Stuff Parents Need

Easing the chaos in the nest, one find at a time.

Ready for those warm, Spring nights with HALO!

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This post is written by Alanna Peters on behalf of HALO SleepSacks.  Product was provided – thoughts and opinions are my own!

It’s no secret that we love HALO SleepSacks around here! Tiffany used them with her girls, and I am using them with mine. So of course, I’m very excited to share with you that HALO has a new product available just in time for spring!

HALO-Muslin-SleepSack

Now that the weather is warming up (for most of us), it won’t be long until the nights become a little less brisk and our little ones don’t need such thick, warm SleepSacks. HALO now has new SleepSacks and Swaddles available in 100% cotton muslin, and they are adorable! They are very soft, lightweight and breathable for baby. I received the pink SleepSack to review and the little pink elephant pattern is so cute! (Are you singing “Pink Elephants on Parade” now too?) The blue and neutral versions are also super cute. I’m loving the little giraffes! We’ve had some chilly nights here lately but I know the nights will warm up again very soon and this SleepSack is going to be perfect for spring.

MuslinSwaddles

The feature I love best about HALO SleepSacks is the inverted zipper. When you have to change a diaper in the middle of the night, no one likes to fully wake the baby by making her tummy cold. These zippers allow you to only expose Baby’s legs and bum for a quick, warm diaper change.

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HALO Innovation’s SleepSack® wearable blankets have become the standard for hospital nurseries and parents alike. In fact, 1,250 hospital nurseries use the HALO SleepSack Swaddle instead of blankets through the HALO Safer Way to Sleep Initiative. HALO Innovations also offers free Safe Sleep Practices kits to childbirth educators to help further the cause of SIDS prevention.

If you’d like to add one of these adorable new muslin SleepSacks or Swaddles to your baby’s wardrobe, you can find them at amazon.com, babiesrus.com or buybuybaby.com. They also make AWESOME baby shower gifts!

Stay on top of news and new products from HALO by following them on social media:

 

HALO SleepSack Review – New Design Line!

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by Alanna Peters

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while then you’re probably no stranger to HALO SleepSacks. I first heard about HALO when I was pregnant with my first daughter. We used SleepSacks for her first few months while the weather was still a bit cool, and I loved the high quality of HALO. I knew for sure I’d want to get some more this time around for my second daughter, so I was thrilled when HALO offered me the chance to try out a SleepSack from their new design line!

HALO_SleepSack_Logo

First of all, if you are unfamiliar with HALO SleepSacks, here’s a bit of info to get you up to speed:

HALO Innovation’s SleepSack® wearable blankets have become the standard for hospital nurseries and parents alike. In fact, 1,000 hospital nurseries use the HALO SleepSack Swaddle instead of blankets through the HALO Safer Way to Sleep Initiative. That is 1.5 million births getting first-hand, in-hospital experience with the HALO SleepSack Swaddle and safe sleep practices! Modeling safe sleep practices for parents in the hospital is the key to safer sleep practices at home.  HALO Innovations also offers free Safe Sleep Practices kits to childbirth educators to help further the cause of SIDS prevention.

Now, on to the new designs. HALO has recently released new SleepSack designs available exclusively at Pottery Barn! They are so cute, you guys. And the pure, organic cotton fabric is so thick and soft, I almost want to cuddle my new SleepSack before I put my baby in it. The SleepSacks are available in pink, blue and yellow stripe, and feature cute safari appliques. You can even get them embroidered with your baby’s name! (This would be a great baby shower gift idea, by the way.) I chose to review one of the new Pottery Barn SleepSack Swaddles, which comes in an adorable medallion print. These are also available in pink, blue and yellow and are also available for embroidery.

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I am really excited about the swaddle aspect of this SleepSack. My oldest daughter did NOT like to be swaddled. We tried and tried, but she always wiggled free or threw a fit until we unbundled her. I’m determined to try again with my new baby though, and the SleepSack Swaddle makes it so easy. Just zip the baby into the SleepSack and wrap the swaddle fabric around her! It easily closes with a huge section of hook & loop fabric so it’s very adjustable for babies of all shapes and sizes. Speaking of sizes, I was curious about HALO sizing, so I figured some of you might be as well. Here is what I found out:

Newborn
19 to 23 in
  6 to 12 lbs
Small
23 to 26 in
  13 to 18 lbs
If you are still in the process of designing your nursery, it would be worth mentioning that Pottery Barn offers bedding that coordinates with their SleepSacks. How cute is that? They are available in both organic cotton and snuggly chamois.
One more thing I want to add is this: During the month of October, HALO will donate $1 to SIDS Awareness for every new Facebook “like”. This is awesome, you guys, and all it takes from you is a few seconds to “like” their page! Please stop by and visit them on Facebook if you have a chance. What a great cause! You can also find them on Twitter and Pinterest.

The SleepSack Option for Walking Babies and Toddlers! (Giveaway!)

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Let’s talk about the logistics of your baby or toddler’s sleeping environment for a moment, shall we? Specifically, I want to talk about what your options are for keeping your child sufficiently covered and warm, and more importantly, SAFE.

My two children have been VERY different. My oldest was fully swaddled (arms and everything!) until she was 7 months old, and then had her legs swaddled until around 18 months. The swaddle was her jam, people. So she never really got into the sleepsack thing since she wanted to be very snug, and by the time she finally outgrew the swaddle, she was running around everywhere, and those footless sleepsacks were pointless for her.

Layah, on the other hand, outgrew the swaddle by 4 months. We started using HALO SleepSacks at that point and had great success with them. They are so much safer than blankets as they create a warm and cosy environment without posing a suffocation risk. They are basically like a wearable blanket! The material won’t bunch up around the face and the zipper unzips from the bottom so that even curious babies and toddlers can’t get themselves out of it.

So anyway, the HALO SleepSack was the optimal choice for Layah. That is, until she started standing up all the time, and then walking (she was walking by 9 months, which was totally NOT cool!). Since the SleepSacks don’t have cut outs for the feet, they are very frustrating to babies who want to move.

Just as this was becoming a real problem and we were about to retire the SleepSacks altogether, HALO introduced the SleepSack Early Walker! This is a SleepSack in a lightweight-knit fabric (shown below), and it is also available in Micro-fleece and Comfort Mesh fabrics. Check out what it looks like!

Layah from Stuff Parents Need HALO SleepSack Early Walker

FYI, the pink long sleeves are part of a onesie, not part of the SleepSack. If you are familiar with SleepSacks, then you are probably thinking that this looks just like any other SleepSack. But here’s what makes it so special:

HALO SleepSack Early Walker

This SleepSack has cut outs for the feet. They are snug enough so that the feet won’t come out of them, but not so tight as to be uncomfortable. And there’s still that blanket-like feel to the product. Layah sleeps, well, like a baby in this! And she can walk around in it, too!

In addition to the SleepSack Early Walker, HALO also has a Big Kids Toddler SleepSack line. All are available for purchase on Amazon. We absolutely adore our SleepSack Early Walker, and when Layah starts to wear size 2T, we will invest in a SleepSack Big Kids! The Early Walker, by the way, is on sale at Amazon right now for just $18 (regularly $24.99!).


Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win 1 HALO SleepSack Early Walker or SleepSack Big Kids!

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received a complimentary product for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own. This post contains affiliate links.

Bumper-Free Bedding for Baby #2 (and a Pinterest Contest!)

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I absolutely adore the bedding set I picked out for Darah. I spent HOURS pouring over different options, trying to find good deals, and eventually going back to a set I fell in love with during the first 30 minutes of my epic quest. It was a splurge, but I didn’t care. I never regretted that purchase for a second. You can find an image of it on my Pinterest board if you are super curious!

The set did come with a bumper. And yeah, I had heard some rumblings and mumblings about how bumpers were no longer considered to be all that safe. But to be honest with you, I dismissed them, figuring that generations of babies had done just fine with bumpers in their cribs. Plus, it was so darn cute!

And then the American Academy of Pediatrics decided to weigh in on the issue. They officially came out against crib bumpers. And that’s when I finally got my head out of the sand and started paying attention.

HALO, the fabulous brand behind the super smart and super safe SleepSacks, has risen to the challenge of creating worry-free bedding by creating the Safe Sleep Crib Set, which is designed to create a safe sleep environment for babies (and a cute one, too!).

The five-piece set has everything your baby needs for a healthy and happy night of rest. It consists of the following:

  • HALO SleepSack wearable blanket
  • SleepSack Swaddle
  • Two coordinating crib sheets in soft cotton jersey
  • matching crib skirt
What I really love about this bedding set is that it goes beyond what might look cute and provides you with exactly what the baby needs for sleep, leaving out all the accessories like bumpers and quilts that can actually pose a breathing threat to babies. With our old set, I knew the quilt shouldn’t go in the crib and only used it as a decoration, hanging above the crib like a tapestry. But how many other parents opted to put it inside the crib as a blanket for their infants? I love that this set comes with a SleepSack and SleepSack Swaddle to provide plenty of coverage for baby, with no risk of any fabric getting in their face.
You can find the HALO Safe Sleep Crib sets now on Amazon as well as Babiesrus.com. The sets retail for $109.99 but are on sale currently at both sites! It is available in six different patterns including pink, blue and neutral tones. We have picked out the Caroline’s Garden Set (below). Adorable, no?
Would you like to win a set for yourself? Well, it’s not so hard to do if you are on Pinterest (and if you aren’t on Pinterest….GET ON THERE, NOW! YOU ARE MISSING OUT!). HALO is sponsoring a “Pin It to Win It” contest. Click here for all the details on how you can win your own set. The contest ends on April 15th, so hop on over now and get entered!
If you’d like to stay up to date with all the HALO happenings, follow them on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter!
Disclosure: I received a complimentary safe sleep set for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own. 

HALO SleepSack Swaddle Review and GIVEAWAY!!!

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Do you think that Snuggies are the original wearable blanket?

Nope! That honor goes to the HALO SleepSack Wearable Blanket! 🙂 SleepSacks are these really awesome wearable blankets for babies. One of my nieces wore SleepSacks religiously as a baby, as they kept her nice and warm. And most importantly, they kept her very safe as they eliminate loose blankets in the crib to help prevent SIDS!

We had some SleepSacks for Darah, but they were honestly never a hit. She was such a fan of the swaddle that the SleepSack was just too loose around her legs for her comfort. She was very used to be snug as a bug in a rug!

So I was intrigued when I learned that HALO had created the SleepSack Swaddle. I had the opportunity to check it out, and while I don’t have a baby to put in it, I still had a few initial observations.

1. It looks very easy to use. Swaddling does have a bit of a learning curve when you do it the old fashioned way, but this swaddler looks extremely intuitive. That’s a great thing for a nervous new parent!

2. I’m not convinced that a newborn would love it, as it leaves the legs covered but not cocooned, which is what I found to be the real reason that babies love to be swaddled. In some ways it mimics being inside the womb – all warm and cozy! But the HALO SleepSack Swaddle does keep the arms close to the baby’s body which is very comforting.

I did spend some time on the HALO website learning about why they designed their swaddler this way, and I came away with some surprising information that really has me thinking. They state that many parents wrap their babies too tightly and this can actually cause hip dysplasia after birth. Their hips need to have freedom of movement and their knees need to be able to extend. There’s no doubt in my mind that we wrapped Darah up very tightly, and for many, MANY months. This gives me pause to wonder if there really is such a thing as swaddling too tight!

How we swaddled Darah is water under the bridge, and I’m not going to waste time worrying about what I cannot change. With that said, when we are ready to have another baby, I’ll be doing more research on this issue and also looking to the HALO SleepSack Swaddle blanket as a viable swaddling option.

Buy it!: The HALO SleepSack Swaddle is available at many fine retailers, including Target, Amazon and Babies R Us. The SleepSack Swaddle retails for $26.95.

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a HALO SleepSack Swaddle in your choice of size! The contest will run until July 31st at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected via Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to winning notification before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States. Limit one entrant per household, please.

Mandatory entry: This contest is open to all the Facebook fans! Like Stuff Parents Need AND HALO SleepSack on Facebook and come back here to tell me you did for your mandatory entry.

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: Follow HALO SleepSack on Twitter
2. Blogger love: Follow Stuff Parents Need on Google Friend Connect (found on the sidebar)

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of the page.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary product for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.