Parents often swaddle their babies for too long because they see that their babies sleep so well in them. But swaddling a baby who rolls over can be dangerous, which we explain in our article, “The 3 Signs it’s Time to Stop Swaddling Your Baby.”

Some other attendees of the ongoing ASTM task group meetings have argued that the products should at least include a warning label stating the AAP’s concerns or a recommendation that consumers consult their pediatrician before using them, according to the attendees. The task group ultimately decided against that language in its warning label standard. We use Woolino for naps and bedtime! My LO is 10 months old and we’ve been using it since 4 months with no issues with sweating or anything else." Fabric: Cotton, cotton muslin, organic cotton, microfleece, velboa, or polyester/rayon with IntelliThread Onze BABYDEEPSLEEP® producten zijn gemaakt van extra ademend bamboe/katoen materiaal, wat voorkomt dat de baby oververhit raakt. De verzwaringsvulling bestaat uit kleine ftalaatvrije pellets en de stof en rits zijn OEKO-TEX® 100 gecertificeerd.

You and your baby rest assured

In a clinical study it was reported that the gentle pressure from weighted blankets are not only safe for infants, but also significantly increased calm feelings.

I will admit that we didn’t experience a major difference in the length of her sleep stretches or overall consistency of her nights. Our wonderful daughter’s preference was to feed every three hours, day or night, and her new blanket didn’t seem to change that. Don’t Let Your Baby Sleep Unsupervised in a Carrier, Sling, Car Seat or Stroller. Of course, we know there will be times that this can’t be avoided. But it should only occur when you are awake and can keep a close eye on your little one. When her youngest child was struggling to sleep at six months old, mother of four Tara Williams found that a heavy throw blanket helped soothe him. With her family, she developed an evenly weighted wearable blanket for babies, and her son immediately slept better. Along the same lines, babies should not use weighted blankets because they run the risk of getting trapped under them. There are some loopholes in the system,” said Dr. Michael Goodstein, the division chief of newborn medicine at WellSpan Health and adjunct professor of pediatrics at Pennsylvania State University. “When you create a unique product, it’s like, there’s just no oversight to it until standards are developed,” he said. “And a lot of times we don’t find out there’s a problem until after the fact.” In contrast, manufacturers of other products, like medication, must prove safety before the item can be sold, he added.

There’s no regulation of these,” says Rachel Moon, MD, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and the chair of the AAP’s task force on sudden infant death syndrome. “People assume that if something is on the market, somebody has deemed it safe,” she says, but that’s not the case in the U.S. Dan Bergels, ASTM International’s director of communications, didn’t answer CR’s questions about the ongoing standard-making process, noting that the wearable blankets subcommittee would discuss the AAP’s letter in a meeting in August. Most of us felt we shouldn’t even be talking about this,” says Nancy Cowles, executive director of Kids in Danger, a nonprofit group focused on product safety that has attended the ASTM meetings. “It’s harder to convince [parents] that something could be on the market and not be safe, once it meets a standard, even if the standard was written by the industry itself.” The fact is that you want your baby to be warm and comfortable all year long. But blankets just aren't a safe option to use when your baby isn't supervised. That's why a wearable blanket is what you'll want for your little one instead. We even lined up our favorites on this list here! The Difference Between a Wearable Blanket and Wearable Weighted Blanket Katie Getz, a parent who used to run a California child care center, said most of her safe sleep information came from research she did on her own. “The information is out there, but it wasn’t as easily accessible as I thought,” Getz said. “I kind of stumbled upon it on Facebook … nobody really talked about safe sleep.” While she learned about some unsafe sleep environments, like swings, while working in child care, she said there was a lot she didn’t know when she became a parent almost three years ago. She said parents should be provided more education during prenatal care appointments, at hospitals, or even on billboards, to make sure the information is “more available and more normalized.”

A friend recommended Woolino and while it’s pricey, we love it. The merino wool works in all temps and it’s sized to last until our little one is two, so overall it’s been worth the cost." Cleaning the Kyte sleep bag may not be as simple, as the brand recommends hanging or lying the sleep bags flat to dry. Jamison says this was not a big deal but notes "it's helpful to have more than one so you don't accidentally end up with a wet sleep bag when you need one." Robin, however, put her Kyte sleep bags in the dryer with no problems. It’s worth highlighting the most important sleep tips for babies. These AAP recommendations are essential for the safety of all infants.

How it works

You know it’s coming. If you’ve chosen to swaddle your baby for optimal comfort, the time will eventually come to transition out of it. There are two options here: fast or slow. Getting unsafe products off the shelves will help make sleep environments safer, experts say, but parents and caregivers also need to learn more about how to keep sleeping infants safe and why the AAP cautions against certain products and environments. While some parents may know about safe sleep but choose not to follow recommendations for various reasons, others may have no idea their baby’s sleep arrangement is unsafe.

Product safety experts also worry that ongoing efforts to develop safety standards for these products are likely to be insufficient. While that system can in some cases come up with meaningful standards, critics worry that it can be too heavily slanted toward an industry that may have a vested interest in watering down protections. Some of those expressing concern are members of the task force creating the standard, including advocates. Jeanne Beacom, BabyCenter's Senior Campaign Reporting Manager, can attest to its longevity. She has used the Woolino for over a year with great success and plans to keep using it. She’s even bought the version sized for children age 2-4. There's also a big kid version for ages 4-6, which parents of older children appreciate, since many sleep bags are not available above a size 2.They also help reduce the moro reflex, the automatic reflex all babies have but which often jolts them awake when they’re sleeping. Parents may believe that infant sleep products are heavily regulated by federal agencies and must pass stringent safety tests before they can be sold. But that hasn’t been the case. Products that don’t fall into categories that have long been regulated, like cribs or bassinets, have been allowed to go to market without such safety rules. (Other regulations, related to additional safety aspects of a product, such as a material’s flammability, lead content and product labeling, may apply.) Remember, too, that weighted blankets for kids should be worn below shoulders and never cover her head or be used in a crib. Are weighted blankets good for babies? Dreamland Baby’s PR representative, Samantha Breen, said that ASTM asked Williams in December 2021 to do this and that she has worked to “ensure that all stakeholders have had an equitable contribution to the standard.”