.

[albiesmum]

very scary
we use a muslin cloth as a comfie but i have tied knots in three of the corners to stop him from getting it rapped round his neck, the one time we didn't he did rap it round but we found him no harm done why is this danger not told to parent.

[*Vicki*]

My god that really is scary   

I stopped swaddling my Lo a few weeks ago as she keep wriggling out and id sometimes find it half covering her little face where she wriggled so much...tbh i ve been using a cotton cellular blanket coz i was worried that at this time of year she mite get too warm - even in a summer tog gro bag

I think ill be getting a grobag now tho

 

[aps]

Hi.  I use a sleep sack on my son (who is almost 4 months old).  He never gets tangled in it, and he can't get out of it because he's zippered in it.  Here is a website that shows what the sleep sack is and how it is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatriacs.  It's supposed to prevent SIDS.  https://www.halosleep.com/

That was a horrifying story.  I cannot imagine going through that. 

[JulieNG]

i use a small blanket for my DS who is almost 7 months. He sucks on it and rubs his face. Is that okay.

[fifibobandmore]

OMG Just read this and I feel so paniced, very easy to that too me for some reason when it comes down to children and the fact that my DS#2 has a blanket but we only cover his feet with it as he kicks it off. So I think he should me OK with a blanket and it is one of those blankets that has wholes in it. Not sure weither to stop using the blanket now as it is part of his sleep training that his dad has done with him and it seems to work with him

[citawoman]

I see alot of people are saying that they are using sleeping bags.  Are there baby sleeping bags?  can anyone direct me to a website that sells them?

[~*~Little Miss Sunshine~*~]

I am not sure where you are from but you can google Gro Bags or Halo Sleep sacks and that should point you in the right direction

[Samuel's mum]

Josie has recently been getting in to grobags more (after a hot few weeks in her room) and she is sleeping so much better!
In the UK a lot of department stores do their own brand but I think the original 'grobags' are great quality.

[woopster]

I've had my gro-bags for nearly 5 years! They are fab. The King is using them now. 

[Jocasta]

OMG!  This is the first I'd heard of blankets being risky!  ALL of my three had blankets from birth.  I only started using sleeping bags with Sophie when she got old enough to wriggle out from under the blanket.  I've just started using one with Mae but not every night - only because it's been bloody cold in our house for a few nights...  Geesh, no more blankets for her!

[~*~Louisa~*~]

We use blankets, people have been using blankets for alot longer then grobags have existed

There are guide lines about using safe sleeping that include blankets
things like making sure baby is in feet to foot position (feet at the foot of there bed) tucking blankets in under the matress (so baby can wriggle out but not move the blanket)

You place half the blanket right under the matress going the whole width then lay baby on matress and then tuck blanket under other side, because the blanket is under the matress the babys own weight is keeping it from moving
Tucking blankets under the babys arms so arms are free so they can not pull the blanket over face (obviously hard to do if swaddling)

[C&F'sMummy]

I think if you tuck a blanket in so that it cant get over them or wrap round them its fine - its just if you loosely cover them in one obviously it can wrap round them then..

[Eli&Cae]

For us, our lo has two blankets - one is cotton and the other is a light one with holes.  The one with the holes is not very warm IMO so I added the cotton blanket.

We tuck all the blankets under or against the 3 sides of the mattress and also use safety pins to make sure she can't pull the blankets over her head (they are at armpit level).  She's never been able to pull these over her head while in her sleeping position. 

I put her in lying the opposite way to watch her mobile once and she pulled the blanket with holes completely over her face.  It was very scary but I think she was only able to do this because she was lying where her feet would normally be.  Needless to say, I don't do that anymore.

[*Jo*]

we have just stopped swaddling our 13 week old and he now has a warm blanket he likes to snuggle into. I just went and checked on him and it was covering his whole face (and yes i panicked!) i took it off his face and he was fine but what do i do? he really seems to like snuggling into it and sucking on it to put himself to sleep and i think also to self soothe when he wakes but i dont want him to suffocate... is there any safe way to have a snugglie? and is 13 weeks too young to have one? he really does seem quite taken with it

[Jocasta]

Hmm, if you're really worried - is there anyway you can use it to make a stuffed toy?  That way it'd smell the same and feel the same but wouldn't cove his face... I've used blankets with all of mine but have also had gro-bags and sleep suits.  I have a sensor pad which sounds an alarm if movement isn't detected - that's given me some peace of mind so that helps too.

[jess, lukeys_mom]

I don'tthink 13 weeks is too young to have something to snuggle into when going to sleep. However if you are worried I would cut a smaller square out of the blanket and give that to your lo.

[pat26]

That would be awful to walk in and see your baby like that

I swaddle my lo in a blanket wrapped tightly round her  and she has a blanket with holes in it tucked into mattress is this ok?

Worried now after reading this

[Peek-a-boo]

Check out this link to see the American Academy of Pediatrics safe sleep recommendations:

http://www.healthychildcare.org/pdf/SIDSparentsafesleep.pdf