What to Dress a 13 Month Old at Night

Updated on January 02, 2011
S.R. asks from Albany, CA
21 answers

Hi, we live in northern california where, of late, our house gets down to 60 degrees or so at night. My little one wakes up in the morning with cold feet (we put socks on, but they slide off) and hands, but a warm trunk. We usually dress her in her sleep sack (heavy duty organic cotton ones), with cotton pj's. Is she dressed warm enough? My husband says yes, since her trunk is warm, and she doesn't wake up, but i'm wanting to hear from other folks - especially those in the area - both their thoughts and how they keep their babes warm at night.
Thanks!

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J.P.

answers from Stockton on

Definately sounds warm enough to me. You don't want them to be too warm either. I think that you are fine, and woudn't do anything different. If her socks are coming off, it may be that she is kicking them off. I wouldn't worry about it!

L.F.

answers from Dallas on

My DD sleeps in a sleep sack too and wakes up with cold hands. If she doesn't wake up crying from being cold then I wouldn't worry about it.

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S.F.

answers from Madison on

Try heavier fleece footed pj's with a fleece blanket sleeper.

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E.K.

answers from Portland on

Get a fleece halo sleepsack. Or fleece pajamas. This will be warmer. Just ask yourself would you want cold hands feet etc. while sleeping. Your daughter needs a blanket (sack) on just like you. A cotton sack is more like a sheet. You will want her to sleep in something warmer than you because she doesn't have the body heat from your husband like you do. Also her head is bigger proportionally than her body and she loses lots of heat through the head. She will probably sleep deeper and longer when warm. I wouldn;t worry about her getting to warm. She is old enough now that SIDS is not a factor. Also it is easy to see when she is too warm she will get sweaty. I would worry about getting her too cold you are lowering her immune system by having her body fight to keep warm rather than fight off bad stuff. That her trunk is still warm just means she is still alive. Her body will always try to keep trunk warm to protect vital organs. This is NOT a sign of her being comfortable or warm enough. If her feet are cold then she is clearly not warm enough.

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L.D.

answers from Modesto on

Our house only gets down to about 65-66 and my daughters room is the coldest in the house, so it's probably a degree or two cooler. I layer my 2 yr old daughter in a shirt or summer shorty pj's, socks, then a fleece footed pj and finally a fleece sleepsack. Fleece is so much warmer than cotton! She wakes up warm and is never overly hot or sweaty. She is still in a crib. Once she is successfully in a bed, not so much layering of clothing will be needed since I can also layer blankets. We aren't moving much as we sleep and so we don't generate as much body heat as if we were being active. We have to keep ourselves warm with clothing or blankets. Besides I know I sleep so much better if I'm warm. IT takes me forever to fall asleep with cold feet so I have booties I heat in the microwave and put on my feet to sleep in the winter. I fall asleep asap!

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H.W.

answers from San Francisco on

We do blanket sleepers, layered w/onesies and socks.

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H.L.

answers from San Francisco on

I think she's ok if her trunk is warm. You can add a onesie underneath if you still feel like she needs something more. My daughter is 20 months and refuses to sleep with a blanket. No matter how many times I put one on her during the night, in the morning it is off and on the ground. Her room is particularly cold, but with a onesie and footed pj's she seems to be fine.

Good luck!

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J.K.

answers from Phoenix on

I always use sleepers with the feet in them. =)

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E.C.

answers from San Francisco on

when our kids were 13MO, we usually layered them in cotton jammies and fleece footed blanket sleepers (Costco has great deals on these - usually around $8 each, about half what they cost in regular stores) and if needed a fleece sleep sack.

A.C.

answers from Cincinnati on

I always dress my child according to what I'm wearing. If I'm in a sweater, she's in a sweater. If I need socks on when I sleep then I put her in socks (or one of those zip up onesies that won't slide off). But whatever you do for you, do for her. :) Good luck!

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B.P.

answers from Chico on

Hi, We live in NoCal as well. My son is almost two, and we've always dressed him in footed blanket sleepers that zip in the winter. They work the best for us. They can be expensive. There are many brands that make them though. I think they are made of fleece, or a cotton/poly blend. We can sure tell, when we don't dress him in those pj's though, he gets cold, and like you said the socks fall off. Hope this was helpful to you, good luck.

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M.B.

answers from Sacramento on

Warm, fleece sleeper footed zip up jammies.
Note: my son hates the feet so I cut off the feet right below the elastic part so it stays.
Then I put socks and a fleece blanket.
No pillows.
And I check 2 times per night.
(Don't worry that pretty much stopped after awhile so you get some sleep. :)

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M.W.

answers from Sacramento on

Costco have really nice fleecy footy PJ's, they are inexpensive.

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C.M.

answers from San Francisco on

after a year both of our kids were out of the sleep sack so on cold nights i put socks on and the warm zip up footed jammies. then a warm blanket but both move around that it hardly stays on, but when i go to bed i put it back on when i kiss them goodnight.

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G.B.

answers from Oklahoma City on

The rule of thumb is to dress your kids in the same clothes you wear. As for her being warm enough try footed pj's. The kind that snap together at the waist. Carters make a lot of cute ones. I hate unmatched sets being worn but if she is too hot on top then you can put a short sleeved top on with the thicker warmer bottoms. Since they have feet in them her socks won't come off.

K.V.

answers from Lansing on

Being in Michigan it gets downright cold here. My daughter just wears 2 piece pajamas and socks, if she will keep them on. She also sleeps with a blanket or 2, depending on how stingy she wants to be :)

She sleeps with me and shes my little heater.

It's best not to get them to warm/hot when they sleep. I'm not sure what a sleep sack is, but maybe try just putting her in pajamas w/ the feet in them and see how she does for the night with that?

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H.P.

answers from Sacramento on

If you don't want to get a fleece sleep sack, try putting her in two of the cotton ones. When I only had one fleece sleep sack I'd layer my daughter in two cotton ones and that seemed to do the trick. (I also live in Northern CA, and our house is cold at night!)

I've also always used the footed PJs in the winter.

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R.J.

answers from Seattle on

If her trunk is cold, she's hypothermic and needs to go to the hospital.

Keep adding warm layers until she starts to sweat and subtract the last layer.

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S.K.

answers from Sacramento on

sounds like she is fine. If she's not waking up then she is probably warm enough.

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A.S.

answers from Dallas on

It gets pretty cold in our house too. I put our children in the footed pajamas. Not the thin cotton ones for summer but the thick ones for winter. Some of the WalMart winter footed pajamas are too thin. The ones I get, especially for our daughter, are the fuzzier ones because they are warmer. You may have to search around online if you can't find them in the stores. If your daughters feet still get too cold in a footed pajama then you should put sock on her before putting the footed pajamas on her. I've done that many times before. If you are talking about an actual sleep sack and not footed pajamas, those things have a lot of airflow in them and will not keep her as warm. You want something that will stay snug to her body to keep her body heat in.

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C.S.

answers from Las Vegas on

I live in Vegas and the temps are a bit cooler at night. My daughter is five and really prefers to sleep without a blanket. I used to put her in sleepers, however they are not as easy to find due to her size. I cover her in an adult sized lap blanket, which she prefers (she hates the linens/beddings) and once she is asleep and has rolled around, I cover her feet with another blanket.

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