Your Mama Loves Crib Safety

With the heightened awareness of SIDS, your baby’s sleep garments and crib accessories aren’t just about “cute” anymore—they’re about safety.

That’s why I love the Halo Sleep Sacks and the Breathable Baby Crib Bumpers.

As many of you (hopefully) know, you should not be putting loose blankets in your baby’s crib. If that’s the case, how in the world can you dress your baby to be comfortably warm at night?

The solution is the Halo Sleep Sack

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. Designed by a father who, sadly, lost a child to SIDS, the Halo Sleep Sack is a wearable blanket that keeps baby covered and cozy while avoiding the danger of loose material that could get caught up around baby’s mouth and nose.

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What’s great about the Sleep Sack is that it comes in varying materials, colors and sizes. Notably, the newborn size has a nice swaddling option that’s great for those first months when baby is still flail-crazy. The swaddling sleeve easily detaches, which is important for when your baby gets strong enough to bust through the swaddle.

And something you may not have planned for: The Halo Sleep Sack is delicious. If your baby is as obsessed with sucking and chewing on fabric as mine were, it’s quite handy to have the bit of cloth accessible right near their mouth to chomp on without posing a suffocation threat like a blanket would.

U-571 full You can feel good about buying Halo products because a portion of the proceeds go to SIDS research.

My one complaint is that each sack runs in the neighborhood of $20. Kind of pricey for one to begin with, but when there’s two to buy for . . . (In case you couldn’t guess, this is a common complaint of twins moms.)

Another aspect of crib safety is the crib bumper. After recent warnings to not dress cribs with those adorable, cushiony bumpers due to a SIDS risk, many mothers saw their dreams of a catalogue-worthy nursery go down the drain. Oh, and there’s the whole problem of baby’s limbs getting caught between crib slats when she starts to roll all over the damned place.

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Enter the BreathableBaby Crib Bumper. These mesh-like swaths of cloth have Velcro edges that attach to just about any style, shape and size crib. The bumpers come in two pieces: one long piece that wraps around three sides of the crib, and one that attaches to the drop-down front.

The bumpers aren’t exactly adorable—just solid color options here, no patterns or themes. And honestly, at about $25 – $28 each pretty much everywhere, I was torn at even buying them because I needed two for my twins.

(Did I mention it sucks having to buy these expensive but necessary safety items in multiples with no discounts?) (Hint, hint, manufacturers of said expensive but necessary safety items.)

But after seeing the girls become increasingly mobile over the weeks, I can say that the breathable bumpers are worth it. My girls often end up sleeping with their faces pressed against the edges and corners of the crib. Without a bumper there at all, they’d constantly be getting their limbs caught between the crib slats (read: screaming to wake me up at all hours of the night). And if there were a traditional cushy bumper there, they very well could have trouble breathing. But these mesh bumpers allow my babies to roll wherever they darned well please without me worrying—too much.

About the author:  Idoia never intended to get married or have kids. So she got hitched and had twins. Wait….what? Read more from this author.