The
blanket sleeper or
footie pajama (also known by many other
synonyms and trade names) is a type of especially warm
sleeping garment worn primarily during the winter in the
United States and
Canada. The garment is worn especially by
infants and young
children.
Typically, but not always, the blanket sleeper consists of a loose-fitting, one-piece garment of
blanket-like material, enclosing the entire body except for the head and hands. It represents an intermediate step between regular
pajamas, and bag-like coverings for infants such as buntings or infant
sleeping bags (
Terminology and
Variations
sections below). Like bag-like coverings, the blanket sleeper is
designed to be sufficiently warm as to make regular blankets or other
bed covers unnecessary, even in colder weather. Unlike such coverings, the blanket sleeper has bifurcated legs to allow unhindered
walking (or
crawling).
While no single feature is universal (see
Terminology), distinguishing a blanket sleeper from regular pajamas usually include:
- One-piece construction with long sleeves and legs.
- Attached bootees enclosing the wearer's feet.
- Composition from relatively thick, heavy fabric.
Although any sleeping garment with some or all of these characteristics could be called a
blanket sleeper,
the term is most commonly applied to a range of styles that deviate
relatively little from the same basic design. (The features of this
design are described in the
Features section, below.)
Features
Features of the typical blanket sleeper often include:
- Usually made of a napped synthetic fabric, such as polyester or polar fleece; however sleepers made from heavier natural fabrics such as cotton are also available, they are not common in North America due to stringent regulations regarding flammability.
- Loose fit. On smaller sizes, the hip area may be made especially loose to accommodate a diaper. The crotch is usually cut especially low.
- Raglan sleeves.
- Snug rib-knit collar and wrist cuffs.
- Usually made in one or more solid, bright colors, or screen-printed
with graphic designs. There may be a front panel with a single,
elaborate printed design, either covering the chest, or forming the
entire front portion of the torso and legs. The sleeves may be a
different color from the rest of the garment. Stripes are sometimes
seen, most commonly on the collar and cuffs.
- Soles of the feet made from a (usually white) vinyl fabric lined with (synthetic) felt,
for improved durability and slip-resistance. This can be solid vinyl
with a rough textured surface, or a vinyl-dotted fabric such as Jiffy
Grip.
- Optional toe caps, made from the same fabric as the soles of the feet, and covering the top front portion of the foot, for improved durability.
- Elastic to make the leg portions snug around the ankles.
- A zipper
running vertically down the front of the garment, from the neck opening
to the inside or front ankle of one of the legs (usually the left),
designed to make it easy to put on and take off. On teen and adult
sizes, the zipper usually instead runs from the neck to the crotch.
- Optional snap tab where the zipper meets the neck opening.
This is a small tab of fabric sewed to the garment on one side of the
zipper (usually the right), and fastening to the other side with a snap fastener,
designed to prevent discomfort from the zipper slider coming into
contact with the wearer's chin and deter access to the zipper.
- Optional decorative applique on one side of the chest (usually the left).
- Optional hood
- Optional mittens/mitts (mainly on infant and costume sleepers)
Although primarily worn by the young, blanket sleepers are also worn
(in decreasing order of frequency) by school-age children, teens, and
even adults. (See
Sizes, gender differences, and availability, below.)
Although footed, one-piece garments in a variety of fabrics and
styles are used in many countries as infant sleepwear, the specific
range of styles with which the term
blanket sleeper is usually
associated, the term itself, and the phenomenon of children older than
infancy wearing footed, one-piece sleeping garments, are all largely
unique to
North America.
Design considerations
Blanket sleepers are usually intended as practical garments, worn mostly by younger children and only in the home. Style and
fashion
thus tend not to be important in its design, and the basic design of
the typical blanket sleeper has changed little over the years.
The sleeper serves mainly to keep the wearer warm at night, even in
the absence of blankets and bed covers. The sleeper covers the entire
body except for the head (except in certain cases where a hood is
present) and (in most cases) hands (except in cases where a sleeper has
attached mitts,mostly on infant sizes), where it is snug at the neck and
wrists. The use of a zipper closure in place of
buttons or
snap fasteners
also further retains warmth by eliminating drafts. This is especially
important for infants, for whom loose blankets may pose a safety hazard
(including increasing the risk of
SIDS),
and possibly for older children, who may still be too young to be
relied upon to keep their own sleepwear or bed covers adjusted so as to
prevent exposure to the air of bare skin. This is reflected in
advertisements by blanket sleeper manufacturers, which often emphasize
that their garments "can't be kicked off", or that "no other covers are
needed". The permanently attached feet can also be a beneficial feature
for children who are prone to get out of bed in the morning before their
parents are awake, and are too young to be relied upon to put on
slippers
or other footwear to keep their feet warm,as well as for adults who
find putting on,and/or wearing socks in bed too bothersome, yet still
want their feet covered when getting out of bed in the morning. Blanket
sleepers without feet allow more room for growth and reduce the
possibility of slipping. Also, children with larger or smaller feet find
a better fit.
The blanket sleeper is designed so that it can be worn either by
itself as a standalone garment, or as a second layer worn over regular
pajamas or other sleepwear. The one-piece design is simple to launder
and has no detachable pieces that could be individually misplaced.
Yet another potential benefit of the blanket sleeper is that it may
help prevent infants from removing or interfering with their diapers
during the night. This can also apply to older children with certain
developmental disabilities, such as
Angelman syndrome.
In particular, parents of Angelman children have been known to take
such additional measures as cutting the feet off the sleeper and putting
it on backwards, and/or covering the zipper with
duct tape. Some specialty
locking clothing and other
adaptive clothing purveyors offer blanket sleepers, with or without feet, for adults with
dementia or other disabilities, for similar reasons.
Blanket sleepers may also appeal to cultural
mores relating to
body modesty. This can, for example, be a consideration for some parents when siblings sleep in the same room and/or bed.
Materials
The range of materials used for
mass-produced blanket sleepers for children is severely limited, as a result of stringent U.S. government-imposed
flammability requirements. Essentially the only materials used since the 1950s are
polyester,
acrylic, and
modacrylic,
with polyester dominating. Unfortunately, this can have a negative
impact on comfort for many wearers, particularly children with
eczema. A small number of sleepers are made from cotton.
Adult-size sleepers, especially those sold by small Internet
businesses, can be found in a wider range of materials, including
natural fabrics such as
cotton flannel. Some web businesses also offer sleepers in natural fabrics for children, but only outside the U.S. In particular, special
eczema sleepsuits
for children, made of cotton and with built-in mitts designed to
prevent scratching, are available from specialty stores in the
UK.
The fabrics used in most blanket sleepers have a strong tendency to
pill.
Although this does not adversely affect the garment's functional
utility, it has the effect that a used garment can be clearly, visually
distinguished from a new one after only a small number of wearings or
washings.
Decorative features such as appliques or printed designs usually
follow juvenile themes, and are designed to make the garments more
attractive to the children who wear them. Some adult sleepers can also
have appliques on them, but those tend to be from Internet clothing
suppliers who offer custom-made sleepers and tend to be of favorite
cartoon characters or items that the wearer had in childhood such as
teddy bears and animal representatives that they had as pets.
Sizes, gender differences, and availability
In the United States and Canada, mass-produced blanket sleepers for both boys and girls up to size 4 (see
US standard clothing sizes) are quite common, and can be found in nearly any
department store and
online.
Sizes larger than 4 are progressively less common, being found in only
some stores and online, and usually only seasonally (peaking around
October or November). The availability of larger-size sleepers in
department stores also varies from year to year.
Alternative sources for larger-size, mass-produced sleepers include
Internet auction sites, such as
eBay, and certain
mail order clothing retailers, such as
Lands' End.
Individual blanket sleepers can be marketed either as a
unisex
garment, or as a garment intended for one gender. Even in the latter
case, however, there is often no difference stylistically between
sleepers marketed specifically for boys, and ones marketed specifically
for girls. (The size numbers are also consistent, as, although there are
slight differences in the meanings of size numbers between boys and
girls in the U.S. standard clothing size system, these are too small to
matter in the case of a garment as loose-fitting as a blanket sleeper.)
Occasionally, however, sleepers marketed for girls may include
effeminate decorative features such as
lacy
frills, and sleepers with screen-printed front panels may feature
images of media characters appealing primarily to children of one
gender. Also, the ranges of colors available may be different between
the genders, in particular pink sleepers are rarely worn by boys due to a
cultural association of that color with femininity. Unisex designs and
colors offer a more sustainable option allowing the most use over time.
In smaller sizes, there is little or no difference in the
availability of sleepers for boys and for girls. However, the culturally
perceived age-appropriateness of the blanket sleeper falls off more
rapidly for boys than for girls, and sleepers for older boys are
correspondingly less common than those for older girls, with the gap in
availability increasing as the size increases. (For older girls, much of
the appeal of wearing blanket sleepers may be based on the playful
norm-flouting quality of wearing a garment traditionally worn only by
younger children; for boys of the same age, this would tend to be
considered less culturally acceptable.) Nevertheless, sleepers for both
boys and girls continue to have a reasonable degree of availability in
department stores (and Internet auction sites) up to about size 14-16.
Blanket sleepers for adult women used to be relatively uncommon, but
since 2010s have increased in popularity and can be found in many
department stores, usually in the colder months.
Mass-produced blanket sleepers for adult men are more rare. However, major
home sewing pattern publishers sometimes offer patterns for conventionally styled blanket sleepers in men's sizes, and in the Internet Age a
cottage industry
has developed, with several websites offering blanket sleepers
manufactured on a small scale for men as well as women and children.
Also, mass-produced, unisex-styled blanket sleepers marketed for women
are sometimes purchased and worn by men, although the difference in the
size ranges between men and women means that this option is available
only to men of smaller stature.
The blanket sleeper can be a subject of interest, particularly among the
AB/DL community.
Terminology
The terminology relating to blanket sleepers can be confusing, and inconsistent between different speakers.
The terms
sleeper and
blanket sleeper are sometimes used interchangeably. Alternatively, a distinction may be made between the lighter-weight (footed, one-piece)
sleepers worn by infants in warmer weather, and the heavier
blanket sleepers worn by both infants and older children, primarily in colder weather. (In the loosest usage,
sleeper by itself can mean any infant sleeping garment, regardless of form or features.) Similarly, some people consider a
blanket sleeper to be one-piece by definition, whereas a
sleeper could be made either in one piece, or in two pieces meeting at the waist.
When
blanket is omitted, either the singular form
sleeper or the plural form
sleepers may be used to refer to a single garment. When
blanket is included, however, a single garment is usually referred to using the singular form.
The terms
(blanket) sleeper and
footed pajamas may be used interchangeably. (This reflects the North American practice of referring to nearly any sleeping garment as
pajamas, as blanket sleepers bear little resemblance to the jacket and trouser combination, originating in
India, that the term
pajamas originally referred to.) Alternatively,
sleeper may instead be used more narrowly than
footed pajamas, to exclude footed sleeping garments that are lighter-weight and/or two-piece, such as footed "ski" style pajamas.
Also, while many people consider built-in feet to be part of the definition of
sleeper, garments otherwise meeting the definition but lacking feet are sometimes marketed as
footless blanket sleepers.
The term
grow sleeper is sometimes used to refer to a
two-piece footed sleeping garment with features designed to compensate
for growth in the wearer, such as turn-back cuffs, or a double row of
snap fasteners at the waist.
Other terms that are used more-or-less interchangeably with
blanket sleeper include:
- footed sleeper
- footed pj's
- feeted/feety/footy/footsie/feetsie/feet pajamas
- foot/footed/feet/feeted jammies
- footies
- feeties
- nighties
- onesie
- pajamas with feet
- pajamas with the feet in them
- padded feet pajamas
- pajama blanket
- one-piece pajamas
- zip-up pajamas
- sleeper/sleeping suit
- sleeper blanket
- sherpa sleeper
- walking blanket
- walking sleeper
- sleeper walker
- oversleeper (used in advertisements by J. C. Penney)
- bunny suit
- bunny pajamas
- bunny feet pajamas
- potato mashers
- dormer (older girls' and women's sizes only)
Also, a number of commercial brand names have been adopted as
genericized trademarks. The best known of these is
Dr. Dentons, but others used include "Big Feet",
Trundle Bundle (common usage on the Southside of Chicago), and
Jama-Blanket.
Formerly used, obsolete terms include:
- night drawers
- sleeping drawers
- sleeping garment (used in advertisements by Doctor Denton Sleeping Mills)
- coverlet sleeper
- pajunion (used in advertisements by Brighton-Carlsbad)
In
British English, the term with a meaning closest to that of
blanket sleeper is
sleepsuit, but it is also known as a
romper suit.
Infants' garments similar to blanket sleepers, but with the bottom
portion constructed like a bag, without separate leg enclosures, are
usually not considered
sleepers, but rather are referred to by other terms such as
baby sleep bag,
bunting,
sleeping bag,
go go bag,
sleep sack, or
grow bag.
Infants' garments similar to blanket sleepers, but designed for use
as outerwear rather than sleepwear (and usually featuring hoods and hand
covers), are referred to by other terms such as
pram suit,
snowsuit, or
carriage suit.
Infants' garments similar to blanket sleepers, but designed for dual use as both sleepwear and playwear, are sometimes known as
sleep 'n' play suits.
History
The origins of the blanket sleeper can be traced at least as far back
as the late 19th century, to footed, one-piece sleeping garments for
children, then known as
night drawers. The first company to
mass-produce blanket sleepers was Doctor Denton Sleeping Mills, which
started using the term "sleeping garment", for their garments, starting
in 1865, and most had buttons instead of zippers (since the zipper
wasn't invented until the early 20th century), and trap-doors or
butt-flaps in the back, as early blanket sleepers, quite obviously, took
on the same basic design as the traditional union-suit (which may have
been where the idea of the sleeper originated; as the children's version
of their fathers' union-suits). However, the blanket sleeper first took
something closely resembling its present form in the early 1950s, when
many of the most recognizable features were first adopted, including the
use of synthetic fabrics, slip-resistant soles, toe caps, rib-knit
collar and cuffs, zipper closure, snap tab, and applique. The term
blanket sleeper also first came into common use at this time, although
sleeper by itself appeared considerably earlier.
Sleepers made before the 1950s were usually made from knitted natural fabrics, either
cotton,
wool (especially
merino), or a mixture of both. Commonly used fabrics included outing
flannel
and flannelette. (Home-made sleepers were typically made out of fabric
pieces cut from actual blankets.) The soles of the feet were usually
made from the same material as the rest of the sleeper, though sometimes
two layers were used for improved durability. The collar and cuffs were
usually
hemmed, and the sleeper usually closed with
buttons, either in the front or in the back.
Natural fabrics were largely abandoned after the Flammable Fabrics Act of 1953, which imposed strict
flammability
requirements on children's sleepwear sold in the United States, up to
size 14. Flammability requirements were tightened further in the early
1970s, and in 1977 the flame-retarding additive
TRIS
was discovered to be carcinogenic, prompting a recall, and leading to
the abandonment of such additives and the materials that depended on
them for their flame-resistance.
The popularity of blanket sleepers for older children got a boost in the 1970s and early 1980s due to the
energy crises of
1973 and
1979.
Advertisements from this period often emphasized that thermostats could
be set lower at night when children slept in blanket sleepers.
Variations
Blanket sleepers sometimes depart from the standard design by
incorporating unusual or uncommon features. An incomplete list of these
follows.
- Drop seat
- One of the features most commonly associated with blanket sleepers in the public imagination, the drop seat (also known as a trap door or butt flap)
is an opening in the buttocks area, traditionally closing with buttons,
designed to allow the wearer to use the toilet without removing the
sleeper. Drop seats were very common on sleepers made before the 1950s,
but today they are rather rare. (Similar drop seats were also a common
feature on the traditional union suit.)
- Modern versions of the drop seat often replace the buttons with snap fasteners.
- Snap front/legs
- Some sleepers, especially in infant sizes, replace the usual front
zipper with a front opening closing with snap fasteners. In infant
sizes, this opening usually forks at the crotch, and extends down the
insides of both legs to the ankles, in order to give access for diaper
changes. This design tends to be less effective at eliminating drafts
than the zipper closure, and is most often seen on lighter-weight
sleepers designed for warmer weather.
- Some infant-size blanket sleepers made in the 1960s featured an
ankle-to-ankle zipper through the crotch, serving a similar function.
- Snap waist/back
- Two-piece sleepers sometimes fasten around the waist with snap fasteners. This is most often seen on so-called grow sleepers,
made mainly in toddler sizes, with features designed to extend the
useful life of the garment by compensating for growth in the wearer.
These are usually made in lighter material than one-piece sleepers, with
an especially high waist, two rows of snaps on the top piece, a back opening on the top piece also closing with snaps, and turn-back cuffs.
- Two-piece sleepers made before the 1950s often fastened similarly around the waist with buttons.
- Drawstring cuffs
- A common feature on sleepers until about the 1930s was turn-back cuffs closing at the ends with drawstrings,
designed to fully enclose the wearer's hands. According to
advertisements, these were intended both to keep the wearer's hands
warm, and to discourage thumb or finger sucking. (These were mostly found on smaller sizes, but have appeared on Dr. Denton brand sleepers in sizes for children as old as 10 years.)
- Costume sleepers
- Occasionally garments are made that are designed to serve a dual function, as both blanket sleeper and fancy dress costume (similar to the ones worn by American children on Halloween).
Animal costume sleepers are the most common, often featuring hoods with
costume ears, tails, and/or hand covers resembling paws. Other motifs
such as superheroes, cartoon characters or clowns are also sometimes seen.
- The use of the terms bunny suit and bunny pajamas as synonyms for blanket sleeper references the persistent cultural meme of a blanket sleeper fashioned as a (usually pink) bunny costume, with a hood, long ears, and puffy tail.
- A related phenomenon in Japan, of footless, lighter-weight, hooded, one-piece animal costume pajamas, is known there as disguise pajama or kigurumi (although the latter term can also refer to costumes that are not intended as sleepwear).
Minor variations
- Side zipper
- A rare alternative to the center front zipper is the "side zipper",
running from the neckline near one shoulder (usually the left) to the
outside or front ankle. This is most commonly found on sleepers with an
elaborate printed design on the front, in which case it serves to avoid
disruption of the image.
- An even rarer variation is to have zippers on both sides.
- Back zipper
- Although back closings using buttons were common on sleepers made
before the 1950s, zippers in the back are uncommon in regular children's
sleepers. A back zipper may make it difficult for the wearer to remove
the sleeper for bathroom use. Most examples in regular sleepers date
from the 1950-1970s as back zippers became less prevalent in the 1980s.
Today, back zippers can most commonly be found on sleepers for wearers
where it is advantageous to prevent the wearer removing their sleeper,
especially those who wear diapers and have a tendency to remove them.
- Self-fabric feet
- Sleepers made in sizes for infants who are too young to walk often
omit the slip-resistant soles on the feet, instead having soles made
from the same fabric as the rest of the sleeper. This is also
occasionally seen on sleepers for older girls or women.
- Bound feet
- On sleepers made since the 1980s, the soles of the feet usually
attach to the upper foot pieces with an inward-facing seam. In preceding
years, it was more common for the seam to face outward, and to be
covered with a narrow strip of material, forming a kind of ridge around
the perimeter of the sole. This design was referred to in advertisements
as a bound edge or bound foot, and was intended both to improve durability, and to improve comfort by eliminating a potential source of irritation.
- Molded plastic feet
- Around 1970, some sleepers were made with foot bottoms made from
three-dimensional molded plastic. This feature proved unpopular, and was
quickly abandoned.
- Detachable feet
- Occasionally, rather than having permanently attached feet, sleepers
will come with separate feet, similar to slippers. This is more common
on adult sizes.
- Convertible feet
- Another variation replaces the permanently enclosed feet with "convertible" foot coverings resembling tube socks, that close at the ends with velcro, and can be rolled back to expose the feet when desired.
- Hood
- Attached hoods were occasionally seen on sleepers made before the 1920s, and as late as the 1940s the company that made Dr. Denton
brand sleepers offered separate "sleeping hoods", designed to be used
in conjunction with their sleepers, in sizes for both children and
adults. On modern sleepers attached hoods are extremely rare, found only
on a handful of sleepers for older girls and women, and costume
sleepers.
- Mittens
- Attached mittens were occasionally seen on sleepers made for
infants, usually to prevent finger or thumb sucking, but also served the
dual purpose of keeping the hands warm. Mittens can also be used on
costume sleepers for both children and adults
- Quilted fabric
- Sleepers are occasionally made from a quilted fabric, incorporating a thin layer of polyester fiberfill batting for increased warmth. Quilted sleepers using polyester foam as insulation were also made in the 1950s.
- Elastic back waist
- Sleepers in larger sizes sometimes feature an elastic band along the
rear half of the waist, designed to provide a better fit by reducing
bagginess around the torso.
Blanket sleepers in popular culture
- Poltergeist III
- Carol Anne (Heather O'Rourke),wears a red blanket sleeper with white
buttons (instead of a zipper), from neck-to-crotch, as well as white
vinyl soles and toecaps and white rib-knit sleeve-cuffs for the last
two-thirds of the movie
- Ghostbusters II
- Baby Oscar wears a yellow blanket sleeper with a Winnie-the-Pooh applique in the night scenes towards the end of the movie
- Mystic Pizza
- Phoebe Travers (Porscha Radcliffe) wears a purple Carter's blanket
sleeper with striped sleeve-cuffs about an hour into the movie
- A Christmas Story
- Ralphie (Peter Billingsley), gets a pink bunny costume sleeper,
complete with bunny-ears on hood, attached mittens and bunny-slippers,
from his crazy Aunt Clara "That worked under the delusion that I was
perpetually four years old, but also a girl",on Christmas morning at the
tail-end of movie. Little brother, Randy, wears printed blanket sleeper
also at tail-end of movie
- Growing Pains
- Maggie Seaver (Joanna Kerns) wears a pink blanket sleeper with striped sleeve cuffs in a few episodes
- The Wonder Years
- Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage), wears a red blanket sleeper with striped sleeve-cuffs in a dream sequence in one episode
- The Torkelsons
- Mary Sue (Rachel Duncan), wears a blue blanket sleeper in one episode
- Almost Home (Spin-off series of The Torkelsons)
- Mary Sue (Rachel Duncan), wears a red blanket sleeper with striped sleeve cuffs in a couple early episodes
- The Shining (1980 movie version)
- Danny Torrence (Danny Lloyd) wears a bright red blanket sleeper in night-scenes and morning scene towards the end of the movie
- Family Guy
- Peter Griffin sees, buys, and wears red adult-sized blanket sleeper
he found at a department store and in next scene shocks everyone after
rubbing sleeper-soles against carpet, causing static-cling in one
episode. Baby Stewie wears a blue blanket sleeper in many episodes.
See also
Related garments
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