Baby Sleep Sack Guide Singapore: TOG Ratings, Air-Con and Sizing Explained
A sleep sack is a wearable blanket that can't be kicked off or ride up over her face. Some families use one from birth instead of a swaddle. Others switch to one when swaddling stops.
In Singapore the one cold place most babies sleep is an air-conditioned bedroom. Here's how to choose a sack: the TOG rating, the fit, and what goes underneath, plus 1 gap in our own range that I'll be upfront about.
What TOG means, and what TOG for Singapore
TOG measures how much warmth a product keeps in, and it's tested on the finished product, not the fabric. A 2.5 TOG sack is made for an English winter. Here you'll usually be at the light end. Our own sacks don't carry a tested TOG rating, so the table below is a general starting point. Where a sack has a TOG label, follow the label.
| Room temperature | TOG | What might go underneath |
|---|---|---|
| 27-30°C, fan only | 0.2–0.5 | Short-sleeve onesie |
| 24-26°C, gentle air-con | 0.5–1.0 | Short- or long-sleeve onesie |
| 22-24°C, cold air-con | Up to 1.0 | A onesie; long sleeves can be too warm for some babies, so check |
| Any night | — | Judge by the chest and neck, not the hands. Warm and dry is right. |
The room it is worn in
How it should fit
Buy the size her weight and length fall inside, using the maker's stated range. Not her age, and not a size she'll grow into. The neck opening has to be small enough that her head can't slip down through it, and the armholes snug enough that her arms can't slip inside, without pinching. Below the chest it should be loose, with room for her legs to bend, kick and fall into the frog position growing hips need.
When to move from swaddle to sack
If she's swaddled, the swaddle stops at the first sign of trying to roll, whatever her age, which for many babies is around 2 to 3 months.
Here's the gap. Our sacks start at 6 months: the 6–12 month size is 65cm long, and the 12–24 month size is 85cm. A 2- or 3-month-old needs an arms-free sack without weights from another maker whose stated range fits her, or light clothing in an empty cot, until she's big enough for ours. I'd rather tell you that than sell you one she'll swim in.
What ours are made of
Bamboo-spandex, with a zip, washed gently at or below 30°C and air-dried. I haven't seen a test showing a bamboo sack sleeps cooler than a cotton one of the same TOG, so I wouldn't choose on that basis. Choose on fit, construction and a TOG that suits your room.
The TOG table, and why most of it doesn't apply here
The TOG charts that come with sleep sacks are written for bedrooms in cooler countries. Most of the range doesn't apply to a flat in Singapore, so check before you buy.
| Room temperature | TOG | Underneath | Applies here? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27°C and above | 0.2, nothing loose in the cot | Short-sleeved bodysuit | Yes. Most flats without air-con overnight |
| 24–27°C | 0.5 | Short-sleeved bodysuit | Yes. This is the Singapore default |
| 20–24°C | 1.0 | A bodysuit; check whether long sleeves are too warm | Occasionally. A hard air-conditioned room |
| 16–20°C | 2.5 | Long-sleeved bodysuit plus footed sleepsuit | Rarely, and only if you run air-con very cold |
| Below 16°C | 3.5 | Not relevant here | No |
For most families here: 0.5 TOG, and 1.0 only if the bedroom is kept very cold all night. A 2.5 TOG sack bought from an overseas site is the most common and most expensive mistake, and it's unsafe in a warm room. I bought one, I think in 2024. It's in a drawer.
3 things the chart can't tell you. First, the air-con timer: a room that's 24°C at midnight and 29°C at 5am has moved across 2 rows of that table, so dress her for the warmer part of the night. Second, the remote: the set point isn't the temperature at the cot, so put a room thermometer next to it. Third, your hand on the back of her neck or chest beats any chart. Warm and dry is right. Damp means take a layer off.
What it costs over the time you'll use it
If you use sleep sacks all the way through, you'll buy several sizes. People forget that when comparing prices.
| Size | Roughly | How many | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 6m | Another maker's; ours start at 6m | 1–2 | One on, one in the wash, if you want a spare |
| 6–12m | Once she's in our size range | 1–2 | Same reasoning |
| 12–24m | Walking, still in a cot | 1–2 | Same reasoning |
| 24m+ | If she's still in a cot | 1 | Some families stop before this |
That's one plan, not a rule. Some families use sacks for a year and some well past 2, and some manage with 1 per size and a morning wash.
Price isn't the test. Every sleep, nap or night, needs the same fit and construction: secure seams, a guarded zip, the right neck and arm openings, a tested thermal rating and a size range she's inside.
Coming from a swaddle?
References
- Red Nose: How to choose a safe sleeping bag
- The Lullaby Trust: Room temperature and keeping your baby the right temperature
- EN 16781:2018, Textile child care articles: safety requirements and test methods for children's sleep bags for use in a cot
- The Lullaby Trust: Safer sleep advice
- NHS: Reducing the risk of sudden infant death syndrome
This guide is general information, written to help you understand a topic and ask better questions. It is not medical advice and does not replace your own doctor, midwife or paediatrician. Anything that worries you about your baby belongs with them.
Read next: Swaddle vs Sleep Sack: Which Does Your Baby Need? · What Should a Baby Wear to Sleep in Singapore: With and Without Air-Con?
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