Infant sleep suit

Abstract

An innovative sleeping suit for infants, configured to provide warmth, a contained environment, and positive proprioceptive input, and thereby reduce neurological reflexive twitching or habitual waking patterns prevalent when infants are placed on their backs for sleeping and are not swaddled. The weighting in the suit is believed to reduce the neurological reflexive twitching and provides a swaddling effect to infants helping them to fall asleep and remain sleeping when on their backs. At least a portion of an anterior portion of the suit includes the weighting. The weighting may be accomplished by varying the thickness of the materials and/or quantity of layers of materials used on the anterior portion of the suit. The weighting may be distributed uniformly throughout the suit, the anterior portion of the suit, or can be strategically placed at proprioceptive target points along the anterior portion of the suit.

1 . Sleepwear for infants, comprising: a suit having an anterior portion, the anterior portion configured to fit over the front of an infant's body, the anterior portion having weighting distributed over at least a portion of the anterior portion to provide proprioceptive input to the infant when the infant is sleeping in the supine position.  
   
   
       2 . The sleepwear as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the weighting is located at points along the anterior portion of the suit corresponding to proprioceptive target points of an infant's body.  
   
   
       3 . The sleepwear as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the weighting is distributed in at least one of the following ways: uniformly along the anterior portion of the suit, uniformly throughout the suit, and only at specific locations corresponding to proprioceptive target points of an infant's body.  
   
   
       4 . The sleepwear as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the weighting includes at least a first layer of material, a second layer of material, and a third layer of material sandwiched between the first layer and second layer of the suit.  
   
   
       5 . The sleepwear as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the weighting includes a plurality of layers of materials having varying thicknesses.  
   
   
       6 . The sleepwear as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the weighting includes a first material and a second material, wherein the first material has a 2:1 thickness ratio when compared to the second layer of material.  
   
   
       7 . The sleepwear as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the weighting is located at points along the anterior portion of the suit corresponding to proprioceptive target points of an infant's body, wherein the proprioceptive target points comprise at least a shoulder girdle of an infant, and a hip area of the infant.  
   
   
       8 . The sleepwear as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the weighting comprises weighted items including at least one of a synthetic material, beans, seeds, and sand.  
   
   
       9 . The sleepwear as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising a posterior portion having the same or less material thickness than the anterior portion of the suit.  
   
   
       10 . The sleepwear as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising a posterior portion of the suit having a single layer of material.  
   
   
       11 . Sleepwear for infants, comprising: a suit having a first layer of material, a second layer of material, and a weighted layer of material, whereby the weighted layer is sandwiched between the first layer and the second layer and is distributed at least throughout the entire anterior side of the suit and allows an infant to improve the quality and duration of sleep when sleeping in the supine position.  
   
   
       12 . The sleepwear as recited in  claim 11 , wherein the first layer of material is comprised of soft cotton.  
   
   
       13 . The sleepwear as recited in  claim 11 , wherein the second layer of material is comprised of percale cotton.  
   
   
       14 . The sleepwear as recited in  claim 11 , wherein the second layer of material is comprised of micro-fleece.  
   
   
       15 . The sleepwear as recited in  claim 11 , wherein the weighted layer of material is comprised of a polyester-blend material.  
   
   
       16 . The sleepwear as recited in  claim 11 , wherein the weighted layer is comprised of at least one of a synthetic material and a natural material.  
   
   
       17 . The sleepwear as recited in  claim 11 , wherein the weighted layer of material is configured to increase the weight of the anterior side of the suit in relation to the posterior side of the suit, whereby the increased weight in the front of the suit provides positive proprioceptive input to an infant sleeping in the supine position.  
   
   
       18 . The sleepwear as recited in  claim 11 , further comprising a ventilation feature that allows heat to escape the sleep suit.  
   
   
       19 . The sleepwear as recited in  claim 11 , further comprising a fastening element.  
   
   
       20 . The sleepwear as recited in  claim 11 , wherein the fastening element is comprised of at least one of a zipper, snap, Velcro, and a button.  
   
   
       21 . The sleepwear as recited in  claim 11 , configured to fit infants approximately two-to-six months old, and weighing approximately 8 lbs to 18 lbs.  
   
   
       22 . The sleepwear as recited in  claim 11 , configured to fit infants approximately six-to-nine months old, and weighing approximately 18 lbs to 22 lbs.  
   
   
       23 . Sleepwear for infants, comprising: a suit having a weighted material positioned on an anterior portion of the suit corresponding to at least one proprioceptive target point of an infant's body, wherein the proprioceptive target point comprises at least one of a shoulder girdle of an infant, and a hip area of the infant, and wherein the weighting material provides proprioceptive input to an infant and helps the quality and duration of sleep of an infant when sleeping in the supine position.