What Tog Duvet for a Child: A Room-Temperature Guide

For babies, the answer is no duvet at all

The NHS says a baby's room should be "between 16C to 20C", and that a cot should be kept clear of "pillows, duvets, cot bumpers, loose blankets, soft toys". So the first answer to "what tog duvet for my child?" depends on age. For a baby under 12 months, UK safer-sleep guidance says no duvet at all.

The reason is sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), which the NHS describes as "the sudden and unexplained death of an apparently healthy baby aged up to 12 months old." The NHS notes that "overheating can increase the risk of SIDS," and that babies "can overheat because of too much bedding or clothing, or because the room is too hot."

This guide sets out what the NHS and the Lullaby Trust, the UK safer-sleep charity, say for babies, why there is no official tog chart, and what retailers suggest once a child is old enough for a duvet.

Under 12 months: what to use instead

The Lullaby Trust's bedding guidance is direct: "Soft or bulky bedding is not recommended for babies under 12 months because there is a risk of overheating and their head being covered." It adds that soft or bulky bedding such as quilts, pillows and duvets "have been shown to increase the risk of SIDS by three times."

What it recommends instead:

• Firmly tucked sheets and blankets, or a baby sleep bag. Tuck sheets and blankets in firmly, "not above shoulder height."
• Feet to foot. Place the baby with their feet at the bottom of the cot, so they cannot wriggle down under the covers.
• Count layers carefully. "One blanket doubled over counts as two blankets."
• No weighted bedding. Weighted swaddles, blankets and sleeping bags "are not recommended for babies under one year."

If your baby was born prematurely, the NHS says to follow the safer-sleep advice "for a year from their due date not the date they were born."

The 16–20°C room

Both organisations give the same range. The Lullaby Trust says "the recommended room temperature for babies is 16-20°C so that they don't get too hot," and that at this temperature, "light bedding or a lightweight, well-fitting baby sleep bag" is comfortable. Both recommend a room thermometer rather than guessing.

The Lullaby Trust's guide to dressing your baby for sleep explains what to change as the room moves outside that range:

It also says hats should come off indoors: "Babies lose heat through their heads, so if their heads are covered, the baby can overheat."

Check the baby, not just the room

The thermometer is a guide; the baby is the real check. The NHS says to "check your baby's temperature by feeling their chest or the back of their neck," and not to worry "if their hands or feet feel cool, this is normal." If the skin is hot or sweaty, the Lullaby Trust says to "remove one or more layers of bedclothes or bedding."

Both also recommend room sharing. The NHS advises placing a baby "in a separate cot or Moses basket in the same room as you for every sleep for at least the first 6 months."

The other safer-sleep steps

Bedding and temperature are two parts of a wider set of NHS advice for every sleep, day or night. The NHS says to:

• "Always place your baby on their back to sleep in the feet-to-foot position."
• "Use a firm, flat mattress."
• "Breastfeed your baby if you can."
• "Think about using a dummy to settle your baby to sleep."
• Not let a baby "stay in a car seat for too long". It is fine for a baby to fall asleep in a car seat while travelling, but take them out when you arrive.

The NHS also lists what raises the risk: "exposing a baby to cigarette smoke or sleeping with them on a sofa or chair." Babies born before 37 weeks or with a low birth weight (under 2.5kg) are at higher risk, and "SIDS is more likely to happen in the first 6 months of life, but it can affect babies up to 12 months old."

Why there is no official tog chart

Many parents look for a chart that turns a room temperature into a tog number. The Lullaby Trust says it does not publish one, and explains why. "Families understandably often look to us for a chart or a more specific guide on matching room temperature to clothing, clothing layers and tog," it says, but "every product is made up of different materials," and "the thermal insulation (the amount of heat the material can trap) differs for every product."

Instead, for sleep bags, it says to "follow the manufacturer's tog guide," to choose the bag by the baby's weight, "not age", and to make sure it is "well fitted around the neck and shoulders, so the baby can't wriggle down inside." It also recommends checking for a British Standard code on the product.

Once a child is old enough for a duvet

After the first year, a duvet becomes an option, and tog starts to matter. There is still no official chart, but retailers publish their own guidance. Argos recommends:

These are lower than the adult bands, where a winter duvet runs from 12 to 15 tog. The same habits from the baby years still apply: use a room thermometer, and check the child by touch rather than relying on the label. Remember too that a tog number is a minimum. As our guide to how tog ratings are measured explains, a duvet's real rating can be up to 3 tog higher than the label.

A child's first duvet is a good moment to buy a room thermometer if you do not already have one, since knowing how cold the room really gets is the best guide to which tog band to choose. For the adult bands and how they compare across retailers, see our tog rating chart by season.

Where to buy

Children's and junior duvets are sold by the main UK bedding retailers. Dunelm lets you filter its duvets by tog and lists cot bed duvets separately, and Argos publishes its children's tog guidance alongside its range. For baby sleep bags, the Lullaby Trust recommends checking for the relevant British Standard before you buy.

References

• NHS: Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
• The Lullaby Trust: Room temperature
• The Lullaby Trust: Mattresses and bedding
• The Lullaby Trust: Dress your baby for sleep
• Argos: Duvet and pillow guide
• Dunelm: Duvets