Advice Needed - Newborn and Blankets??

Crafty-Chel

Hi all,

Im a bit confused as to what is best to put over our baby at night. When our little bundle arrives in June we will be putting him/her straight into a travel cot with bassinet, we have a proper mattress got for the bassinet so its just like a cot. will it be enough to have the baby in a vest, sleepsuit and have a fleece blanket (the baby ones from pennys) over, or does the baby need special swaddling blankets or celular blankets.. Iv seen all the different types of blankets but do we really need them. We live in a mobile home, and have a stove so its warm all the time and during the summer its a bit like an oven sometimes... I just dont know if the baby will be too warm or too cold..

Also did anyone else, instead of buying fitted cot sheets, use regular single bed sheets (flat or fitted) and just fold them under the mattess. A friend of mine said that's what she does as its much cheaper to buy them rather than the cot sheets..

and sure while im here, does anyone else use anything other that johnsons?? I wont use the baby oil or wash on the baby as iv read to many bad things, does anyone here use any organic products that are not too expensive??

Sorry for the long post and millions of questions, First timer here

4ndroid

Cellular blankets are the best to use. Avoid fleece blankets, they can be dangerous for newborns, overheating and breathing issues can happen with fleece. bodysuit, babygrow and 2 cellular blankets will be fine

Check out babycentre.co.uk its a great site. Has tips for everything

The brand "simple" has no perfumes added to their products which is great incase the baby has sensitive skin.

January

Just be aware that when the last poster says two cellular blankets, she means two unfolded ones, if you fold one blanket (cos baby is tiny) that counts as two blankets.

annamcmahon

Firstly congratulations on your soon to be new arrival.
A cellular blanket is better than a fleece one because the holes prevent overheating which is a bigger issue than your baby being cold, especially in June. I found it only needed to have 3, one in use, one in the wash and one spare. If there is a Guineys near you they seem to be the best place to get them in terms of cost and quality.

I'm assuming that the bassinet you're going to use is the same as a moses basket in which case you can use pillowcases instead of sheets. The mattress will fit into it almost perfectly. I got lovely soft ones really cheaply in Pennys and figure you can never have too many white pillowcases. Again 3 was plenty. There is also the added advantage that if you sleep on the pillowcase for a night or 2 before putting it on the bassinet mattress it will smell of you which is comforting for the baby.

Re products I know some people swear by J&J but more find them very harsh. Initially you just need water and cottonwool and maybe some olive oil to get the merconium off in the first few days. Babies only need to be given a bath once a week and then a quick wipe down with a damp facecloth every morning or evening. I used Burt's Bees products because I was given a hamper when my daughter was born. It lasted months and months because you only need a drop. Now I use an organic soap when she has her weekly bath. She's 14months.

This board is a great place to get answers

Daisy M

Also one good way of knowing if you baby is too hot/cold is to feel their tummy. Hands/face can feel cold but the tummy is the best indicator of how warm/cold they are.

Lola92

We always used the fitted cot sheets, very handy for when baby start turning in bed and won't pull the sheet off. For moses basket size mattress you can use a pillow case tucked in at the bottom, works perfectly.

For covers we had a flat sheet, 2-3 cellular blankets and that is all. She wore a vest and cotton sleepsuit, long sleeved vest in colder weather. Later on we used a grobag sleeping bag. These are really handy and come with a room thermometer and chart to tell you how many layers are needed.

I use the Elave baby range. They do shampoo, baby bath, baby oil etc. €9.95 in chemists for a bottle but my lady is 15 months old and only halfway through the second bottle of baby bath and shampoo, a little goes a long way

If you are worried about tempretures at home you could always get a 3-in-1 thermometer. You will need a thermometer anyway in case baby is ill to check for temps but this one you can use for room temps and water temp in bath too

Crafty-Chel

Wow what a quick responce, thanks guys :-)

I bought a load of fleece type blankets but something in the back of my head was telling me not to use them.. I no i willl get use from them later so they wont go to waste... i saw cellular blankets in argos, 2 for 12.49, is this good value? they seem huge tho...

The bassinet is not the same as a mosses basket, its actually the same size as the travel cot, it is smaller than a normal cot.. 65 x 95 cm... I cant seem to find fitted sheets to fit, so i thought a single flat sheet folded or pinned underneat would do..

I think a thermometer would make a good investment, the temperture here is different all the time so that will come in handy...

Thanks to you all for the advice... its the little things that worry me.. x

Lola92

I think we all think about these things in the beginning, don't worry I was freaking out over every little thing!

I used fleece blanket when out in the buggy just to keep her snug, they are great to lay down on the floor to allow them some time tummy time on a soft surface too.

I got some cellular blankets in argos thinking they were a good price. They actually turned out to be a little harsh I thought, not soft like they should be. As mentioned above guiney's sell good quality ones at a good price

annamcmahon

If you swaddle your baby you need to fold the blanket in half first so that it becomes a triangle so don't worry if it seems a bit big.
Also it's surprising how quickly baba grows. The blanket that was initially a perfect size was too small after a 3/4weeks.

frankie1

Just from experience i found the cellular blankets a waste of time as our little one would kick them off. I bought a specific swaddling blanket from TK Maxx and think it was about 10 euro and found that it kept babs good and secure. ( I was useless at swaddling!!) After this we put her in a gro bag when she got to the reccommend weight. They are great and you can buy different tog ratings. We also bought in TK Maxx as they are half the price of mothercare, and also i would advise to buy the proper "Gro bag"
Good luck

Cat Melodeon

I got 2 cellular blankets in Tesco and they're grand, nice and soft. I only need the two, one for using, one in the wash. I switch to gro bags when the baby reaches 6 months, but don't like them before that. I think they are too loose - my kids like to be wrapped up tight in their blanket, more for security than warmth.

If you have a pile of fleece blankets, why not use them as sheets instead? If they're big enough to tuck under the mattress, no reason not to use them. I've also used normal flat sheets - as long as they're folded up and there's no excess material in the cot (suffocation risk) it doesn't really matter what bedding you use, although cotton IS the best.

I've had a summer baby and a winter baby and live in an icebox of a house, but I have always been more concerned about baby being too hot than too cold. If they're too cold, they'll cry and let you know. If they're too hot, they'll go into a very deep sleep, maybe too deep. A good rule of thumb generally is see how many layers of clothes it takes to keep you warm yourself, and then put the same number of layers +1 on the baby and add 1 folded blanket for sleeping.

For soaps etc, I use the cheapest possible Tesco range and find them less harsh than the J&J range. You can also get something called Silcock's base very cheap in pharmacies. You can use it as a soap and it is as mild as you can get. I use that for the first 2 or 3 months, after that it doesn't seem to matter what you use (unless your baby has a specific skin condition). I used cotton wool and water instead of wipes for the first 3 months as well (cheaper and milder) and used olive oil to deal with cradle cap. We also only bathed them once a week, sometimes once a fortnight, and just washed top and tail every day.

The only thing I didn't use the cheapest brand of was nappies. Both my babies developed bad nappy rash shortly after birth and the PHN put it down to an allergy to the nappies (I started off using cheap brands). I switched to Pampers and it cleared up, and now I'm back to using the cheaper brands again. I think their skin is very sensitive for those first few months, so maybe start off with the good brands and then switch to the cheaper ones.

Rosy Posy

Swaddling can be great for the first four weeks if your baby likes it. You should get instructions from your antenatal class and practice on a teddy before you have baby. We had homebirth midwives who taught us how to do it. I used a large cotton muslin cloth for my summer baby and a square of fine merino wool for my winter babies. I found the baby sleeping bags very useful (grobag is a popular brand but there are lots out there- we used merino kids). I sewed fitted sheets from a length of organic cotton for my first baby but we ended up also using the muslin wraps as sheets. If you're using a bassinet I would recommend not buying special sheets as they are out of it so quickly. We use Weleda products which are organic and really lovely, but I have a friend who works for them so we get them discounted, I'm not sure if they are expensive full price. I don't know if you are having a baby shower but what we did for a friend who was having a baby was we got a basket and everyone who came brought a really nice organic baby product to put in for her- I'm sure that if someone is organising one for you they'd be only delighted to know what you want/need.

implausible

I found ebay good for cellular blankets. I bought one of these



when my wee fella was born. They are expensive, but mine has been plugged in (almost) constantly for the last two years and will do number 2, so I reckon it's been worth it.

annamcmahon

I've used sleepbags from M&S, Tesco, Lidl, Pennys, Dunnes and Grobag and they have all been grand.

red fraggle

crafty chel,

congrats on ur impending new arrival!! im the same as you. well my little one is 10 weeks now. we live in a mobile and have a stove also and my biggest fear was how to keep baby at the right temp!! we got an electric storage type heater in the bedroom. our electrician then put this thermostat thing on it and then we can now set the thermostat to a certain degrees and the radiator will come on when it goes below that temp. it works grand. ya might not need this in the summer! we also got a humidifier to help with the dry air. we put a cellular blanket doubled over on her during the night (which is like 2 blankets) i also put the long sleeve vest underneath her babgro for nighttime.

goodluck with it!! ya will get the hang of it once baby arrives!

Loonie

Crafty-Chel wrote: »

Wow what a quick responce, thanks guys :-)

I bought a load of fleece type blankets but something in the back of my head was telling me not to use them.. I no i willl get use from them later so they wont go to waste... i saw cellular blankets in argos, 2 for 12.49, is this good value? they seem huge tho...

The bassinet is not the same as a mosses basket, its actually the same size as the travel cot, it is smaller than a normal cot.. 65 x 95 cm... I cant seem to find fitted sheets to fit, so i thought a single flat sheet folded or pinned underneat would do..

I think a thermometer would make a good investment, the temperture here is different all the time so that will come in handy...

Thanks to you all for the advice... its the little things that worry me.. x

I bought sheets for our travel cot in Baby Elegance, they were on sale 1/2 price at the time Personally I was happier to have fitted sheets, although (grr) my MIL has gone and lost them (travel cot usually stays at hers).

uck51js9zml2yt

we have used a grobag and just put a cardigan on him to keep his shoulders and arms warm

RubyGirl

Op, I would go with the sleep-bags aswell, they are excellent. I used them up until my children were 3yrs old.

red fraggle

thinkin of puttin my nearly 3 month old in a gro bag. how do you know if they are warm enough. i see some of them have tog ratings? any advice?

How Strange

I started using them when my son was 3 months and still use them. 2.5 tog is warm enough pretty much all year around in Ireland unless we're lucky enough to have a heat wave. On colder nights I put a long sleeve vest underneath his baby gro. He was toasty on the coldest nights this winter. In the summer I wouldn't put a vest on him, just a baby gro. I usually throw a blanket over him before I go to bed but I'm sure he kicks it off within minutes.

iguana

Sorry for pulling this thread back up but I was wondering what people thought of these swaddle sacks. The winter ones are made of microfleece and have a tog value of 3. I'm expecting in early November so would be using this for the coldest months of the year and I never have the heating on overnight. These were designed with SIDS in mind, so would the fleece version still be too hot?
http://www.inventiveparent.com/cgi-bin/shopper.cgi?preadd=action&key=SLEPHFSS

wmpdd3

O have a very cold house but i have never put fleece on either baby. They just seem to get so hot so quick in it. At one point i had 3 folded cellular blankeys on baby or a 2 tog sleeping bag and 1 cellular blanket.. I didnt even use those fleece baby grows until she was 1, always cottton babygros.