Keeping The Sleep Sack
In more recent years, sleep sacks have become a baby item that we can’t live without. I can’t imagine a world where we put newborn babies to bed with big knitted blankets and crib bumpers. When we think about a child’s sleep environment, it’s essential that we make it as safe as possible - plain and simple. Sleep sacks can help us achieve that safe sleep space!
Sleep sacks are a wearable blanket that your child can safely go to bed in. They have arm holes for your child to put their arms through, and they generally have a zipper that goes around the feet and up through to the chest for easy access to your child for nighttime diaper changes.
Sleep sacks come in a variety of sizes ranging from infant/newborn, to full-grown-toddler. They are also fabricated in a range of TOGs (aka - how warm the sleep sack is) to adapt to your little one’s sleep environment.
There will come a time however, where your toddler starts to push against your desire to have them wear a sleep sack. They may start taking it off on their own, saying “no no no” when you bring the sleep sack out, or even running away from you when you go to do their bedtime routine. This doesn’t necessarily mean they aren’t comfortable in their sleep sack anymore, but it’s them trying to exert their independence and be in charge of something during their bedtime routine.
The thing is, sleep sacks have more than 1 specific purpose. Not only are they cute, they keep your child warm all night long, they act as a sleep cue, and they also prevent crib climbing. Crib climbing is one of the scarier parts of toddlerhood. You can go from having a great sleeper to a terrible sleeper in a matter of nights, just because your toddler figured out how to climb out of their crib.
To avoid lots of bedtime frustration and unnecessary climbing, I would highly recommend that every family use an age-appropriate sleep sack until their child is 3 (or as close to it as possible). 3 is generally the age I recommend hitting before transitioning out of the crib completely.
All of that being said, I love sleep sacks and I recommend their use to every single parent I work with. If you’re a parent who has already ditched the sleep sack thinking it didn’t work for your child, but now you’re struggling with their sleep, I highly recommend going back to basics and trying a new sleep sack out. If we think of ourselves, it’s much more comfortable to sleep with even a sheet on, rather than nothing. I like to think that babies and toddlers feel the same.
My all-time favourite sleep sack brand is Perlimpinpin (the bamboo one) - if you’re in the market for a new, durable, soft sleep sack, check out their website!
If you have sleep sack questions, post them below!
