What should your babe wear at each degree? A degree-by-degree sleep guide

Your room's exact temperature, matched to the right layers. No maths.

You're looking at a specific number on the thermometer and you just want a straight answer for that number, not a vague "somewhere between warm and cool." Fair enough. So here's your babe's sleepwear, temperature by temperature, using our own TOG logic (the same one Orbie runs on). Find your room's temperature and you're sorted.

The Stellar Baby app does this bit for you, live, as the room changes.

Find your room's temperature

• Over 25°C: 0.2 TOG. Just a singlet, or nappy only. It's warm, so keep it light.
• 23 to 24°C: 0.2 to 1.0 TOG. A 0.2 bag with a long-sleeve onesie and singlet, or a 1.0 bag with just a long-sleeve onesie.
• 20 to 22°C: 1.0 to 2.5 TOG. A 1.0 bag with a long-sleeve onesie and singlet, or a 2.5 bag with just a long-sleeve onesie.
• 16 to 19°C: 2.5 to 3.5 TOG. A 2.5 bag with a long-sleeve onesie and long-sleeve bodysuit, or a 3.5 bag with a long-sleeve onesie and singlet.
• Under 15°C: 3.5 TOG. A 3.5 bag with a long-sleeve onesie and long-sleeve bodysuit.

Why the mid-range gives you a choice

You'll see the middle temperatures offer two options and the ends don't. That's how our logic works: at the extremes there's one clear TOG, but through the middle you've got a genuine choice, a lighter bag with an extra layer under it, or a warmer bag with less underneath. Both land your babe in the same comfort zone, so use whatever's clean and in the drawer.

The number changes overnight, and that's the real problem

Here's the catch with any by-the-degree list: your room won't sit on one number all night. It's 21°C at bedtime and 16°C by 2am, and that quietly shifts what your babe should be wearing. Why not just dress for the 2am temp? Because that's hours of potentially being over or under dressed, just waiting for that temp to hopefully get to that number. This is exactly why we built the logic into Orbie. It reads your babe's live environment and gives the suggested TOG and layering for that exact reading, down to the degree, and updates the moment the temperature moves. Same logic as the list above, just done for you, live, so you're never re-checking a chart at 2am. View the Stellar Baby TOG guide to see the whole thing.

A few things we always say

• Red Nose suggests checking your babe by feeling the chest or back of the neck rather than hands and feet.
• For the sleep environment, we always point you to Red Nose Australia's safe sleeping guidance.
• You know your babe best. Adjust a layer if your gut says so.

This article is general information, not medical advice. If you're ever worried about your little babe, trust your gut and reach out to your GP, child health nurse, or Pregnancy, Birth and Baby on 1800 882 436.

Sources

• Red Nose Australia - What is a safe room temperature for a sleeping baby?
• Red Nose Australia - How to dress baby for sleep
• The Stellar Baby TOG guide - our own temperature-to-TOG method.