By India Zeke
There’s a phenomenon in our house that we call the “3am shuffle”. It’s when our three-year-old finds his way out of his bed, down the hall and into our bed. His icy little feet plant themselves under my belly and his chilly paws scoot up under my face. Within moments, milky little snores are escaping his mouth.
Don’t get me wrong – I’d be hard-pressed to find anything more adorable and sweet than my little guy’s fuzzy bedhead sharing my pillow, but let’s be frank here; it doesn’t make for a great night’s sleep for the rest of us.
Upon further investigation (and by that, I mean standing like a zombie in his room, watching while he slept), I discovered that at some point between me tucking his pyjama’d limbs into his warm bed and the aforementioned 3am shuffle, my little guy karate kicks his duvet, blanket and sheet to the curb. His PJs ride up to reveal a bare back and his toes search for warmth. And then, like clockwork, his bedraggled and crumpled little body launches itself out of bed and starts the pilgrimage down the hall.
He has never been a fan of sleeping bags, despite my best efforts to zip his protesting legs into one. And besides, we’re trying to encourage him to use the toilet in the night and do away with night nappies, so a sleeping bag isn’t the solution anymore anyway. We needed something that offered just as much warmth and insulation, but with legs.
Laying in bed at 4.30am, unable to sleep thanks to my little guy’s hair tickling my nose, but refusing to roll over for fear of waking him, I reached for my phone and started Googling. And that’s when I stumbled across the ErgoPouch Winter Onesie.
With a choice between either 2.5 or 3.5 TOG (I went with 3.5 TOG because our place can get a little arctic of a nighttime), it ticked all my boxes. It was a breathable fabric so that while he’d be warm and toasty, he wouldn’t be hot and sweaty. The three-way zip meant that he’d still be able to use the toilet while wearing it, and the foldover cuffs would ensure his little toes would still be warm, even after he kicked his blankets off. I clicked on the Rainforest Leaves print (they also have Drops and Southern Cross prints new this season), selected his size (they cater for six months right up to five years) and entered my credit card details.
The Ergopouch Winter Onesies have got me excited about winter!
When the parcel arrived a couple of days later, I was skeptical. Sure, it looked like a cute padded duvet with arms and legs, but it felt so lightweight and to be honest, I couldn’t see how it could keep him warm. But I was willing – hoping even – to be proven wrong.
We popped the Winter Onesie on over a regular onesie (ErgoPouch also sells under-layers – check out their ‘Layers’ range) and said goodnight.
When I checked on him before I went to bed, he’d kicked his covers off, as per usual, but I fought the temptation to put them back on. ‘Let’s see see if this works,’ I thought to myself.
Three o’clock came and went. So did the rest of the hours.
When I walked into his room at 7.30am, I found a well-slept, cosy little boy grinning back at me from his bed. And you know what a well-slept toddler means, right mama? An easier, less tantrum-filled day. Winning!!
While my little boy was racing around on his bike that afternoon, I logged on to the ErgoPouch site and snapped up the other prints, too. I’ve found a good thing and I am sticking to it!
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