I’m writing this with the above as my view, a snoozing Callista on my chest, her giraffe blanket clutched in her sleepy grip.
I’ll have to pry it from her fingers before laying her down in her crib, an act I always do with baited breath. She loves to cling to something – be it the strap of my tank top, the edge of her bib, a wad of receiving blanket – as she drifts off to sleep, and her recent habit of falling asleep in my arms makes the removal game a more frequent challenge I face.
But do I have to? I mean, I *did* break the rules and let my trio sleep on their tummies long before they could roll back-to-front (which they all do now).
I can’t lie, though. The thought of a loose blanket gives me the heebie jeebies.
When did you start allowing your little one(s) to snuggle with something in his/her crib(s)?
(For memory’s sake, Toby so far loves to cuddle with soft blankets but doesn’t show much interest in them for sleep. Eleanor grabs a fistful of her jersey knit sheet with her left hand to hold while sucking the first two fingers of that same hand. Hello, drool puddles. Callista sometimes grips the edge of her sheet saver but usually settles for just her thumb.)
I remember one tired grueling day when Ryann wouldn’t sleep if she wasn’t in my arms or attached to my boob. I carefully lowered a very sleepy overtired baby into her crib and she cried, in desperation I gave her the shirt off my back. She slept a long time with my shirt in her hand close to her face. I’ll admit I was nervous but from that point forward she got close with her little pink body-less dog bunny blanket. She also found her two finger suck a comfort. She was 5 months and it was the best decision. She’s 22 months and calls for her “bankie” like it’s a best friend or a pet. Unfortunately it hasn’t sprouted legs and rounds its way to her when misplaced.
gahhh…ummm? I want to say it was sometime around 6-9 months that we allowed Harrison to start sleeping with a small lovey. He had this little round lamb that in no way could suffocate him & then it moved on to Templeton.
I think he was about 10 months old when we started letting him sleep with a blanket, because we were at the beach & it was FRIGID in the house.
He now sleeps with a little pillow, Templeton & Hank (his own giraffe just like the trips!), & a blanket.
We were the polar opposite of most first time parents. She had a blanket covering her if she needed it from fairly early on. I don’t remember when she first got her lovey (She has the same “Angel Dear” giraffes that Callista is clutching!) but it was fairly early. Though, at the time, we used the angel care movement monitor, so that eased some of our worry.
Caroline is 6 months and sleeps with a blanket, but, um, she also still sleeps in the swing or bouncy seat so there’s no way she can get tangled in it. I remember letting Evan have a blanket when he was about 10 months but he had a whole crib full of small lovies and stuffed animals as soon as he moved to his own room around 7 months. Once he was fully mobile I let him have his blankets and he now sleeps with one (or both or more) without worrying.
I think it really depends on how rolly the babies are when they sleep and how big the blankies are. I would worry less about a fairly still stomach sleeper and a 12×12 cotton blankie than a super rolly baby with a huge knit blanket, KWIM?
For my little one as soon as she started beng able to roll over she had her lovey in the crib with her. She was also one that would try and pull her sleep sac over her head while she was sleeping. It made me so nervous but there was nothing I could do. She is 1 months and still sleeps in a sleep sac (im too scared to put an actual blanket in with her) but she has her lovey every night.
At around 4 months old we went to the ped. for advice on starting some sleep training. At the time, our ped said it was ok to give him like a washcloth or a cloth diaper in his crib with him. He never took to it but I just wanted to share since she suggested it. If they are smart enough to rollover to get comfortable, they are smart enough to move the cloth if needed in my opinion.
Now we haven’t gone to a blanket to sleep because it seems useless. He is almost 2 and still in sleep sacks. I figure it gives me more time before he tries to climb out
My daughters have slept with loose blankets and on their tummies since birth. Sure I was nervous, but good sleep has been more important to me than fighting a tired baby who wants but I won’t give. I used a special blanket with my younger 2 since birth. I’m old school (and I’m sure others would be horrified), but if she needs it, let her have it.
Well we co slept, so they were around blankets at a young age. But, alone in their crib…Max is 10 months now and I’ve just started letting him have a blanket over night. However, for naps, he’s had a blanket or lovey since he was about 6 months old.
Grace slept in her swing for the first four months and has no physical attachments to things…is 3 1/2 and has no affection foray special toys or blankets…baby Dave at 5 months now is very attached to 3 specific toys and one little love blanket. The only thing I’m freaked out about is taking bibs off before he sleeps. I normally let him fall asleep with whatever he wants and if I need to I just go back in and remove it once he’s asleep…but I don’t need to do that often.
I would be totally comfortable letting your kids havesomething in their cribs…I think the “rule” is something crazy like 2 1/2 or3 yrs old….
when Isla goes down in her pnp she is in a onesie, swaddleme and wrapped in an aden and anais blanket and sometimes another blanket layer on because we have the a/c blasting in our room and i dont want her to be cold. i guess im not as worried. i figure she is strong and lifts her head around all the time and id feel okay with it.
We let Vicki sleep with her lovie around 7-8 months. At that time, she was able to pull it off her face. I do make sure it’s not in front of her mouth/nose when I put her down.
We’ll start using a blanket for sleep once it gets cold again, so around Sept/Oct.
I think I put a light blanket on Cole when he was about 7 or 8 months old. It was super small and flannel, and I only put it on him for warmth because sometimes he woke up because he was cold. He doesn’t have any attachments to lovies or blankets or toys, though. His only attachment is to me, unfortunately.
I think it was around the one-year mark when we started to wean that we allowed him to sleep with his lovie bear blanket. Though by that point, we also used an actual blanket, too, since he was able to maneuver so well. He got to the point where he would not sleep in just a sleep sack- I guess it wasn’t as comfortable as a lightweight blanket.
IM a bad mom! Lillian has slept with her knitted blanket since day one, and her monkey since 4 months old?
All of my kids had a small blanket in their cribs around 4 months and a larger blanket closer to a year. They all slept in sleep sacks until at least 2 since blankets on constantly moving toddlers do little to keep them warm.
Our daughter will be 1 in just a couple weeks, and we’ve had a blanket of some sort in her crib pretty much since birth. As a newborn we swaddled her up in a cotton one, then over the winter we would cover her in one or two and tuck the sides in around her. We sometimes opted for the sleep sacks too, when she wouldn’t keep a blanket on during the colder nights. She hasn’t been one to sleep with anything in her hands or cuddle with something yet, though. But no issues at all with the blankets.
I have my own little one vying for my attention right now so someone else might have already said this but our doctor said we could let Isa sleep with a blankie at 6 months and she’s been doing so ever since. She ADORES her blankie and it’s a source of comfort for her not only in her crib but throughout the day. Hope that helps.
Starting at 4 months, my son would always fall asleep with his blanket lovey covering his face. It always gave me a heart attack but I’d wait until he fell asleep and then remove the blanket and lay it next to him. Now he’s one and we don’t worry about it becuase he pretty much does gymnastics in the crib before fallign asleep.
Heckuva good job. I sure apprectiae it.
We let him have that stuff when he was old enough to move it or his face if need be. So maybe by 6 months or so?
We put Sam the Seahorse in the crib on day one. She was bundled up and he was in the corner singing to her. We added the giraffe lovey when she started busting out of her wrap and moving around more. It took up until she about a year for me to add a blanket and just a few months ago I added a slim pillow. Now she requires Sam, the lovey, pillow, blanket and water sippy to go to bed. haha
My daughter is the same way (she’s 6 months). I got some of those Aden + Anais security blankets thinking that would help ease my worries, but I still pry it out of her chubby mitts. We let her have it for naps though.
Um? Well. I know that I didn’t allow blankets until over a year, and even then I was sorta a nervous wreck. But I think we let her to go bed with her lovey at like 8 months?
I’m a nanny to a 10 month old, and we started giving him a lovey in the crib around 6 or 7 months. it’s a small blanket with silky edges.
i really don’t see the issue with callista’s giraffe…i bet it is not dense enough to suffocate her, even if she stuffed her face into it! and she’s old enough that if she started to lose air, her body would probably automatically flail/turn over and she’d be fine.
oh, meant to add that we started giving him the lovey when we started sleep training–aka, falling asleep by himself in the crib instead of being rocked to sleep. it really does work for him–i put him down, put his paci in (he only gets it for naptime), and give him the blanket, and he will grab/play with it until he falls asleep. he’ll take a substitute if that one is in the wash, though, so who knows what he’ll prefer when he’s older.
Honestly? We just started letting our daughter sleep with a blanket … and she’s 16 months old. She just hasn’t had an interest in snuggling with anything at bedtime until now. But, I prob would have waited this long anyway … I’m weird about the blanket thing, too.
My daughter used to have a “Snuggle Chum” which was a soft toy with a small face-cloth sized soft blanket attached. She slept with it from birth so far as i can remember, until she was old enough to move on to other cuddly toys. It was a good compromise between a “blanky” and a soft toy, and no risk to baby.
Both of my kids had little loveys from about 4-5 months or so. My daughter is 6 months and sleeps with a bear head and a little square of fleece that has pooh tags on it. It was actually passed down to her from Ethan, who is now almost 2 and sleeps with 2 stuffed puppies, a bear head, a pillow and 2 blankets. Oy.
PS – Love the picture of Callista!!!
I use blankets when they are very young and can’t roll over to just cover to the chest area and I usually tuck it tightly into the crib by their feet or on one side. My babies are not so rolly though, my fourth was rolling over at 4 months and it was strange.
Once they start the high “kick up” thing with their feet I take away all blankets and use sleep sacks or just fleece jamas. I especially hate the really thick fleece blankets that seem to be made for suffocating. My favorite blankets have all satin on one side and the “minky” type fabric on the other so as to be easy to escape from when they get to sleep with it around 1 year.
All my children have had the “silky” type lovie with flannel and satin in the crib from the beginnning and every time I nurse I rub their cheeks with it. It seems that putting silky on their face is relaxing. They love to fall asleep with it on their face so I just watch with the video monitor until they are asleep and put it to the side. By the time they can thrash around with the blanket and roll there is not much you can do since they fall asleep with their face half on the mattress anyway. I am more nervous of crib bumpers than a small square of fabric any day.
I have to say observing babies falling asleep with the video monitor is very educational! I think holding something is calming and keeps them from grabbing at their face and getting riled up, something they still do even in the later months.
My three month old twins go to sleep with a cotton muslin flat diaper in their hands. They sleep either in a sleep sack or swaddled in an Aden + Anais blanket too. On cold nights I also tuck a heavier knit blanket around them (secured under the mattress). Once they’re out I take the diaper away, but they like having it to fall asleep.
My three month old twins go to sleep with a cotton muslin flat diaper in their hands. They sleep with either in a sleep sack or swaddled in an Aden + Anais blanket too. On cold nights I also tuck a heavier knit blanket around them (secured under the mattress). Once they’re out I take the diaper away, but they like having it to fall asleep.