Guest article by baby sleep coach Caroline Helming

One of the most frequent questions in my consultations is:

What should I dress my child in for sleep?

There are now countless options: sleeping bags with legs, sleeping bags without legs, summer sleeping bags, winter sleeping bags with inner sleeping bags, without inner sleeping bags, etc.

And once I've decided on a model: What do I dress my child in underneath?

Questions upon questions.

First and foremost, I would definitely recommend using a sleeping bag for the entire first year of life and beyond for safety reasons. Whether it has legs or an inner sleeping bag is more a matter of taste (especially the child's).

Underneath the sleeping bag, there's a lot of leeway: bodysuit and pajamas, just a bodysuit, or just pajamas.

Regarding the optimal sleeping temperature, 18 degrees is usually mentioned, which I find to be a good guideline.

All well and good. That's the theory.

But which sleeping bag should one use, what if it's not 18 degrees, and what should I wear underneath?

There is no universal answer to these questions, as the perception of warmth is very individual. However, as parents, you can easily "feel your way" with a few tricks.

The most important thing here is your own intuition. Parents usually naturally develop a good sense of their child's perception of warmth; you should definitely trust your gut feeling here. Other helpful tips include:  Is the baby's back wet? Yes? Then it was too warm.

Are the neck and feet cold? Then it was too cold.

Especially when temperatures change or when switching to a new sleeping bag, the TOG values of the sleeping bags provide a good indication of how warm a sleeping bag is. The higher the value, the warmer they are. Since you can't have the right sleeping bag for every temperature, you adjust the clothing underneath.

Example: A sleeping bag has a TOG value of 2.5. This means it can cover temperatures of approx. 15-21 degrees.

So, for example, at 18 degrees, we start with a bodysuit and pajamas. As the temperature rises, one less layer each time, i.e., at 20 degrees without pajamas with a long-sleeved bodysuit, and at 21-22 degrees then with short sleeves.

After this theory, however, quickly return to the child and intuition. No calculation or table helps if your little ones are sweating or freezing. This means you can initially orient yourself by the TOG values, but ultimately you should keep an eye on the children to see if everything fits. After a short time, you usually know very well what to wear at what temperature.

But what do I do if temperatures rise in summer and the room cannot be cooled down to 18-21 degrees? Or on vacation?! Our caravan had at least 25 degrees room temperature at night last year.

In such cases, a suitable summer sleeping bag is needed.

It should have good fabric quality, be breathable, and be able to absorb moisture well.

The Räuberella summer sleeping bag meets all the criteria for a good night's sleep in summer.

The sleeping bag is made of fine organic muslin fabric. This means it is particularly breathable and absorbent.

But of course, here too the question is: What do I wear underneath? The same problem in winter and summer.

The Räuberella summer sleeping bag has a TOG value of 0.5. This means that, in theory, it can cover all temperatures from approx. 20-27 degrees with the same combination of bodysuit and pajamas. At 27 degrees and more, you may even be able to forgo clothing altogether and the child sleeps only in a diaper. At that point, good fabric pays off twice as much when in direct contact with the skin.

Experiment! Get to know your darling's perception of warmth.

For orientation, there are various tables with guidelines regarding "what to wear underneath," but ultimately you are the professionals for your child. Nobody else.

For more helpful tips on baby sleep, feel free to visit my Instagram channel and my blog.