What is Tog?

What is Tog?

    

TOG and Your Baby’s Sleep Bag

Your baby’s bedtime is a time for giggles, sleepy smiles, and snuggling. It’s a time to quietly reflect on your baby’s day and to plan for tomorrow. It’s a time for soft coos, silent stretches, and tiny yawns. It’s a time of closeness for you and him, not a time to worry about whether he is dressed properly for the nighttime temperatures. Paying attention to the TOG rating on your baby’s sleep sack will help you pick the right PJs for your baby to comfortably and safely sleep the night away.

What is TOG?

TOG, or Thermal Overall Grade, is a unit used to measure the thermal resistance of a fabric or textile. A more basic definition would be the ability of an item to thermally insulate or keep you warm. It can be used to describe baby sleep bags and blankets, comforters and even carpets. The higher the TOG rating, the warmer the item should keep you. TOG is not just a measure of the thickness of a fabric or item, it also takes the type of fiber that the blanket or sleep bag is made from into account as different fibers insulate differently at different thicknesses.

Why is TOG Rating Important For Baby Sleep Bags and Safe Sleep?

Sleep sacks and sleep bags are becoming immensely popular and with good reason. . Sleep bags are routinely being used in hospitals and at daycares because their ability to help prevent SIDS, and you’d be have to search pretty hard to find a pediatrician that wouldn’t recommend them.  The American Academy of Pediatrics safe sleep recommendations says to avoid using blankets and other loose bedding in your baby’s crib as these items pose a suffocation hazard. Sleep bags provide warmth and comfort without the risk of suffocation that blankets present

Another risk factor for SIDS is being overly warm while sleeping. Again, sleep bags take this into account. Kyte Baby Sleep Bags in particular are made of highly breathable bamboo fabric that helps to dissipate heat to keep your baby cool. Sleep bags are also designed to be sleeveless as another measure to provide cooling to your tiny bundle.

The TOG rating of a sleep bag helps you to determine which bag your baby should be wearing when. A lower TOG rating should be used when popsicles are in season and higher TOG sleep bags provide comfort when snowflakes are falling.

How Do You Decide Which TOG Rating to Use?

Kyte Sleep Bags come in three different TOG ratings; .5, 1.0, and 2.5. These different weights of sleep bag combined with a variety of different underclothes can have your baby safely off to dreamland no matter what the temperature may be. For more information on how and when to use these different combinations visit Kyte BABY Stories.

As you go about deciding your baby’s nighttime attire, it’s important to remember that TOG ratings are additive. You have to take into account not only the TOG value of the sleep bag but also what layers are on underneath. If you decide to go with heavier underclothes, a lighter sleep bag may be in order and vise versa.

Another factor to consider is the room temperature and how it may change throughout the night. Maybe you like your home to be warmer or cooler than the typical 72 degrees that most consider average. You also need to note if sunshine through a window will be a factor that heats up your baby’s naptime and have you reaching for a lighter TOG sleep bag. Finally, your baby’s health plays a role. Babies running a fever will obviously need a lighter sleep bag, while a sick baby without a fever may want a heavier one to beat those chills.

It’s also important when looking at your TOG ratings and sleep bags to factor in your baby’s own natural comfort zone. We all have the girlfriend that wears a sweatshirt to the beach and have seen the teenager wearing shorts in the snow. Everyone has their own comfort zone and your baby is no different. Some babies seem to run hotter than others and may never need the 2.5 TOG sleep bag, even when the rest of us are digging out our sweaters.

Most of all, it’s important to regularly check your baby’s temperature while she sleeps to make sure she’s not overheating. Don’t make this judgment call by touching an arm or a leg, your baby’s chest is a more accurate indicator of her overall temperature.

TOG ratings on your baby’s sleep bags and blankets make those safe sleep choices faster for moms to make, leaving more time for lullabies and storybooks. Kyte BABY has that in mind when designing Baby Sleep Bags and blankets so that you and your baby can rest easy.

www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/pages/american-academy-of-pediatrics-announces-new-safe-sleep-recommendations-to-protect-against-sids.aspx

https://kytebaby.com/kyte-baby-sleep-bag-tonights-temps/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tog_(unit)

           

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