All children are not created equal, nor are all the baby products and items out there. What works for one child, might be a complete disaster for another. That is so true when it comes to getting those good zzz’s in place for our little ones. Some children may be able to get a good night of sleep when a sleep sack is introduced into the routine. There are a number of reasons why your baby won’t sleep, but if you consider your baby or child alert, very active, and maybe he or she has a hard time winding down, to slow down and go to sleep, then a sleep sack will be a helpful solution for your baby or toddler.
Somewhere between 3 and 6 months of age your baby may be busting out of his or her swaddle. Some parents say my child hates the swaddle, which can sometimes signal that they need the swaddle even more to get to calm. However, some children love the swaddle and do well sleeping, but all of sudden they become more mobile and the swaddle stops working like it use to. A simple in between solution is a sleep sack to help make nap time and bedtime routines even better.
Here are a number of reasons why I love including a sleep sack as a strategy to help your child get a good night of sleep:
- It can provide additional input that babies may need to get to calm, and feel snug as a bug.
- Gives them some mobility, but slows them down enough since they won’t have full range of motion to keep themselves up.
- Keeps a climber in the crib.
- Becomes a natural part of the nap time and bed time routine.
- It is a safe blanket your child can wear.
- The sleep sack can be used long-term, from the time your baby is rolling until they are ready to make the transition to the big kid bed (which is usually closer to age 2.5-3)
- Can keep your child from discovering how to take their clothes or diapers off while they are suppose to be sleeping.
- And yes of course- I know how smart our children are, so if and when your child learns and discovers how to zip the sleep sack up and down, a quick fix is to put it on backwards.
The sleep sack has got you covered to help keep sleep in place!
I love sharing some of my favorite items and all the multiple uses for them, especially when I get a lot of bang for my buck! I’m a frugal mom and I want to make wise choices when it comes to things I bring into my home. The opinions on these items are solely mine and are here to help educate and guide you. You of course should do your own research to make sure it is a good fit for your family.
What’s your family must have baby product or item?
This is a very unique product that I hadn’t heard of.
I can see for it works be very beneficial to use one a child no longer wants to be swaddled. I will certainly be into this further as another option to use with our little ones!
Thank you for your point of views and an informational post!
Irene, reading this post brought back memories as my little girl is now for years old, but we absolutely stand by swaddling small infacts. It was our “go to” method when our daughter was born. It makes them feel as if they are still in the womb. I would definitely say that sleep sacks are a gem as well.
TTC and no babies yet but I love reading tips and tricks for when I do have a little one! Definitely one to pin and remember!
We have six children and have LOVED the sleep sacks! They were a blessing to us and we recommend them to others. Great post!
Thank you Brian- it really is one of the must haves for parents.
I had never seen nor heard of a sleep sack until my daughter started using one on her daughter. My granddaughter is almost 3 and still sleeping in hers. But now my daughter has to put it on her inside out so that she cannot unzip and get out of it.
Norma- Putting it on inside out is a great tip too. Some children just need that extra something to wind down.
My can’t live without baby item is the Maya Wrap. I couldn’t have got ANYTHING done when my son was a baby without one. I recommend them to every mom especially if you have back or hip pain like I do because you can “wear” your baby a dozen or more ways and the weight is distributed close to your body and evenly AND you can go from sitting to laying/nursing without having to lift baby out and work with some contraption.
We swaddled for months! My husband was so good at it that the babes couldn’t break free! Helps that we also got the large receiving blankets.
We liked the sleep sacks because we lived in Canada when oldest son was born. The nights got COLD! I knew he was staying nice and warm & didn’t have to worry about using a blanket (suffocation hazard!)
I have seen these but didn’t try one with my first son. We just used swaddles for the first four months or so. I will consider this with my baby due in December!
I loved using sleep sacks on my babies, they were easy and convenient. Great tips!
-Tiffany
I LOVE sleep sacks too!! My kids are too old for them now, but I remember having a near panic attack when I couldn’t find the sleep sack on night!! They next day I went out and bought 5 lol!
My hubby and I LOVED the sleep sack. We struggled with trying to swaddle with a blanket, but the sleep sack is so easy! We used it until 6 months or so and we are blessed to still have a good sleeper!
I have not heard of this before. no kids but my niece and 2 of my nephews were swaddled.
Our youngest two LOVED being swaddled. They couldn’t sleep without it! I never thought about transitioning to a sleep sack, and I had no idea you could use them that long! This is wonderful information! Although our children are now too old I will definitely let our friends know!
We loved our sleep sacks and used them until LO was about 6 months. I never got the hang of swaddling and LO woukd bust out – even with one of the velcro swaddlers! These gave him some comfort and me some piece of mind, and kept him warm during those 3am feedings. With us though, they wore out their welcome at 6 months and LO was sleeping worse than ever. I finally had to introduce a blanket over him. I think the weight of the blanket was an extra comfort to him. Though I too would highly recommend sleep sacks to any new mom.
I loved the sleep sack when my kids were babies! It gave me great peace of mind that they wouldn’t get strangled by a regular blanket in the middle of the night, and I didn’t have to worry that they would get cold if they somehow wriggled out from under a blanket. Plus, they just seemed so cozy!
I worked so hard to have my daughter sleeping through the night by just a few months into her existence on this earth, but my then-husband had other ideas. He let her make her own sleep schedule, and I still have a little night owl at the age of 10! But this is a great product that I wish I would have had when she was that small!
Sleep sacks are so cute. I wish they had helped my babies sleep, but they didn’t seem about anything but being with me. Ah, well, to each (baby) his/her own!
Your post brings back memories of last year. From birth to 3 months, my son couldn’t sleep well if we didn’t use a swaddle. We really felt our swaddle was our gift from heaven to ease our son to sleep (longer!) I think he developed some muscles in trying to get out of the swaddle when he woke up though! LOL…. Hopefully we can try the sleep sack when our next baby comes along (hopefully soon too!)
This is so good. My grandchildren kick the covers off and their feet get so cold. I love the idea of putting it on backwards. So smart.
It’s great when they get cold, but I have cleaned my fair share of soiled diapers in the crib or pack n play and now I know better!
haha, I have a little one that could, and did, regularly climb out of the crib while in the sleep sack:-)!! I do have restless sleepers though, and it was great for keeping them covered so they were not cold at night.
I am from Germany and it is so interesting that in the USA I do not find the sleep sack. The sleep sack in Germany is the go-to sleepwear there.
Beeing in the USA I almost forgot about it, thank you for the reminder and I know what my little one is going to wear tonight and hopefully she will settle down more quickly!
Your welcome. Good luck!
great tips, i was so happy that i was blessed with decent sleepers. first one slept easy peasy no issues and my second was a little more of a nightmare but we got through it. i will pin this post for ya 🙂
Thanks. I’m always amazed on how different our children can be.
I want one of these when I have a baby. I have read so many good things about them and they look safe and comfortable for baby.
We use one for our baby… Our toddler on the other hand thinks 4.30am is wake up time – any suggestions?
4:30am is always hard. Keep a consistent response for all night wakings. I would encourage you to check out my free video- it’s about 26 minutes long- the 6 things that kept your child from sleeping last night. I think that might be a good place to start and evaluate what might be going on in your home. Let me know if I can help.
I think sleep sacks are a God-send! I really loved using them when my son was a baby. It was safer than having blankets in the crib and he definitely didn’t like being swaddled in place. Definitely think this is something every mommy should invest in!
That is so true that not all kids sleep the same! My oldest loved to sleep, loved her naps and when she got older would ask to go to bed! Now, my other 2 are night owls! Both of them stopped taking naps at 2-2 1/2… sleeps good but would stay up way late if you let them! Party animals! LOL Great article!
Thanks Holly!
I don’t have any kids, but this is good advice to keep for the future.
My children are grown now but this would have been a great idea to try as my first daughter would never sleep more than two hours at night and we tried everything! Thanks for sharing.
I love these! It is nice to know that they are a little safer and don’t need to have 50 blankets in the crib to keep warm. I need to get another one.
This is such good information! I wish I would have known about these when my children were little. I have seen them at times but had now idea how to use them or that they could help babies feel more safe. It is good to learn it now so I can be a “wise” grandmother when my grandbabies are born! My must have baby item was a potty training book called something like “Toilet Training in less than a Day”. It was awesome. After a week, all 4 of my children were trained, no tears, or wet beds. Loved it!
When my son was little I used a sleep sack every night on him in the winter. I was too afraid to put ANY blankets around or on him, and this is definitely a better alternative!
Once we moved out of swaddle blankets, sleep sacks were definitely the way to go! I loved not having to worry with whether or not my babies were cold at night or if they were getting tangled up in blankets. They definitely helped them (and me) sleep better.
My babies LOVED the swaddle – especially when I did it. We called it the baby burrito. We went to a sleep sack when the kids would thrash around and get cold when they tossed their blankets. It works wonders!
I’ve always wondered if these sleep sacks really worked. My sister-in-law has a baby shower coming up and I’m now going to get her one! Thanks for the post.
Whitney
I wish, wish, wish the sleep sack was out when I had my kids. I would have gained so much more sleep during the first year of their lives. Man, the upgrades to help a mom out with an infant are fantastic – I’m a little jealous (smiles).
There’s always something new for moms. Amazing how much can change within a year or two.
Love sleep sacks! My second just recently graduated from the swaddle (which he loved!) to a sleep sack, and it’s been a smooth transition. My first hated being swaddled, no matter what. We tried and tried and tried and it just never stuck. He did love his sleep sacks though!
Glad it worked for your little one.
Those velcro swaddlers is what really helped me when my little guy wasn’t sleeping. He would always wiggle out of the blankets we swaddled him in, and then we got him the velcro ones and BAM. He wasn’t able to wiggle out.
Just remember to have patience with your little one. It will be a bit rough for him to learn to sleep by himself, but he will learn.
We could not live without or sleep sacks. Both of my kids loved them and was the only thing that would help make them relax.