[jjsmom2b]

Hello all,

I'm just wondering at what age you would feel comfortable putting a blanket in the crib with your child?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Janel

[pjgodwin]

I was a little wary of it myself. DS came home at 6 months old, and it wasn't until it started getting cold (about 3 months later) that we put a little blanket in there by his side - not over him. Now, at 15 months, when we lay him down in his crib we hand him his blanket and he grabs it and rubs his face with it. We have also found him several mornings with it wrapped around him... so cute!

I think you just have to feel secure in a sleeping pattern. Hope that helped.

PJ

[JustBarbara]

Hi - before you go with the blanket in the crib (and I gave my son a blanket around 10 months) ... try those little pajama sacks- there's probably a better description but you get the idea. This is on top of his regular PJs - one-piece. That way he was warm and I didn't have to worry about the blanket. Now at 13 months the blanket is sometimes just kicked to the end of his crib or it's still there - halfway up to his chest while he's asleep on his back. - goodluck - Barbara

[Pipercub]

Halo Sleep (website with the same name) has a variety of sleep blankets your baby can wear. We got one for our daughter early on and she loved it!

First Candle is an organization dedicated to research and getting info out about the risks of SIDS. They advise that the greatest risk of SIDS is between birth and age one, with 90% of all cases occurring before the child is 6 months old. (So after 6 months, the SIDS risk is significantly lower; after 1 year, the SIDS risk is nearly zero.)

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends: "If blankets are to be used, they should be tucked in around the crib mattress so the infant's face is less likely to become covered by bedding. One strategy is to make up the bedding so that the infant's feet are able to reach the foot of the crib (feet to foot), with the blankets tucked in around the crib mattress and reaching only the level of the infant's chest. Another strategy is to use sleep clothing with no other covering over the infant."

That said - our daughter is nine months old and quite mobile now. She is a "back sleeper" that never sleeps on her tummy, so I feel comfortable on the occassional cold night giving her a blanket in her crib.

[jjsmom2b]

Thank you so much for your replies! My daughter just turned one and she has become really attached to one of her blankets. I have been covering her up a little bit (her legs) during her naps when I can keep an eye on her, but I wasn't sure about putting the blanket in the crib at night.

Thanks again!!

Janel

[dilgra]

We had a scary experience with a blanket the other night. Tatiana is 9 1/2 months old and has been home for almost 2 weeks. I thought she was old enough for a blanket. I do put a sleep sack over her PJs but we are in Chicago and it has been unseasonably cold lately. Her little hands were like ice cubes when I got her up in the morning so I felt like she needed more than just the sleep sack so I have been putting a blanket on her on cold nights. Well, I just happened to check on her in the early morning because she had not stirred yet and seemed to be sleeping longer than usual. All I could see in the crib was the bottom end of the sleep sack! She had her blanket wrapped around her head! It was a thick fuzzy blanket and I of course freaked out and thought the worst! I got it off her and she was fine but NO more thick blankets in her crib! I sure hope it warms up soon!

[jjsmom2b]

Bumping for myself! Any other advice/suggestions?

Thanks!!

[Saya]

Hmm - well as an adoptive parent, you don't always have a choice how your child sleeps in their first few months. Our baby co-slept with her foster parents (which we were fine with) and used a light blanket (which we were less fine with). But it was a soft fleece blanket, and was always put low down on her body (far from her face). When she came home (at 8 months), she was very used to the blanket and it was very helpful in putting her to sleep when she was having sleep issues, so we made the decision to keep using it. Now, at about a year, it's evolved from a blanket to her "blankie" in full Linus mold, so there's no way we're taking it away from her! However if we'd had her from birth we probably would have erred on the side on no blanket till she's almost a year, and used some kind of small stuffed toy as her attachment object.

[maxine10018]

The best blanket to use is a knit one. Homemade is great, but anything with lots of air holes works great. That way if your baby does get it over it's head they can breath okay. Usually at 10 months or so they move around enough that they can move the blanket too, but if yu use one with holes there is not much of a concern.

My aunt knits and crochets one for me. Works wonderful - although with my son thats home with us for 1 month now, he just co-sleeps with us.

Good luck.


PS. Never use the quilt from those bedding sets - ever.

[Hopingsoon]

DS slept with a blanket in Guate, so we used it during the visit trip without problems. He came home to us using the same blanket, so I let him keep it as it was the only thing familiar to him. He was okay the first couple of weeks, and then began pulling it over his head. Fortunately, it is a very light baby blanket. He's 8 months now, and I still let him sleep with it. Mostly, he just holds it now, and fortunately, never pulls it over his head anymore.

[guatparents2be]

our FM props the baby up on two pillows and puts a blanket over him. we did this while we were visiting for comfort but as soon as we have him it will be the little sleepy sacs.

[ssmeest]

A very dear friend of mine lost her niece a couple of months ago because there was a blanket in the baby's crib. She was 12 mo old. I took that as a wake up call to keep blankets out of cribs. I would have thought that 12 mo would have been old enough, but not after that.

Sandra

[kacmom1]

I used blankets will all of my kids from the beginning. As infants, the babies were swaddled. As they got older, I would tuck the blanket around the kids and kind of under the arms. They were all fine!

[DD Amasa]

I've been told at not before 18 months. No blankets, pillows, crib bumpers or stuffed animals or soft dolls. All are suffocation hazards.