Between 14 and 17 hours a day : that's the average amount of time a newborn spends sleeping, interspersed with brief periods of waking every few hours. So, with so much time spent in the sweet arms of Morpheus, you surely want to ensure your baby a sleep that is both protective and restorative! 😴
And if you're looking to ensure your little one gets a sound sleep, you've probably found a starting point: using a sleeping bag . But is this accessory really the best way to combat restless nights? At Ouatine & Cumulus, we believe there's a much safer alternative, guaranteed to bring peaceful nights: the cocoon! We explain everything in this article. 👇
Recommendations for safe baby sleep
During the first few months of life, your little one will spend more than half of their time sleeping; providing them with a sleep-friendly environment is therefore essential for their proper development.
Therefore, to ensure your baby has the safest possible nights, the National Office for Childhood (ONE) recommends the following:
Always put your baby to sleep on their back.
Day and night, never let your newborn sleep on their side or stomach! For the months following birth, the small muscles in their back and neck are not yet sufficiently developed to allow them to turn their head; therefore, lying on their stomach greatly increases the risk of suffocation and apnea.
Place your baby on a flat, firm mattress.
Because its muscles are still underdeveloped, the newborn needs firm support to keep its spine straight and to facilitate breathing.
Banish duvets, stuffed toys and pillows
After birth, a baby is not yet able to move around properly on their own. Clear the space around their face to prevent them from getting their nose stuck in nearby fabric, and do not leave any blankets, stuffed animals, or other fabrics nearby that your baby could grab and pull over their face.
💡 According to these recommendations, a sleeping bag is therefore an ideal accessory to guarantee your newborn a safe, hazard-free sleep – provided, of course, that it is perfectly adapted to their size!
In a sleeping bag that is too big for him, your baby could slip, or find himself hampered by too much fabric. It is therefore essential to make sure you choose a sleeping bag that is perfectly suited to his age, size and weight.
The sleeping bag, an ally for safe sleep... but not very reassuring for baby!
While a sleeping bag that is well-suited to your little one's morphology and properly follows the recommendations for safe sleep is important, it's not the same story from the baby's point of view.
Indeed, as soon as a newborn is born, it is confronted with a completely unknown environment, a whole universe to tame, which a sleeping bag alone does not offer . And this is for several reasons:
The baby, positioned in a sleeping bag, is in a flexed position.
Due to the lack of development of its small muscles, the baby in a sleeping bag positions itself in a star shape, with its hands far from its face; it therefore cannot self-soothe by touching its cheeks or mouth, as it used to do in utero.
The sleeping bag does not offer a reassuring, defined space around the baby.
A newborn is soothed when it finds contact around it. After birth, it has a reflex to stretch out, constantly seeking support to feel secure. It is therefore not uncommon to see a newborn kicking its legs to try to find contact at the level of its feet, a reassuring contact it had when it was in its mother's womb.
The space left by the sleeping bag causes micro-awakenings.
When a baby hears an unusual noise, it makes sudden movements, stretching its arms and legs (this is called the " Moro reflex "). In a sleeping bag, these movements are so wide that they wake the little one at the slightest noise.
💡 Therefore, the sleeping bag isn't perfect for ensuring peaceful nights for your newborn... but from the age of 6 months, it's ideal for supporting their development and allowing them to move around well at night!
>> Discover the Ouatine & Cumulus sleeping bags (from 6 months)
The cocoon, or how to fight baby's restless nights
For 9 months, the baby develops in its own little space : a reassuring, well-defined place, with supports all around it, in which it can curl up, with its hands near its face...
“Then comes birth! Suddenly, the baby finds itself in an unlimited space, with drafts, light, noise, gravity, new smells... A whole universe to get used to. It is to help, support and reassure the baby during this difficult transition that we created our cocoons.” – Stéphanie Chaidron, co-founder of Ouatine & Cumulus.
Why the cocoon is the ideal ally against baby's restless nights
In addition to offering a safe space for the newborn, the cocoon provides a reassuring little world in which the baby feels protected, enveloped, and serene. Why? Because the Ouatine & Cumulus cocoon has been designed to best remind the baby of the sensations experienced before birth :
- The cocoon is like a kind of enveloping sleeping bag that allows the baby to keep his little arms close to him and close to his face. In this way, the baby can reassure himself by touching his cheeks or mouth.
- In its cocoon, the baby finds itself in a flexed position , as it was when it was nestled in its mother's womb. Thanks to the cocoon's hood, it regains the support it has always known at the head and feet, which makes it feel secure. If it startsles, having a defined space around it will allow it to stay huddled and continue to sleep peacefully.
- The cocoon has a small belt that secures the baby and keeps it in place, preventing it from slipping and having its face covered by fabric.
- Finally, the small hood of the cocoon can contain a rolled-up fabric with the scent of the parents , to offer him a space that is always closer to what he knows – and always more reassuring.
"Childbirth is wonderful, but it remains a challenge... for both baby and mom! Our goal with the cocoon is to facilitate the baby's arrival in this strange and unknown new world , offering a smooth transition." – Stéphanie Chaidron
In conclusion, for peaceful baby nights, sleepsuit or cocoon ? Both, my friend! 😌
Until the age of 6 months , the cocoon allows for a smooth transition of the newborn into the world that awaits them; beyond that, when they are able to roll over on their own, the baby begins to tame their universe and can now explore it more in a suitable sleeping bag.
And if you're still hesitating between baby sleep accessories, check out our article on the differences between sleeping bags, nests, and cocoons ! This will allow your little one to sleep... like a baby 😴
