Cozy Baby Pajamas: Shopping Guide

We often use the word cozy to describe baby clothes. And while it’s not a technical term that can be measured objectively, it is actually quite an important aspect to look for when you’re buying your child’s pajamas.

Without a pair of pajamas that are warm, soft, comfortable and everything else that is implied by the word cozy, getting your baby to sleep well and developing a healthy nighttime routine is much harder. Here’s our shopping guide for parents looking for the coziest jammies for their kids. 

What Does Cozy Actually Mean?

People can mean different things when they say cozy. It can apply to many things, such as a home, bedroom, or, like we’re using it here, a piece of clothing. 

When we talk about cozy baby pajamas, we’re generally describing garments that give the wearer a feeling of comfort, warmth and relaxation. And if you take a moment to think about it, all these things are key ingredients to getting your baby or toddler to sleep. 

It can also be useful to think about cozy as the opposite of uncomfortable and discontent. Ill-fitting garments, awkward designs, scratchy fabrics, excessive thickness and more are all enemies of coziness! 

Ultimately, children need to be cozy and giving them a set of pajamas to help them feel this way is one of the simplest and most important things you can do to get them sleeping well and looking forward to bedtime each night. 

Generally, we use the word cozy to describe clothes that give the wearer a feeling of comfort, warmth and relaxation.

What Role Do Fabrics Play in Coziness?

The fabric that a set of baby pajamas are made from has such an important role to play in how cozy and comfy your child will feel. 

They must be soft to the touch on both the inside and outside of the piece. It’s no good if the exterior is fluffy and soft to the touch when the inside is scratchy or irritating. Suitable materials for baby clothes include: 

• Cotton
• Cotton blends
• Cashmere
• Linen
• Hemp
• Fleece

If you live in a colder climate or somewhere that gets pretty chilly in winter, you might need to opt for more insulating materials like fleece. However, most parents will find that cotton and cotton blends do a good enough job for both coziness and keeping your baby warm. 

Is Cotton the Best Material for Babies?

Cozy = Healthy

A baby’s body is incredibly fragile and while their resilience and ability to self-regulate their body temperature improves dramatically above the age of 12 months, you must still be conscious of the need to keep them warm at night when temperatures drop. 

It’s important to support your little one’s ability to produce heat by making sure that you are choosing a set of warm and cozy baby pajamas. The more of your baby’s body you cover, the less chance there will be of cold air reaching them or precious warm air from escaping. 

As well as catching colds and other illnesses more easily in cold weather, if your child is too cold at night, they will naturally find it harder to sleep, which can have a knock on effect in terms of decreased energy levels and increased fussiness and general discomfort during the day.

The Dangers of Overheating

The flip side of the above is you also don’t want to cause your baby to overheat. Being cozy is different to being too hot! And just like you, they will find it very hard to sleep if their pajamas are too thick or stuffy. 

If you are finding it hard to judge if something will be too hot on your baby, we always recommend reading parent reviews and looking for signs of good breathability and temperature regulation.

Don’t Rely Too Much On Accessories and Blankets to Create Coziness

A good set of pajamas will offer a good level of coziness without the need for too much else in your baby’s crib or bed. 

It will depend largely on your child’s age, but for children below the age of 12 months, it’s best that they sleep somewhere that is clear of things like cuddly toys, blankets and anything else that might increase the chance of suffocation or choking. 

If your child is old enough to use a blanket in their crib, fantastic! But it’s still a good idea to keep their sleeping space relatively minimal. One baby-suitable blanket is usually enough combined with the right set of pajamas.

Too many accessories and blankets can actually make it harder for them to sleep and with more items comes the increased risk of entanglement as your child tosses and turns at night. 

Hygiene levels can also be maintained more easily if you put less stuff around your child. A set of pajamas can easily be washed, but it’s more of an effort to constantly wash multiple soft toys, blankets, pillows and any other cuddly items which can accumulate bacteria.

Keeping it Snug

As well as potentially being dangerous, a pair of pajamas that doesn’t fit snugly around your baby’s body can make your child feel uncomfortable when trying to sleep. If it’s too tight, it could cause pinching and pain, especially when cuffs or openings are too tight around your child’s limbs.

Loose clothing, which is known to increase the chance of suffocation in younger babies, may also bunch or fold up in an awkward way, causing uncomfortable bumps or creases under your baby’s body. And while hoods and baby capes may look adorable on product images, they can sometimes be more of a nuisance than anything else. 

Loose clothing may bunch or fold up in an awkward way that makes your child uncomfortable. 

Understanding Your Child’s Comfort Preferences

The other thing to keep in mind when looking for cozy baby pajamas is that now that your child is old enough to wear pajamas, rather than swaddles or swaddle transition products, their preferences and tastes can evolve. They may simply dislike the way something feels despite it being perfectly cozy and comfy for another child. And they probably won’t be afraid of telling you so.

Everything from the way something looks to how it feels can prevent your child from enjoying a set of jammies you present to them. There’s no real way around this, but it can help to learn first what your child does and doesn’t like before investing in a whole wardrobe of one particular type of baby pajamas. 

The Flying Squirrel Baby Pajamas - Sleeping Baby’s Take On Cozy Baby Pajamas

We created a pajama we think offers a very good level of coziness for children. Suitable for children of 1 year and older, we wanted to make something that still offered the kind of enclosing comfort of an all-in-one sleepsuit that so many loved about our Zipadee-Zips, while giving toddlers more freedom to move around with openings at the feet and hands. 

Essentially, it’s a kind of wearable suit that ticks all the boxes we believe contribute to coziness. We’ve also tailored our fabrics and designs to offer a collection that appeals to a wide range of both parents and children. And if you live somewhere a bit chillier than most places, we now offer fleece jammies! 

Cozy is the Way Forward

Coziness might seem like a “nice to have”, but it’s actually quite a fundamental part of good sleep for young children. Keeping them warm, comfortable, snug and generally happy, it’s a cornerstone of any parent’s strategy for improving sleep independence and building your child’s sleeping skills. 

Hopefully this blog post offered a few pointers on how you can find the perfect set of cozy baby pajamas for your child!