A Review of the Halo Sleep Sack: On the Thin Side

We were graciously given an organic Halo Sleep Sack as a baby gift, and I thought I’d take a moment to give it a review. Although we co-sleep, we do use a sleep sack. After reading some pointers on how to share the family bed safety, in Dr. Jay Gordon’s (aff) Good Nights: The Happy Parents’ Guide to the Family Bed (and a Peaceful Night’s Sleep!), I confirmed that sharing our bed was still the right thing to do (I did so with my pre-teen too), but sharing our big down comforter was the wrong thing to do. So we have baby on the left side of our bed next to our Arm’s Reach Cosleeper, me in the middle with the edge of the comforter tucked under me tightly, and Little Del in a one piece and sleep sack.

It’s spring now and the organic Halo Sleep Sack we’re using now fits the bill. It’s a nice natural cream color, however it does not appear to be un-dyed cotton, though I haven’t confirmed this with the manufacturer. The biggest thing the Halo brand has going for it is that it’s an affordable option for those who want to go organic, a noble choice given the wide use of pesticides in producing cotton. And it’s relatively easy to find, so shopping for price is more of an option.

Here’s the problem with the Halo Sleep Sack: it’s not much of a blanket, if an alternative to a blanket it wishes to be. I would not choose the Halo Sleep Sack in the winter, no matter how many layers I had underneath, as it is essentially made of the same fabric as most baby clothes: a lightweight jersey. I always check my baby’s hands to see if he’s cold or warm, and I have to say on one of the chillier spring mornings in the Halo his hands were a bit on the cool side, even while wearing his jumper, an undershirt, and a wool diaper cover. The fabric was also somewhat stiffish on first purchase, but it has softened up with use: I’d recommend two or three washings before use if you want it truly snuggle soft. (But don’t use Snuggle, please!)

Although the zipper is in the center front, it is inverted and zips bottom to top, for ease of use in diapering. A smart choice if you’re late night diapering, but be careful! You’ll find yourself fumbling with the bottom zipper right below your baby’s face while you’re dressing and un-dressing. This made for some near misses for me at first: yanking to pull the zipper apart and nearly catching poor little guy in the face. I also can’t go on with this zipper convenience bit without admitting: we don’t actually do nighttime diaper changes. Breastfeeding is so easy while co-sleeping that I barely wake up when he’s hungry. A whimper or two, I latch him on, and as long as he’s content and we both drift off I find there’s no reason to change a wet-only diaper.

I’m always happy to use organic cotton products, especially after doing some research for an agricultural manufacturing company and learning of all those pesticides used to produce cotton. So I’m glad to add the Halo Sleep Sack to baby’s tiny wardrobe. But if I had to do it again, I’d definitely look into some of the WAHM options out there: high on the list is Cee Wee’s Sleep Sack which is available with our without quilting. It’s not organic cotton but the padding is cotton-based rayon so it’s polyester free. Come next winter perhaps I’ll be giving that one a test drive…

Love,

Mama Hope