Recommended sleepsacks for L.O. living in a drafty house
We moved into a drafty house in the Berkeley Hills last May. We set our thermostat to 65 at night because it’s very expensive to heat and my husband and I sleep pretty comfortably at cooler temperatures anyway (under our warm blanket!). But that seems too cold for our Little One (now 13 months) since he’s too young for blankets. So every night we dress him in long sleeve cotton pajamas with socks (or footies) and a Halo Sleepsack (TOG 2.0). And we heat his room to 70 with a space heater. Our electricity bill is very high and it seems so inefficient to run a space heater every night. We want to ditch the space heater. Does anyone else keep their house around 65 and if so, how do you keep your young children warm enough? Have you found a sleepsack that marries well with cotton PJs? Or really warm PJs (We are trying to stay away from synthetic material PJs because our son has very sensitive skin). [There was a brand of sleep sack mentioned in some older posts – littlebigfoot.com – but I think that company no longer exists.]
Parent Replies
We have always kept our house at 64 at night. When our kids were tiny, we would layer onesies under footed cotton PJs and then top with a fleece sleepsack. That seemed to work well on the coldest nights. If it wasn't especially chilly, we just did PJs with the sleepsack on top and that seemed fine. We preferred Swaddle Design sleep sacks, but there are many to choose from. Our kids both loved sleep sacks and had a hard time saying goodbye when they finally outgrew them; it was a sweet bedtime ritual.
I have had my baby in a Woolino 4 Season Baby Sleep Bag since she was five months old. It's made out of merino wool, so it regulates her temperature no matter how warm or cool the room is. I live in a very drafty apartment as well, and right now I dress her in a cotton PJ under the sleep sack. On warmer nights in the fall, I would put her in onesies under the sleep sack. The size is adjustable, so can be used from 2 months to 2 years. It's not cheap, but it is really nice, super soft, and most importantly, my daughter loves it.
When our daughter was smaller she loved her Dee Dee sleepsack -- and now her 4 month old brother is enjoying it as well. We also keep house about 65, and the Dee Dee sack, coupled with cotton PJs, seems to do the trick. https://www.amazon.com/Deedee-Sleep-Sleeping-Medium-Months/dp/B003FZPD1…
We set the heat for 65 at night and put our LO (12 months) in a cotton onesie, fleece footed PJs, and a Woolino sleep sack. We used the thinner Halo sleepsack when it's warmer with cotton PJs. We usually bring her into our bed in the early mornings without her sleepsack but with her PJs and onesie, but seems like she is getting a bit too warm with the fleece PJs, and her fleece PJs don't have enough give for her crazy moving when sleeping. I think we are going to transfer her into thicker cotton PJs with the onesie and still use the Woolino sleep sack to keep her warm in her bed. The Woolino sleep sack is really great quality, thick, but not cumbersome, and seems to be really cozy. We didn't pay full price though - I actually bought it from somebody selling on BPN marketplace for $20. If you can find a second-hand one, I definitely recommend it.
We use the baby deedee nest sleep sack over PJs. It is very warm.
I keep the heat set around 64 at night. My 7 month old sleeps in a fleece halo sleep sack and fleece footed pjs. His hands get cold, but the rest of him is warm, and he doesn’t seem to mind. I’ve heard those magic Merlin sleep suits are warm, but I’m not sure if he’s too old for those.
We set our thermostat to 59 overnight and the baby's room sometimes goes down to 60-61. I use the Baby Deedee brand sleepsacks and both my kids have slept great in them. On nights when I expect it to get that cold, I dress the baby in two layers: a fitted cotton pajama shirt, and cotton footed pajamas over it. Between that and the sleepsack he is fine. I periodically stick my hand down his shirt to feel his chest first thing in the morning and he's always toasty.
I think your baby will be fine in 65 degrees. Babies in Sweden, Finland, and other countries sleep OUTSIDE in -10 degree weather. :) Check this out: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21537988
Sleep sacks were the one magic bullet in parenting we have experienced with our 2.5 yr old son so far, so I splurged on a Merino Kids one a couple of Amazon prime days ago. They are pricey, but so is the cost of heating, and they have some special offers thru their website. My kiddo also likes the Baby DeeDee sleep sacks (we needed a few to get us thru potty training).
Neither of those have arms, and it hasn't seemed to bother my son, but I do think about it- he sleeps in long sleeved cotton PJ's on the cool nights, with a blanket, since about age one. I don't know if they sell here, but I saw a cool sleep sack at JoJo Maman Bebe when we were in London which had long sleeves which could be snapped on and off depending on need.
I know you're staying away from synthetic but we used fleece pajamas with cotton long sleeves and tights/footed pajamas underneath. I would put cotton socks on my daughters feet underneath the footed pajamas and socks on her hands. We used fleece one-piece footed pajamas until my daughter didn't like them any more and then switched to fleece two piece ones from Land's End (still using cotton underneath as a base layer). Hope you find something that works for you!
I have a bunch of HALO sleep sacks that my son grew out of. Let me know if you'd like to take them.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B1M2OT6/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpa…
We love the Woolino sleep sack. It's merino wool covered in soft cotton and keeps our 2 year old toasty even though our thermostat is set to 62 at night. It's pricey but the only one you'll need and you don't have to wash as often due to the wonderful qualities of wool.
We had a wonderfully cozy handmade down sleep sack that was very warm. I ordered it online from milkandhoney.com. Not cheap but it'll last for years and years.
My absolute favorite is Carter's Baby microfleece sleepsack, my apartment was so cold and in his sleeveless sleepsack my son was cold (even with warm PJs underneath) so this one is great to keep his whole body warm and cozy, it's a soft material and my son wears his cotton PJs underneath