Infant sleep suit

摘要

An innovative sleeping suit for infants, configured to provide warmth, a contained environment, and positive proprioceptive input, and thereby reduce neurological reflexive twitching or habitual waking patterns prevalent when infants are placed on their backs for sleeping and are not swaddled. The weighting in the suit is believed to reduce the neurological reflexive twitching and provides a swaddling effect to infants helping them to fall asleep and remain sleeping when on their backs. At least a portion of an anterior portion of the suit includes the weighting. The weighting may be accomplished by varying the thickness of the materials and/or quantity of layers of materials used on the anterior portion of the suit. The weighting may be distributed uniformly throughout the suit, the anterior portion of the suit, or can be strategically placed at proprioceptive target points along the anterior portion of the suit.

主权项

1. A method for making an infant sleep garment to help calm the Moro reflexes of an infant between the ages of about three to nine months old, when the infant is placed in the supine position for sleep, and is not swaddled, the method comprising:
configuring the infant sleep garment to have an anterior and posterior side to fit around the front and back, respectively, of an infant no younger than the age of about three months old, and no older than the age of about nine months old therein; configuring the infant sleep garment as a single one-piece garment; configuring the infant sleep garment to include an opening large enough to receive the infant; attaching a fastener to the opening; distributing multiple layers of material bulk and weighting to the anterior side of the garment to provide tactile weighting continuously against the body of the infant and to specific target points of the body of the infant at the hip and shoulder areas to (i) help provide the calming elements of proprioceptive input to aid in the infants sleep (ii) help limit the infant from raising his/her knees toward the stomach or bringing the knees together, thereby making it more difficult for the infant to roll over onto his/her stomach from a supine position, (iii) maintain a snug fit of the garment against the body of the infant at all times thereby maintaining resilient-tactile weighting continuously against the body of the infant to help diminish the Moro reflex from startling and waking an infant when sleeping or prevent an infant from falling back to sleep when woken, and (iv) help maintain the legs of the infant apart from each other to again help prevent the infant from rolling onto his/her stomach from the supine position; and installing venting in the garment to counter heat buildup when the infant is wearing the garment, wherein the installing the venting includes: (i) sewing a permanent and non-adjustable semi-circular scoop neckline into the garment so that an uppermost-outer edge of the scoop neckline is no higher than the infant's upper-chest area, and below any portion of an infant's neck when an infant is in the garment, whereby the scoop neckline exposes the upper chest and neck area of the infant to air; (ii) configuring the infant sleep garment to have permanent sleeves and leggings including openings at each distal end of each sleeve and legging to receive the hands and feet of the infant without covering them thereby exposing the hands and feet of the infant to air when placed in the sleep garment; (iii) positioning the distal end of each sleeve above each wrist of an averaged-size infant between about three and nine months old when wearing the garment whereby the extended openings serve to further expose an infant's arm to air, while maintaining sufficient length and weighting in the arms to help prevent flailing or the arms during the Moro reflex that can prematurely wake the baby or prevent the baby from falling asleep; and (iv) configuring a securable-ventilation flap on the anterior side of the garment when the fastener is unfastened, whereby the securable-ventilation flap exposes the infant's chest, and permits heat to escape the suit so that the infant does not overheat when wearing the infant sleep garment.