How to Dress Your Baby for Sleep as the Nights Cool Down

When the evenings finally cool, the instinct is to add layers. For babies, though, too warm is a bigger worry than too cold. The answer comes from one number: the temperature of the room your baby sleeps in, not the weather outside.

The short version

Dress for the room your baby sleeps in, not the weather. Put a thermometer by the cot, choose the sleeping bag's TOG from the room temperature, and check your baby by feeling the chest or the back of the neck. No hats indoors, no blankets on top of a sleeping bag, nothing weighted, and stop swaddling once your baby starts trying to roll.

The Journal is written by mothers, for mothers. It is peer-to-peer knowledge, not medical advice. For anything about your own baby's sleep or health, your doctor knows best.