Baby Sleeping Bag Guide

I know I’ve already talked about the material in baby sleeping bags in my post on “Choosing the right baby sleeping bag”. But I must say that was fairly brief and I think that it is quite important so I’ve decided to write a completely separate post for it, all on its own. The motivation behind my decision is that the health and comfort (in that order) of your baby should definitely be your top priority. I’m probably harping on this issue by now but I can’t stress that enough.

A major component of a baby sleeping bag that contributes to a baby’s comfort level is the material used. If the material of the sleeping bag has poor circulation, then this is bad. Why? If it happens to be a fairly warm night, thereby increasing the room temperature of the nursery, your baby would likely sweat. The heat generated ends up trapped inside the sleeping bag causing the baby to heat up and feel comfortable. Even worse, the baby might overheat which is an avoidable situation (barring a fever) with the right material.

For example, fleece is artificial so it won’t breathe that well. However, on the other hand, material like cotton (and Merino wool on which I discuss more in my other post, “Lola & Ben Baby Sleeping Bag”) are natural, hence they would possess very good circulation.

Another thing to keep in mind when checking out the material of sleeping bags for babies is what, if any, allergies your baby has to different materials. Seeing a doctor and doing some fairly straightforward tests can easily determine this. A common scenario is that choosing the wrong material can lead to skin rashes, which would obviously contribute to your baby’s discomfort not to mention his or her health.

As a form of convenience for yourself, you would ideally want a material that is easy to wash and dry. Especially if you have more than one child under the age of 6, you would want to make things easy on yourself. Finally, a durable material – something that can last would be good. Baby sleeping bags can be pricey depending on the brand you choose so it would be preferable to opt for high quality material.

I hope that this post has highlighted the significance of selecting the right material for a baby sleeping bag. As a parent, you are naturally inclined to provide the best for your child and being well informed aids in this process.

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Whilst searching on the Internet for a baby sleeping bag, I found a couple of different brands. Of course, a majority of people have heard of the well-known Grobag baby sleeping bag from the baby sleeping bag specialist of the same name located in the UK. I’ve covered Grobag in another post so please check that out if you want to know more about that. I came across another brand called Lola & Ben. Lola & Ben is a New Zealand owned and operated company. All their products are New Zealand made. The baby sleeping bags from these folks have their own different design. I want to document and let people out there know that there is an alternative to Grobag – maybe you can’t find something you like in the current Grobag range.

As you know, the comfort of your baby while sleeping is of utmost importance. If he or she is uncomfortable, the baby will wake up crying in the middle of the night, which leads to you as the parent waking up cranky. Furthermore, it’s going to have an adverse effect on the baby’s health.

As pointed out in my other post on baby sleeping bag materials, natural fibers are what you want. Lola & Ben baby sleeping bags use completely natural material – specifically cotton and merino. For those unfamiliar with merino, it is a type of wool, considered to be the finest and softest wool from any sheep. Merino sheep exist in abundance in New Zealand. The baby sleeping bags consist of a cotton outer layer with an inner merino liner.

Now the part that is an ingenious design is that the merino liner can be detached from cotton layer. The significance here is that this feature makes the sleeping bags very versatile. You can use just the one sleeping bag in all climates (and effectively all seasons – hence their headline “4 Seasons in 1 Bag”), until of course your baby outgrows it. When it is a cold night, you would use both together. When the night is warmer, you have the choice of removing the inner liner and just use the cotton layer. Also, in order to make sure the merino material lasts, the two layers need to be washed separately, so being able to take them apart is essential.

Another feature of the Lola & Ben baby sleeping bag is that is comes with a double-ended zip that would lay diagonally across the front of the baby. On the end closest to the baby’s head, there is a cover for the zip similar to that of the Grobag. The second zip on the other end comes in handy when you want to change the baby with quick and ease during the night.

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You may have heard the name Grobag from various new parents. If you’re not familiar with this brand, then allow me to provide some useful information about them. I’ll give a brief overview of the organization behind the Grobag baby sleeping bag and then explain why their name is synonymous with excellent baby bedding products. After reading through this post, you’ll hopefully have a better understanding of what Grobag can do for you as a parent with an infant child.

The idea of using sleeping bags for babies stemmed from Europe. It was very popular (in Holland particularly) because of the better sleep that babies can have as well as the parents. You see, traditionally blankets and sheet covers were used to keep babies warm, but the babies would tend to easily kick them off during their sleep. They then would wake up crying because of the cold air or other reasons. With sleeping bags, babies tend to sleep soundly and longer through the night. The people who started Grobag immediately understood this, being new parents themselves. This was basically how the UK based company was born.

Why is Grobag so popularly considered to have one of the highest safety standards in their sleeping bags? Firstly, they have worked closely with FSID (Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths) to develop sleeping bags for babies with health and safety at the forefront of their minds. FSID focuses on researching into and promoting safe sleeping practices.

The primary safety features of a Grobag baby sleeping bag include a zip-guard and chin-guard. How these work is that once you zip your baby up in the sleeping bag, the head of the zip is tucked away under a cover, which is secured via a snap-on button under the chin. The purpose here is two-fold: firstly, it prevents your baby from accidentally undoing the zip during sleep; and secondly, since the zip is not exposed, the baby won’t somehow hurt himself or herself by fiddling/playing with it.

Safety aside, Grobag baby sleeping bags are available in a wide range of sizes, TOG rating and designs. There are four sizes and are suitable for an age range from birth to 6 years old. Just remember to know your infant’s weight and height to get the right fit. There are three levels of TOGs, which basically measures warmth (higher equates to being warmer) – 0.5 tog is ideal for hot weather and warm rooms (24-27 C); 1.0 tog is suitable for warm weather (21-23 C); and 2.5 tog is ok for all year usage (16-20 C).

Another great feature is that they possess chemical free fire retardant polyester filling. A useful bonus that is bundled with each Grobag baby sleeping bag is a nursery thermometer. This would help a parent regular check if the sleeping bag being has the appropriate level of warmth.

With so many reasons going for a Grobag baby sleeping bag, there is hardly any excuse to not choose it.

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