This might sound silly, but loose blankets actually aren’t recommended for infant use, as it’s far too easy for your little one to get tangled up or even suffocated in their sleep.
Sleep sacks are favored for this role – as they provide all the warmth of a blanket with fewer risks. Sleep sacks can be pricy, so try to pick up only as many as your family can comfortably use. How many sleep sacks do you need for that, though?
Most of the time, you only need between 2-3 sleep sacks per baby in the house. It’s up to you to decide on where you’ll lean on, but…
- You want more sleep sacks if you travel around more often.
- You want more sleep sacks if you’re in an area with winter, as the Thermal overall grade (TOG) varies a ton between seasons.
- You want to hold off on buying more sleep sacks if your baby is pushing the size limit.
- You want a lot more sleep sacks if you have more than one kid in your home!
Sleep sacks may not be pricy – with most being around $15-20 apiece – but space is at a premium with kids in your household! As much as possible, only buy as many sleep sacks as you need.
How Many Sleep Sacks Do I Need?
A sleep sack is an odd cross between sleepwear and blankets, allowing you to comfortably bundle your infant up before bed. A sleep sack gives your infant enough freedom to get a nice and comfy but also restricts their movement enough to prevent mishaps that may happen if they roll over at night.
“But how many sleep sacks do I need?”
If you’re operating with the bare minimum in mind, you only need two sleep sacks – one to use, and one to keep on standby.
If you have practicality in mind, splurging for three sleep sacks would be wiser – that way, you don’t have to feel quite as pressured when you need to swap sleep sacks out!
Factor 1: How often do you Travel?
Most of the time, traveling deprives you of certain tools you’d have at home. Some sleep sacks might require specific measures to properly maintain. Or you might just be unable to operate those machines if you don’t have the same models at home.
You could try cleaning it anyway, but if it gets ruined in the wash then what’s your next option?
If you travel pretty often, you might want to pick up an extra sleep sack for your little one – especially for extended, week-long stays. You may want to splurge for a pair of sleep sacks instead if you find your family out and about on frequent trips!
Factor 2: What’s your Seasonal Cycle Look Like?
Baby sacks aren’t just a one size fits all product, and have variants that must be used in the appropriate situations. The biggest difference to bear in mind here would be temperature grading.
If you’re in a region with big, seasonal temperature fluctuations, you’ll need to pick up a few spare sleep sacks to best match the seasonal demands. Sleep sacks are created with different TOGs – which stand for Thermal overall grade – that show what environments they’d best be suited for.
For instance, a high TOG sleep sack would help keep your infant snug as a bug in winter but would put them at serious risk of overheating in the summertime – even at night!
Other than that, the same rules apply here: pick up two season-suited sleep sacks at minimum, but try to go for three for the sake of convenience. While winter might only last for three months in most States, the cold winds will stick around for way longer! No sense in skimping out here!
To keep it simple, you need at least 2-3 sleep sacks to match the appropriate seasonal demands.
Factor 3: When should you bump up their Sleep Sack Size?
If you don’t have enough sleep sacks to use for your kid, things will probably get pretty inconvenient. You’re going to spend a lot more time between washes, so it’ll feel tempting to pick up a spare sleep sack or two during the rare moment of parenting downtime.
Keep an eye on their sleep sack’s limits though! If your child is starting to fit a little too snuggly into their sleep sacks, they might be starting to outgrow them. Picking up extras for something your kid will outgrow soon would just be a waste.
It may be wiser to hold off on extra purchases until your child gets a bit bigger. Alternatively, you could just buy them in a size up this early on! An oversized sleep sack could also pose a suffocation hazard though, so only put it to use when your baby is on the cusp of a size change here!
Factor 4: How many kids do you have at home?
3 sleep sacks per child is a good rule of thumb, as it ensures you’re more than likely to have something on-hand no matter the situation.
Imagine this: your baby ruined their sleep sack by spilling milk on it. You change it, taking the time to fold up the ruined sleep sack, only for your little one to pee on the replacement. If you only had two sleep sacks, you’d be straight out of luck here. Think of the 3rd sleep sack as insurance.
So as we said, assuming other factors aren’t influencing your choice, stick with 3 sleep sacks per head. Don’t forget that you can pass old sleep sacks down to be reused by younger children, okay?
Keeping tabs on sleep sack size is crucial. The entire point is that they’re a perfect fit for your child, and if they aren’t it might pose the same risks a loose blanket might. Labeling sleep sacks go a long way to avoid potential mix-ups here, but on the off-chance they might get future siblings down the line try to avoid writing their names on the sleep sack itself!
Final Thoughts
It can be tough to figure out how many sleep sacks you need, as there are a lot of factors to consider. Space is precious in a family household, so limit yourself to buying only what your kid needs. Keep these considerations in mind while deciding, and you should be fine.
