What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you visualize an adorable baby? Yes, that is correct! You think of cuddling, playing, entertaining, and their tiny hands of course.
Having a lively baby indeed lightens up the environment and automatically makes you cheerful. However, as much fun as it sounds, the cuteness overloaded babies come along with a huge deal of responsibility.
Therefore, every step that you make to take care of your child needs to be thought well beforehand, which is why you must always make sure about the dos and don’ts before doing something that turns out to be risky for your infant.
In this article, you will find out When can Babies have Blankets in Crib? I think this information would be helpful to you.
When Can Babies Have Blankets In Crib?
How much do babies sleep?
Just when you realize there is going to arrive at a baby at your place, the very first thing to consider is the place where the baby will sleep, because that is quite mostly all they do!
Newborns require about 16-17 hours of sleep. It is very important to find out whether you should even use that cute and soft blanket for your baby that you received in your baby shower.
Hence the following piece of information will help you in choosing whether covering your baby with a blanket at night or not.
If you are a native of a country where the weather is almost cold and breezy all over the year then covering your baby with a blanket may be the only option that you may consider but before you do that you need to know a few things.
Risk of using blankets in cribs
Babies are very vulnerable little human beings and handling those needs a lot of dedication and delicacy. One wrong step may lead to harmful consequences.
It is very unlikely that you heard about SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). It is usually caused due to parents’ ignorance towards the right steps to handling the infant with delicacy.
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome has many possible causes that can cost you to lose the life of a precious baby.
It can occur at night if the blanket stays on the baby’s face, covering its nose for longer which eventually causes suffocation and the results can be fatal. Moreover, due to the baby’s movement, the SIDS can also happen if incase the blanket ties up around the neck of the infant as well.
Similarly, there are also choking hazards involved depending on the material the blanket is made up of. This sums up a point that baby cribs should not be having any kind of pillows, stuff toys or even blankets while the baby is sleeping or left unattended for longer periods.
Correspondingly, the majorities of the parents around the world consider hiring a full-time nanny or place a baby monitor for constant observation.
But it is still highly important to be safe rather than sorry. Therefore placing a child’s crib in your bedroom for the first 6 months is highly recommended.
Doctor’s advice
According to the research on babies’ sleeping patterns and considering a safer environment for the baby’s sleep, after a deep study, majority of the doctors have come to a united conclusion that no parent must make use of the blankets in the baby cribs overnight until the baby turns 1 year old.
Therefore, it is crystal clear now that baby sleeping with a blanket at 9 months is not a safe option.
Even though the baby of 6 months is just halfway from their first birthday and by this time they start grabbing things very lightly, and hence a baby sleeping with a blanket at 6 months is also not a good alternative.
Alternative to blankets
When blankets are of no use for the baby, you do not have to worry because the sleeping sacks are there for your rescue. They are designed especially so that your baby cannot move or get tangled in the material while sleeping.
Additionally, the style of sleep sacks is made to cover your infant’s hands and legs without covering the face. Hence, it erases even the tiniest risk of suffocation.
The multi-purpose sleep sacks are not only designed for babies to sleep but they can also be used to dress up your baby and use it as an outer garment for your little one.
The renowned sleeping sack keeps the baby warm as required. It does not make the baby sweat or feel too hot in the wrapped up cloth.
Plus, the sack is stitched in a way to provide holes for the baby’s hands and legs to move around and give enough circulation.
Other than the sleeping sacks, the foot covering baby leggings, the baby onesies are several most popular choices for the new parents.
Types of blankets for a baby
Security blanket
A baby blanket of a much smaller version and similar to the size of an extra-large handkerchief, this blanket is stitched with a stuffed toy head. The appropriate age for this blanket is when the baby develops a sense of holding and gripping things.
Receiving blanket
Commonly used for putting a baby to a smooth surface and to let them move and lie around under your presence only.
When is the right age to use blankets in cribs?
This remains the most important question and the answer is that when your baby is finally able to take the strength of his/her own body can move and get a grip of things, feel free to give your toddler a blanket for their cold nights.
It is usually noticed that the baby becomes adaptive to the environment and start responding to the surroundings when they turn 1.
Just when you feel like your infant is developing and learning to sense the difference between right and wrong in minor things, or if they have started their first crawl, this is the perfect time to start using a blanket as they may be too big for a sleep sack now.
However, the sensibility of each baby varies among all babies. Parents are advised to observe their child’s actions themselves and provide them with their blanket in the crib when they feel it is the right time to do so.
Pillows, just like blankets can be added to the baby’s crib when they are about one and a half years old. But you need to make sure that the size of the blanket and pillows you are using is not big enough to cover the baby’s face or block any breathing.
Conclusion
To sum up the entire baby sleep talk, it is just important to realize the risk factors involved in using blankets for babies in cribs at the right age.
Good sleep is an essential need of every being, especially babies. So to give them the right amount of sleep that they need, you should take care of properly. It is important to know that even after your baby has turned into a toddler, there is still a risk involved for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
Therefore, a parent must be aware and concerned about it 24/7 and avoid leaving the baby unattended for a longer period. In short, it is best to keep the crib free of any stuffed toys, blankets or even pillows until the baby’s the very first birthday in most cases.
