Patent Application
20240130443
Infants, particularly the newborn, experience rapid mental as well as physical development, and such development is enabled and further facilitated through adequate sleep. However, if conditions are lacking, infants will be wake more often and sleep less deeply, and therefore a variety of sleep techniques and products have been developed, including swaddling and swaddling blankets.
However, swaddling is often difficult for parents or other caretakers to achieve, especially if they lack experience in swaddling. Additionally, infants often “escape” the swaddle, and so infants must swaddled again and again—to the detriment of both the caretakers' and infant's sleep.
What is needed is a swaddling replacement that is both simple to use and preventative of infant escape.
In one embodiment, the infant sleep bag comprises a main body, the main body being a sheet of fabric that has been sewn or is otherwise formed into a cylindrical shape, such that a first opening at a top portion and a second opening at a bottom portion are circumference by the fabric of the main body. The fabric may be made of cloth, linen, natural and/or synthetic materials, or any material which is soft and yet durable.
In another embodiment, the first opening comprises a circumferential channel, with the channel spanning the circumference of the first opening. The channel may be formed within the fabric of the main body, or may be formed by folding or flapping an edge of the main body over upon itself, with the outermost edge of the fold or flap being sewn, melded, or otherwise attached to a portion of the main body further from the edge. Within the channel may be disposed an elastic band. The elastic band may be made of any elastomeric material, including natural or synthetic rubber. The band may be a string, chord, or any other elongated shape or configuration of elastic material. In one variation, elastic material is sewn into the edge of the main body about the circumference of the top opening, thereby obviating the need for a channel.
In yet another embodiment, the second opening is coupled with a closure means. The closure means may be sewn, melded, or otherwise attached to the edge of the main body which forms the second opening. The closure means may be a series of buttons, including fabric buttons, wooden, metal, or plastic buttons, shank buttons, shirt-type buttons, snap buttons, toggle buttons, or press or snap buttons. Alternatively, the closure means may be a zipper line, with a first zipper tape side attached to a first portion of the edge of the main body forming the second opening and a second zipper tape side attached to a second portion of the edge, with the first and second zipper tape sides being saddled by a zipper slider and pull tab. The zipper may be made of plastic, metal, or any other suitable material.
In one method of utilizing the infant sleep bag, the first opening with the elastic band is stretched in order to receive an infant—the infant, feet first, is inserted into the sleep bag up to the neck, so that the feet, legs, torso, and arms are entirely contained therein. The elastic band is let to conform to the diameter of the neck. The bottom opening may remain closed throughout, or may be closed after the infant is inserted into the infant sleep bag.
In another method of utilizing the infant sleep bag, the second opening is unzipped or otherwise opened, and the infant is passed through and received thereby. The infant sleep bag is pulled down from the first opening to cover the infant such that only the head pass through the first opening, with the elastic band let to conform to the diameter of the neck. When the remainder of the infant, including the feet, legs, torso, and arms are fully within the infant sleep bag, the second opening may be zipped or otherwise closed.
In yet another method of utilizing the infant sleep bag, the infant is initially in the infant sleep bag. The second opening is unzipped or otherwise opened and pulled up so that the feet, legs, and part of the torso protrude from the second opening. The infant's diaper may then be changed without having to remove the infant from the infant sleep bag entirely. Once the diaper is replaced, the second opening is pulled back down so that the feet, legs, and torso are again covered, and then the second opening may be zipped or otherwise closed.
In one embodiment, the main body features side openings, the side openings being configured to receiving an infant's hands from within the main body such that the hands protrude through the side openings toward at atmosphere of the infant sleep bag. The side openings may feature channels for elastic bands similarly to the top opening.
In another embodiment, the main body features a set of elastic bands encircling it in a circumferential manner so as to increase the form-fitness of the sleep bag with respect to the infant, thereby increasing the perceived coziness of the sleep bag.
To further accommodate the side openings and to enable additional space and movement for the infant, the fabric surrounding the openings may be substantially conical in shape and configured to protrude from the otherwise approximately cylindrical shape of the main body.
It will be understood that the infant sleep bag may be used not just to facilitate infant sleep, but to increase infant comfort, generally. The infant sleep bag may be used during the day and outside of nap times, enabling an infant to feel cozy even when physically and/or mentally active.
As shown in
