Why do babies cover themselves?

Most of the time babies put blankets over their faces. So why do babies cover themselves? Sometimes they play with those. Further, they bury their faces in a blanket when they sleep. In this situation, an airflow obstruction can happen and increase the risk of SIDS.

Some babies are pilling blankets and clothes on top of them. Sometimes these toddlers drag more blankets over the parents.

After they dropped three to four blankets over their back or legs, they will proceed to play with toys on their lap or settle down for a nap.

Most toddlers do this behavior as a repetitive movement and they try to soothe themselves by doing this. So finally I would like to say that, this behavior is, not abnormal behavior.

Some kids naturally have the desire to grab the attention of their parents as possible. So this simple act of covering with a blanket eventually becomes a repetitive action for them and toddlers enjoy repetitive actions a lot.

However if your kid always tries to hide their body due to cold, it is very important to rule out any underline medical issues such as thyroid problems.

Babies cover their bodies by putting blankets over their faces mainly for self-soothing. They get security, comfort, and emotional support from the covering blankets

Reasons for some babies to like to cover their faces with blankets?

1. Due to Anxiety

Most of the time it can be a sign of anxiety. But you need a thorough observation to confirm that. In other words, it can be considered a playfulness or repetitive action to soothe themselves in order to reduce anxiety.

But small kids are not savvy enough to recognize that they are calming down due to particular actions like this.

Sometimes toddlers do the act of pilling blankets to provide themselves a proprioceptive input. in another way, this can be considered a sensory issue.

By doing this type of activity, toddlers get information to stimulate their brains to be more organized and self-aware. Finally, it resulted in a calming effect.

As a parent, if you bother about the child’s anxiety, you need to look for signs of irritability or emotional reactivity.

2. For comfort

At home, there are few special blankets for toddlers to get security, comfort, and sleep. they will wake up so upset if their parents remove them from their faces.

When breastfeeding, most babies try to bury their faces with the contentment they get during breastfeeding. Here, babies are snuggly pressing their faces against the breast. By doing that they recreate the environment when they need soothing.

So the toddlers try to take the blanket as a material for their emotional support. Sometimes babies suck their blanket by putting it in their mouths.

Then rub it on the face. Those are kind of simple soothing techniques that they take by using the blanket.

But parents need to pay attention to the suffocation hazard, while the child took it as a soothing material for them.

3. Your toddler might play with that

Dear parents, do you like to play peek-a-boo with your baby? this special play can be considered a great educational tool for kids. It teaches them the fundamentals of existence.

This game teaches toddlers that hidden or sight object still exists even if they can not see them.

These are very complex concepts to comprehend. But a 2-year-old baby can fully understand this concept by doing this simple play.

Also, parents can add other elements such as surprise, anticipation, and expectation to their kids with this play activity.

Adorable baby sleep on a blanket

Some babies kick off blankets instead of covering them with them. What reasons for that?

After 4 months, your baby developed significant muscle strength in its limbs. So they always try to struggle with the. loose sheets which swaddled them in the bed.

Most of the time babies are covering their faces with blankets. Sometimes they try to do play activities with that I need to emphasize here that the baby’s face buried in a blanket when they sleep is a common thing.

But parents need to pay attention to whether the covering creates a breathing hazard because it might block the airflow and increase the risk of SIDS.

The blanket is the main source of comfort and security for the babies on the bed. The baby sometimes seeks self-shooting during the brief workings at night.

Some babies try to hide their faces behind the comfort of a blanket to avoid social interactions. This is the area that the parents need to pay they are close observation.

It may be associated with the conditions like autism and related diseases.

Why some babies are filing blankets on top of themselves

As I said earlier, toddlers like to soothe themselves very much. So they use whatever they have on the bed for soothing purposes. This is purely not abnormal behavior.

They find enjoyment and fun by fully feeling their desire to get their parent’s attention.

Sometimes covering with blankets can be a sign of anxiety. Sometimes it is a sign of playfulness oh any other form of repetitive action.

Finally, I wish to say that all these behaviors have been performed due to self-soothing.

Some parents suspect this filing on blankets is a part of a large problem. Yes, parents need to keep an eye on they are kids’ behavior to point out whether it is a sensory processing issue.

As an example, your kid might be sensitive to loud noise and strong smells, extremely dislike certain types of touch, and certain movements, send food textures frequent motion sickness trouble reading or looking at screens, etc

Is it normal for babies to cover themselves with blankets?

I strongly suggest that the babies are covering their bodies with blankets mostly for cell shooting purposes. Sometimes babies try to play with the blanket. Desi enjoyed interacting with their parents and caregivers and playing with the blankets.

But on a few occasions, some kids may present with various types of sensory processing issues. Sometimes they might deal with neurodevelopmental conditions like autism.

In other cases, they might have problems with social interaction and they try to cover their faces to avoid eye contact.

You can observe whether your child is doing this behavior as a repetitive action frequently. If it is trouble for his daily routine that is the time that you need to see medical attention.

Special baby dressing techniques for bed?


You can ensure the best baby sleep when they are neither too hot nor too cold. Parents should have a proper understanding to dress clothes to keep the babies warm without blankets. You can use cotton or wraps if you need to wrap your baby very well.

Safe infant sleeping bags are also a good option for babies on cold nights to keep the babies warm.

A safe infant sleeping bag is the very best option for your baby to sleep at night. It is good preparation for the bed.

So try to find the correct size sleeping bags and it is the best way to keep your baby’s head than your face covered.

Advantages

It reduces the risk of seeds and fatal accidents while sleeping

It stops the rolling activity of your baby and prevents rolling into a tummy position during sleep.

The baby’s legs don’t hang out from the cot rails as it contains babies legs inside the sleeping bag

A few basic techniques

Dress the baby in layers instead of dressing in pajamas. Parents can increase or reduce the number of layers according to the temperature changes.

Babies always release heat from their heads and faces. It is a part of their body cooling mechanism. If you cover the babies with hats, they can easily overheat when they fall asleep. So it is very important to keep the baby’s head covered during sleep.

Never try to touch babies’ hands to take the temperature indication because hands and legs are not the proper places to check the temperature of babies.

Parents can find out how hot their babies really are by feeling their back or tummy.

Dear parents, I strongly suggest always trying to deal with temperature by adjusting your baby’s clothing pattern. You do not try to regulate the room temperature by heating a cooling room.

In case you need to adjust the temperature of the room where the baby sleeps, try to do it when the baby is not there.

Wrapping is an important technique to settle your babies for sleep. If you choose to wrap your baby, always try to use lightweight cotton wraps.

The wrappings should not go to your baby’s shoulders or cover the baby’s head, ears, or chin. Too high of wraps can obstruct babies’ breathing and can cause overheating.

Try to keep enough room for your baby to stitch their legs. So don’t apply a wrap tight around the baby’s chest and hips. Wrapping a baby too tight in the chest and hip areas can cause hip and breathing problems a lot.

What is a security blanket? What is the use of that?

The security blanket is a soft blanket. Your baby or toddler can use it to make them feel safe and emotionally supported. It provides mainly physical comfort by keeping the baby warm and swaddled properly.

But the additional emotional support is an important thing that is provided by a blanket. It does the same function as a pacifier doll or stuffed animal.

The babies can soothe themselves by using the blanket in different ways such as by stocking it playing with it pressing the cheek or body against it

Parents can use security blankets for effective purposes while the babies are sleeping at night during daytime naps and while on outings as well.

The psychology behind the security blanket

The babies can identify that they are separate human beings at the age of 6 to 7 months. Sometimes they might experience separation anxiety during this phase.

That’s why they started to cry when the parents told me to leave the room. This is a perfectly natural phenomenon.

But no one needs to see they are babies in distress. The security blanket for your baby can help with them at this place.

It comforts your baby emotionally so the parents sometimes can leave their baby with another care given a family member

Also, this security blanket can add an extra layer of comfort during other stressful transitional periods like translations to a new bed or any other place.

Sometimes it can be a switching face from a bottle to a sippy cup also.

When can babies use blankets and pillows?

You cannot put pillows and blankets into your little baby’s sleep routine at the proper time. So wait for the right time. There will be a proper method to introduce pillows and blankets to your baby at the correct age.

Why this is dangerous for babies

As I discussed earlier, the presence of blankets, pillows and other objects in creams can be linked to sudden infant death syndrome.

This is the major reason that we need to avoid blankets and pillows and other stuff on the cribs or beds.

In addition to that these objects can cause serious suffocation risks for the baby. The things such as mobiles, sheets, and car seats may also cause the risk of suffocation to children under 1 year.

When can blankets be introduced?

The danger associated with SIDS reduces drastically after 1 year.

So the best short answer to this question is the development of motor skills. It means developing your baby’s motor skills can be different from your neighbor’s baby.

So observe addicted motor skills that can reach your baby on time. Mostly this will happen sometime between the age of 1 and 2.

Few safe sleep tips for babies?

The recommendations for helping your toddler sleep are totally different from the baby you had to follow when they are infants.

The toddlers aged 123 years old are no longer at risk of SIDS. But they are another category of children who follow different types of sleep rules.

At first, the parents need to transition to a toddler bed or twin bed with side rails when they are a toddler and get to 35 inches tall.

The height of the side rails is less than 3 quarters of the baby’s height.

Most children have a toddler bed at any time between 18 months and 3 and half years old. Also, I strongly suggest that the younger toddlers are not really ready for a big bed. They need a specified toddler bed.

Parents need to create a clean, safe sleeping space for their toddlers. Parents need to clean all types of strings like window blind pulls, curtains, or electrical cords.

It is happy to say that the blankets, pillows, and stuffed animals no longer pose a risk for toddlers.

You can give your toddler a blanket to sleep with a small pillow. But it is still a good idea to clear big stuffed animals from the sleeping surface.

If you are a toddler who is a crib climber you need to take additional steps to protect them. At this stage, toddlers love moving around and exploring their environment as a new sensory experience.

So try to adjust the crib mattress to its lowest setting. Parents need to avoid putting anything that can help their child facilitate climbing.

Tips to prevent toddlers from covering their faces with blankets?

We can think of straightforward ways to prevent pulling a blanket over the baby’s face. Mainly the parents can put an extra layer of clothes over the sleep sack. This will help you stay warm without a blanket while sleeping.

Also, parents need to ensure the baby’s room temperature is the right one for the baby. It should not be too hot or too hot and the temperature range should be between 37 to 38 degrees.

Using a crochet blanket is an additional technique. These crochet blankets have big halls that the baby can still breathe when they pull over. I can suggest another best alternative suggestion for this. Parents can use breakable mesh blankets for their babies.

I have noticed that some babies don’t like the light when they are sleeping so they try to pull the blanket over their face to create darkness.

Parents, you need to observe these kinds of simple things in your day today. So try to put off lights when the baby sleeps if you are babies try to get warmth and comfort from the blanket while they are sleeping. That can be dangerous.

Parents can provide a small toy object that cannot cover the baby’s face. it should be too big to chalk on and attach a small towel or blanket and give your baby to snuggle on.

Safe sleep tips for newborns?

The newborns need to sleep a lot. But the sleep risks are highly applicable for new bonds. So the parents need to ensure their safety while sleeping.

All babies and 1 year are at risk of sudden infant syndrome. Specialist babies younger than 6 months of age. So it is commonly called crib death.

Things like premature birth, infections, exposure to alcohol or drugs before birth, exposure to smoking before birth and after birth, etc.

Sometimes babies become blocked while they sleep. That is called SUID.( Sudden unexpected infant death)

So it is very important for the parents to share rooms while the baby is sleeping. But it is not strongly bed-sharing.

Conclusion

Babies covering their bodies while sleeping is a very normal phenomenon. Most of the time they seek self-soothing while sleeping. So they use blankets most of the time.

In the case of infants below 1-year-old, parents need to prevent using blankets while they sleeping. But the toddlers can use blankets as their motor skills became more prominent and it will automatically prevent the risk of SIDS.

Hardly babies try to cover their bodies with blankets due to conditions like autism and its variety of symptoms. Also, some kids try to be socially withdrawn even with their mother, father, and family members. So they use blankets to do that while sleeping.

Parents should be very attentive towards their kids and need to find out what are the reasons for covering the body of their babies.

64 thoughts on “Why do babies cover themselves?”

  1. Thanks for your personal marvelous posting! I definitely enjoyed reading it, you
    could be a great author.I will make certain to bookmark your blog and
    will eventually come back down the road. I want
    to encourage you to definitely continue your great posts, have a nice evening!

    Reply
  2. Hey there would you mind stating which blog platform you’re using?

    I’m looking to start my own blog in the near future
    but I’m having a tough time making a decision between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and
    Drupal. The reason I ask is because your design and style
    seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something completely unique.
    P.S Apologies for being off-topic but I had to ask!

    Reply
  3. Have you ever considered about including a little bit more than just your articles?

    I mean, what you say is fundamental and everything.
    But think about if you added some great graphics or video clips
    to give your posts more, “pop”! Your content is excellent but with images
    and video clips, this website could certainly be one of the very best
    in its field. Wonderful blog!

    Reply
  4. Howdy! I know this is somewhat off-topic however I needed to ask.
    Does operating a well-established website such as yours
    take a large amount of work? I’m completely new to writing a blog however I do write in my diary
    everyday. I’d like to start a blog so I can share my experience and feelings online.
    Please let me know if you have any ideas or tips for brand new aspiring
    blog owners. Appreciate it!

    Reply
  5. Hi there! Someone in my Facebook group shared this website with us so I came to check it out.
    I’m definitely enjoying the information. I’m bookmarking and will be tweeting this to my followers!
    Superb blog and great design and style.

    Reply
  6. An impressive share! I have just forwarded this onto a friend who has been doing a little research on this.
    And he actually bought me dinner due to the fact that I discovered it for him…

    lol. So let me reword this…. Thanks for the meal!! But yeah, thanks for
    spending time to talk about this topic here on your web site.

    Reply
  7. You actually make it appear really easy with your presentation but I
    find this matter to be actually something which I think
    I would never understand. It kind of feels too complex and extremely vast for me.
    I’m taking a look forward on your next publish, I will attempt to get the hold of it!

    Reply
  8. Wow that was odd. I just wrote an extremely long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t appear.
    Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyways,
    just wanted to say great blog!

    Reply
  9. Woah! I’m really digging the template/theme of
    this website. It’s simple, yet effective.
    A lot of times it’s tough to get that “perfect balance” between superb usability and visual appeal.
    I must say that you’ve done a amazing job with this.

    Also, the blog loads very quick for me on Internet explorer.

    Superb Blog!

    Reply
  10. Hi there I am so thrilled I found your site, I really found
    you by mistake, while I was looking on Yahoo
    for something else, Anyways I am here now and would just like to say
    kudos for a incredible post and a all round interesting blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have
    time to go through it all at the minute but I have saved it
    and also added your RSS feeds, so when I have time I
    will be back to read much more, Please do keep up the fantastic work.

    Reply
  11. Have you ever thought about including a little bit more than just your articles?
    I mean, what you say is fundamental and all.
    However think about if you added some great graphics or videos to give your
    posts more, “pop”! Your content is excellent but
    with pics and clips, this site could certainly be one of the very best in its
    field. Awesome blog!

    Reply
  12. Hello my family member! I want to say that this article is amazing, nice
    written and include approximately all vital infos. I’d like to
    peer more posts like this .

    Reply

Leave a Comment