How To Dress A Baby For Bed

If you have a new baby, we’re sure you’ve spent some time researching or googling ‘what to dress baby in at night’. Between learning how to breastfeed or bottle feed, and how to actually take care of a child, understanding what to dress your baby in at night is actually really important. We’ve put together this short guide to help demystify baby sleepwear and help the whole family get some shut eye in the process.

What to consider when dressing a baby for sleep?

Wondering what should a baby wear to bed? You’re not alone! When it comes to choosing baby sleepwear there are a number of factors to consider including:

Material: Opt for breathable, organic materials where possible.
TOG-rated materials: Consider choosing TOG-rated materials to keep your baby at an optimal temperature.
Comfort: Choose soft materials that feel warm and cozy against delicate baby skin.
Fitted cot/bassinet sheets: Opt for organic, breathable bedding that will keep your baby at an optimal temperature whilst sleeping. Only use tightly fitted cot sheets.
Blankets: Avoid putting blankets in your child’s crib as these can actually be a choking hazard. Your cot or bassinet should only have a fitted sheet inside it.

How to dress a baby at night?

We won’t lie, when it comes to dressing a baby for bed, it can be seriously overwhelming. No doubt you’ve heard about swaddling and we’re sure the nurses at the hospital showed you how to do it once or twice. However, when you get home it can seem seriously complicated especially when you’re running on limited sleep. For newborns, swaddling is where it’s at for bedtime. Choose from these two methods for swaddling your newborn: Baby Wrapping This is the most traditional way to dress a baby for sleep. Baby swaddling is a tried and trusted way of settling and calming a baby- it makes them feel safe and protected as they drift off to sleep. If you’re going to try traditional swaddles, a muslin cloth is fabulous for this. Baby sleeping bags If you just can’t nail the swaddle, don’t fret. Baby sleeping bags do exactly the same thing and take way less time (just a simple zip and you’re set).

Baby sleepwear temperature guide

Keeping your baby at the right temperature is one of the most important things to understand when learning how to dress a baby for sleep. Overheating is one of the biggest factors that contributes to SIDS, so it’s really important to make sure you’re not dressing your baby in too many layers. The first thing to understand is the temperature of your nursery or wherever your child is sleeping – we recommend investing in a room thermometer for accuracy. Next, we recommend choosing TOG-rated materials to dress your baby at night. TOG is essentially a rating system that helps you understand what to dress your child in based on the temperature of the room they sleep in.

How warm to dress a baby at night?

The golden rule is to dress your baby for the temperature of the room they’re sleeping in (note not the temperature outside or in your city). You want to make sure they’re not too warm and not too cold. If you aren’t able to use TOG-rated materials, you should pay extra special attention to this. If your nursery is quite warm or even hot, you can dress your baby in a sleeveless onesie or even a nappy and singlet if it’s really hot. When it comes to materials, choose something breathable like muslin or cotton.