At What Age Is It Safe to Begin Leaving Babies with a Blanket in Crib?

I'm one of the paranoid moms, mainly because a friend lost her baby to sids at 20 months. My 22 month old son still wears a sleep-sack to bed over his flannel jammies. Lullaby Lane in San Bruno has larger sizes. I should add, though, that I do use a light satiny blanket on him for his naps...I just worry about it over night.

At 14 months he should be fine. I wouldn't use flannel jammies and a flannel type blanket though. That combination tends to act like velcro, even for us adults. I would recommend a small quilt. They are usually thick enough that they won't tangle easily and they are warm.

The risk of SIDS virtually disappears around the age of 12 months, so he is more than old enough to be left with a blankie, stuffed animals, whatever else makes him feel comfy in the crib with him. The idea is, once they are rolling over and crawling well (which can be anywhere from age 6 months through 12 months), your infant has the head control to be able to free himself from a potentially dangerous suffocation.
My 3 year old still sleeps in her crib by choice, and you would be amazed at how much stuff she can sleep comfortably with in that crib. Blankets, pillow, stuffed animals, you name it, its in there. SO funny.

Hi S., I wanted to tell you that it is safe to give your child the blanket. Not the real thick ones. Light blankets, anything but thick blankets like comforters, sleeping bag, or heating blankets are not safe yet. I have 4 kids and they had blankets since they were little babies and had no problems. Another thing is absolutely no stuff animals until they are at least 1 yr old. (I wouldn't put a huge stuff animal in the crib...small ones are safe for at least 1yr old)

God Bless!

I once was told by nurses at the NICU that an afghan is the best since it has holes in it in case it goes over their faces, they can still breathe. My mother-in-law made me a very light one for the summer, as it has holes that are about 1 inch squares. One a little closer together than that would probably be fine, too. I also have one of those blanket sleep sack things that have no sleeves, but they probably don't make those very big.

~I'm a mom of seven, ages 17, 12,10,7,5,3, and 10 months.

I think the rule of thumb is to wait until your baby can push a blanket away from their face or pull it away if it gets wrapped over their head. If they don't have the arm strength to roll over or push away from a smothering object like a blanket they can suffocate. That's why little babies are swaddled tight and not left with loose blankets just draped over them or put in sleepers that zip up and act as a blanket until they are strong enough to deal with a real blanket.

I played peekaboo with my daughter with a light blankly by putting it over her face and saying "where's the baby!" and she'd reach up and pull it down and giggle like crazy. It taught her how to pull the object off her face if it was there.

Before babies can just barely roll over on their own don't have the arm strength to get out of a blanket tangle if they manage to get into one.

Same thing with stuffed animals. If they roll over and their face gets smooched into the fluffy plush of the stuffed animal and they can't push away from it, they'll smother.

There’s no right age to say because it all depends on the physical development of your own child. You have to make the call based off what you feel comfortable with.

i agree with the other ladies. i don't know if there is an official age but if your baby can crawl around and move about easily there is no problem using a blanket. since it is cold we use the flanel footie pjs along with blankets. the blankets never stay on through out the night.

I've been putting blankets on my son (in bed next to me or in his co-sleeper) since he was born (he's 5 mos now). It's never been a problem.

your son is more than safe. I started at 4 months. Your baby can probably crawl and move around and stand or maybe walk... no need to worry. He can get out of the blanket if he needs to.

HI S.,

My daughter is 4 mo. old and I just started putting in a small afghan on her lower half to help with the cold, I figure it hes lots of holes so worst case if she pulls it up over head she can still breath. I too worry about SIDS, but she has not even grabbed for the blanket. I will only use it in winter burr.

i think its safe..i put blankets on both my girls up until they started to roll around and got kicked off..so i just bundled them up in layers so they wouldnt get cold...they didnt understand to keep the blanket on them to stay warm so...it wasnt until my oldest daughter was around 2 1/2 that she finally kept under them...

At 14 months, you should be fine with a blanket in the crib.

As soon as a baby is strong enough to roll over and move a blanket away from his or her face you should be fine. Both of my babies 27mo and 12mo have had blankets since they were about 3 months old.
Good luck.

I My kids both had blankets around 4 months. The problem I now have is that I find myself getting up every couple hours to make sure they are covered. They tend to kick the blankets off.

Good luck!
I'm sure he will be just fine!

I had asked my pediatrician about this, and she had said a small blanket was fine at 12 months. I waited until about 14, though, since I'm super paranoid about that kind of stuff :) Now my daughter loves having her blanket with her when she is falling asleep.

I dont really understand the question. I have always had blankets on my children ever since birth. Even in the hospitals the babies are wrapped in blankets like little burritos.