What to Sleep a 6 Month Old In?

Hi J.,

This was my favorite part of being a mom. I loved to dress my babies. So I remember oh so well. I always put on my babies a onesie, and I bought different material sleepers. They have thick medium and light material footed sleepers. I usually would adapt the sleeper to the weather. This kind of weather I would use a light footed sleeper with a onsie, and a medium thick material blanket. I also bought thick, medium and light material blankets.

At that age my babies always wore onesis. I guess you could just call me a t-shirt mom, even in the summer my kids still wear t-shirts unless it is just unbearably hot.

Hope this helps.

J. ~
at 78 degrees in my room, I'd be hot. Put him in just a onesies...he'll be fine. Maybe a loose blanket on top. That would be why he was sweaty and cranky. He's not going to get cold in this weather.
D.

I have an almost 8 month old daughter who wears the footed long sleeve pajamas to bed. I also have a cool-touch electronic heater in her room and set it to 70 degrees. If it gets below 70, the heater kicks on. Works perfect for us!

J.,

My first one was born in December so he wore the heavy footed sleepers in the winter. During the summer months I would put him in a light weight cotton footed sleeper(we had airconditioning) and would swaddle him like a burrito with his blanket (starting under his armpits). When we didn't have the airconditioning running (out of power etc.)I would dress him in a light weight long sleeve onesie (as long as it was not 90 in his room, then I would use a short sleeve onesie )and wrap him in the lightest blanket we could find. Good luck finding a right fit. J.

Both of my boys used the Halo sleep sacks. We put them in a long sleeved cotton onesie and a sleep sack. In the winter we used the fleece sleep sack, and in the summer the cotton. If it was expected to be cooler than usual at night, we sometimes put them in cotton pj's (sans the onesie). If if was going to be warmer, we opted for the short sleeve onesie. We never had an issue, and the sleep sack gives them more room than footed jammies - if they're too warm they can still roll/move and find a "cool" spot, much like us under with a blanket. My 2yo is still in his sleep sack. I've found the best selection of sizes and materials at www.onestepahead.com versus the stores. Good luck to you!

I put my daughter, now 16 months but last spring 8 months, in a onsie with lightwieght cotton pants and a light weight blanket. We also left her window open a bit.
Last spring she NEEDED to be swaddled to sleep so sometimes I would go in and uncover her legs and feet but leave her arms tight. She was swaddled until she was almost a year. It was the only way she could fall asleep.
Blessings, K.

I used sleep sacks for my twins. I used a t-shirt underneath if it was a chilly night and just the sleep sack on warmer nights.

J.,

In this weather I always put them in footed sleeper PJ's, it still gets cool at night and since we aren't running the heat anymore I never wanted them to get cold. Also my babies would never leave a blanket on themselves, so I was always worried they would get chilly in the night.

In the summer when we have the air conditioner going I still use the same type of PJ.

I think the best thing to do when it is too warm for a baby is loose fitting, light-weight cotton, long sleeve and pant, pjs; with a pair of light-weight socks. I personally don't like to leave any bare skin out but when it is just too warm for a swaddle at least their skin is covered. And scientifically your body temp drops a degree or so when you are sleeping. So you might go to sleep with no covers but in the middle of the night you cover up even though the air stays the same temp. The breeze from the fan might be disturbance to him until he gets use to it too. And you might want to put him to bed with it on and then turn it off when you go to bed or at least down.

Whatever you decide to put him in (I'd used a cotton sleep sack & nothing else for 78 degrees), check his skin temp once or twice before you go to bed and adjust accordingly. Being a tiny bit cool is better than overly warm....that is probably the reason for his crankyness and puking.

It's stressful being a mom, isn't it? Things that seem little to someone else are reasons we lose sleep!

During the summer months, we used to put them in just a onesie unless we had the air on of course. Otherwise, without air conditioning, we put them in a onesie or a thin, cotton, footed sleeper with no onesie underneath and no blanket or swaddle. I hope this helps. :)

I sleep in a short sleeve shirt and long pants most ofthe summer and so do my kids.

so a onsie shirt and pajama pants.

my son was born in june and he slept in light weight footie pajamas for a while and probably by 6 weeks he was in a tee shirt and pants. we keep our airconditioning at 77 or 78 and it is hotter than that upstairs...

I had the same problem with my 9 wk old so I'll be interested to see what people tell you. We ended up just turning on the AC and putting her in her same swaddle and sleeper that she always had in the winter. The one night that it was hot and we didn't have the air on we swaddled her in just her diaper and she was still hot...but I didn't think we could have any kind of fan in her room because I thought air blowing on them makes them hold their breath? Maybe a ceiling fan doesn't blow air on them - I don't know I don't have any in my house. I also couldn't stomach the thought of having her window open even though it was a nice night. I guess I'm not really helping you but sharing in your concerns...I know its early in the season to use AC but that's the best we could come up with to get her to sleep...

J. - I have a 7 month old. I really like sleep sacks - safer than blankets, cozy for the child and as one person wrote - gives the baby room to kick or find a cool spot just like a grown up would with their own blankets. I used sleep sacks with my older son, now four. The brand I really like is babyinabag.com - very nicely made and euro-style.

oh my gosh, Loose the swaddle. They use that till there like 3 to 4 months old and that that. Wake up hes growing plus hes a boy. Plus its 78 in his room why would you put him in long sleeves. Are you trying to sufficate him? They make pjs with short sleeves long pants no footies. Put those on him wil a light blanket. Turn the fan on. You totally over heated him thats why he puked. Any child that gets over heated will puke. Also just because dad is cold and mom has mid life crisis symptoms doesn't mean the kid needs to suffer. Think about this. Did your son keep his temp when he first came out well? If so that means hes a normal temp child so dress him for the weather. Put on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. If he seems to hot with that hes a boy put a short sleeve oncie on and let him play. Or a pair a shorts with a tank top. Pj's should be in 70 plus weather: Shorts with short sleeves shirt or pants with short sleeve shirt with a blanket. Blanket could be fleece, yarn, or microfiber whatever you have. You want him to be warm but not smutheres warm and you also want him to be cooled. He propably would have been fine if you had him in a long sleeve oncie last night with a light blanket instead of havinghim in the swaddle with the swaddel he can't kick the covers off. Babies and children and people are ina way sorda like animals they know whats right and wrong for themselves if hes hot he will kick the covers off if hes cold he willsquirm back under them. Just like you if your hot you kick them off if you get cold you put them back on. I know its hard especially if hes your first. But you can't keep kids in bubbles or they will never be able to be themselves. Kids grow and change. Good Luck

Hi J.,
My daughter was born in February, so by the time she was 6-9 months it was summer into fall. We just put her in a short sleeved onesie to sleep in and covered her with a light blanket in the summer and once November rolled around she was in footed pajamas. She has always been a blanket baby so we keep one in her bed even now. At 6 months they usually roll around in the bed so swaddling at that age might be frustrating because they "can't" move, which would explain him waking up cranky. Good luck!

My oldest daughter was born on Nov. 12 (she's 5 now), so I know exactly what you are going through. Our house is very old, and the upstairs is hotter than downstairs. Of course we sleep upstairs. Our daughter slept in the one room that had a ceiling fan, and we did use that a lot. The important thing is to keep his torso and limbs warm. You can find some sleepers just like his winter sleepers in a lighter weight stretchy jersey knit material. I did one of two things. I would use the lighter weight sleepers without a onsie underneath or I would use a long sleeved onsie (if it was really hot out) with a pair of light weight pants (again, those knit type ones), sometimes I would top that off with a pair of socks because she wouldn't sleep in a swaddle. She typically would stay comfortable, more towards summer if you don't have central air you can change it to short sleeve onsies with or without shorts. Hope it helps!!

Our son was born in Nov. of 2006 I remember too well this time of year and wondering what he should wear to bed. We ended up bying a few pairs of cotton pants. Since my son's room is super cold in the winter and super hot in summer we would start out in nothing but a onesie. This time of year the windows were open and the fan was on. As the night went on I'd check on him and as it cooled off I'd turn off the fan, than put a pair of pants on him, shut the windows and finally a blanket. I know it seems like a pain but it worked really well for us. It usually didn't cool off enough to effect him unitl 4 or 5 in the morning. He always woke around that time for a feeding so it worked out nicely. Whatever you do, remeber that it's better for them to be cool rather than too warm. At this age our son never would stay in the sleep sac, he moved around way too much. We just used a light weight blanket, which never stayed on either :).

Hi J., my suggestion would be to put him in a shortsleeved onsie and a pair of pajama pants with his favorite bedtime blanket, and just pull it up to his chest if he is anything like a normal baby he will pull it up to where he is comfortable and fall asleep. That usually does the trick.
Sincerely, S. A

Get a bunch of different onesies, long sleeve, short sleve, footed, undershirt types. when it is really hot out, a diaper and a cotton tee will do. Look at him, is he cold, sweatting, red from being too hot? Yu will have to adjust to him. The idea is to keep his body temperature comfortable, not make him sweat or shiver to keep it where it has to be, so let him show you how comfortable he is. IFyou put him to bed and he is hot, and yiou check on hinm at 4 in the mnronign and his legs look cold, but socks if you have some that actually stay on, or footed pants on him. If it is the opposite, take a layer off. If it is 78 degrees in the house I doubt he will need a swaddle in addition to a onesie.

Hello,
My daughter is 8 mo. old and sense it has warmed up a bit I have been turning her fan on low, and letting her sleep in a short-sleeved onsie. ( i refuse to turn the a/c on) lol, anyway, we lay a thin blanket over her bum and legs (she sleeps on her belly). Also consider they generate more heat if your little one sleeps on his belly, he will need less than if on his back.

If HE wants to be swaddled, then that's fine. He CAN still be swaddled at 6 months old bottom only IF he likes it. My daughter did, she decided she was done with it around 6.5 months.

If you swaddle and it's warm in the room (and 78 is WAY WARM!) then short sleeve onesie.

When it's warm, dress him in clothes that will not keep him too hot. If it's cold, bundle him up.

I liked the top/bottom combination jammies for my daughter, or onesies if it was really hot. If it was really really hot (we don't have a/c) then just a dipe. :-)

In the warmer months you don't have to worry about them getting too cold. You DO have to worry about too hot.

In the winter I like footed fuzzy jammies, no onesie unless it is super cold.

Relax. Let the little guy breathe. He'll be just fine. :-) I know how it is with your first. Everything is scary and you have no idea what you're doing. Listen to your mommy instinct and don't second guess yourself. If you think he will be too warm... he probably will be too warm. He'll let you know if something is not right. Trust me!