The 3 Best Kids Sleeping Bags of 2024 | Reviews by Wirecutter

By Kalee Thompson

Kalee Thompson is an editor covering health, fitness, baby, and kid gear. She has personally tested a dozen tents and an equal number of hair dryers.

We used to list the REI Co-op Down Time 25 as another good option for camping and backpacking trips. It's been discontinued, and we've moved it to "The competition."

Whether you’re planning a family camping trip, packing for summer camp, or prepping for a childhood’s worth of slumber parties, the right sleeping bag can help a kid sleep soundly in an unfamiliar spot.

After comparing 16 kid-size bags over the past seven years, we think most children will be happy to crawl into the REI Co-op Kindercone 25. It’s durable and warm, and it comes with a standout stuff sack. This bag should last from toddlerhood all the way through the tween years.

Of all the kids sleeping bags we’ve tried, this one has the most qualities to love: It’s warm, cushy, and tough. Plus, it was the one that our camping kids liked best.

With store pickup or REI membership (deal on green)

This rectangular bag is similarly rugged, but it’s not as warm as our top pick. It lies flat when unzipped, so it can double as a compact comforter at camp or at home.

With store pickup or REI membership

The Little Red is backcountry-ready for kids under 4-foot-5. There’s a sleeping-pad pocket on the back of the bag, for added warmth and comfort; you do have to supply your own pad, though.

For kids who are older than about kindergarten age, the Wolverine is likely a better fit—it works for those up to about 4-foot-8.

A cotton bag will be fine for indoor sleepovers. But for camping, a bag with more warmth and some moisture resistance is better.

Sleeping bags can be either rectangular or mummy-shaped. A mummy bag may be slightly warmer and more compact.

If you’re not lugging anything that far, the packed size and weight of a sleeping bag may not matter. But if you are, lighter is better.

We’ve found that the stuff sack’s design can make a big difference in how easy it is for a younger kid to use their bag solo.

Of all the kids sleeping bags we’ve tried, this one has the most qualities to love: It’s warm, cushy, and tough. Plus, it was the one that our camping kids liked best.

With store pickup or REI membership (deal on green)

The REI Kindercone 25 is a spacious mummy bag that’s warm enough for most three-season camping trips. It’s also plush enough for the hard floor of a school gym. And it’s tough enough that parents need not fret if it occasionally morphs into a fort wall or becomes a vehicle for sliding down stairs. Parent and kid testers both particularly appreciated the bag’s built-in stuff sack, which is easy to use and impossible to lose.

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This rectangular bag is similarly rugged, but it’s not as warm as our top pick. It lies flat when unzipped, so it can double as a compact comforter at camp or at home.

With store pickup or REI membership

The REI Co-op Kindercamp 40 has similar materials (polyester fill and a polyester shell) to the Kindercone 25, but this bag is rectangular instead of mummy-shaped. That means the Kindercamp 40 doesn’t have the hooded top and tapered foot that give the Kindercone 25 a cozy, cocoon-like shape. And it’s not as warm: The Kindercamp 40’s temperature rating is just 40 °F, compared with our top pick’s 25 °F. The Kindercamp 40 also doesn’t have the fully attached stuff sack that we love on the Kindercone 25; instead, its sack is attached with a small tether. But due to its rectangular shape, the Kindercamp 40 will feel roomier than the Kindercone 25, and it can double as a comforter when unzipped.

The Little Red is backcountry-ready for kids under 4-foot-5. There’s a sleeping-pad pocket on the back of the bag, for added warmth and comfort; you do have to supply your own pad, though.

For kids who are older than about kindergarten age, the Wolverine is likely a better fit—it works for those up to about 4-foot-8.

If your normal camping weather involves nighttime lows in the 30s or below, the best bet for your kid will be the Big Agnes Little Red or the larger Wolverine. Compared with our other picks, these mummy bags are warmer (rated to 20 ˚F). And like most bags from Big Agnes, they both have a built-in sleeping-pad sleeve, so your little camper will stay put on their pad—and thus remain toastier—throughout the night. You do have to buy a pad separately, but you may be able to use one you already have (most 20-inch-wide pads will fit). The Big Agnes bags pack up smaller than most, but they’re also more expensive, even before you factor in the cost of a sleeping pad.

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Kalee Thompson is the senior editor heading up Wirecutter’s kid coverage. When she was first researching this guide, Kalee lived in Southern California, where weekend car camping is a year-round activity. She recruited nine local families—with kids ages 9 months to 9 years—to test sleeping bags on weekend camping trips, including to the high desert of Joshua Tree National Park and the sycamore groves of Point Mugu State Park on the Pacific Coast. After the family’s move to Maine, her own kids continued to try out different sleeping bags at Hermit Island, while camping near Acadia National Park, and along the Allagash Wilderness Waterway.

In compiling this guide, we drew on the expert advice collected for Wirecutter’s review of adult sleeping bags, scoured existing online reviews, and collected opinions from an assortment of camping parents, from Alaska to New Hampshire. We also reached out to Helen Olsson, whose guidebook The Down and Dirty Guide to Camping With Kids provides a fun and practical intro for parents looking to make a smooth transition into family car camping.

Is a kid-size sleeping bag even necessary? Many people have an extra adult bag or two in the attic or garage, so is one of those just as good?

“In a perfect world, people who have small kids should have small sleeping bags,” camping expert Helen Olsson told us. “That air pocket around your body inside the sleeping bag is what keeps you warm. Put a little kid in a big, adult-size bag and they’re going to get cold.”

That said, kids can grow out of small bags quickly, and many kids sleep warm and end up shedding their bag in seemingly any weather. Olsson’s own kids started using hand-me-down adult bags when they were about 6 and 7, but they tended to sleep hot, she said. If you have older adult sleeping bags that are in good shape, sure, try them out before buying something new (if they need a wash, we have advice on that). You can shrink that air pocket yourself by cinching the bottom of the bag (beneath your kid’s feet) with the drawstring on a stuff sack or a jumbo-size elastic band.

The kid-size bags in this guide are intended for children who are about 2 to 12 years old. However, depending on the size of your kid, some bags may fit for a significantly longer time. By the early tween years, it’s generally more practical to just buy your kid an adult-size sleeping bag, which they’ll have for years to come; we have recommendations in our guide to the best sleeping bags.

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Pretty much any sleeping bag will be fine for a living-room slumber party. But if you want a kids bag that’ll do double duty for camping trips and outdoor adventures, you’ll want one that’s built to ward off cold and damp climates, and that’s easy for a kid to stuff and unstuff on their own. In evaluating sleeping bags made for kids, we considered:

Bag shape: We tested both mummy-style and rectangular bags. Form-fitting mummy bags tend to provide more warmth with less mass, while rectangular bags may feel roomier and have the advantage of unzipping to serve as a blanket.

Weight and heft: We knew the ideal bag would be lightweight and portable enough that even toddlers could lug it around by themselves. All of the bags we seriously considered weigh less than 3½ pounds and come with their own carrying sack. Depending on your destination, the overall size of a stuffed sleeping bag may also be important.

Materials and temperature ratings: We wanted a bag that would be warm enough for three-season camping. Many inexpensive sleeping bags are rated between 40 ˚F and 55 ˚F, which means they may leave your kid shivering on a spring or fall trip. Most cheaper bags are also made of cotton, which doesn’t do much to repel moisture, be it from early-morning dew or a leaky water bottle. Unlike synthetic materials, cotton doesn’t insulate when it’s wet. We wanted a warm bag that wouldn’t get soggy in a spill. So we mostly looked at bags that are at least partly made from synthetic materials.

Standout features: We found that some bags had notably easy-to-use stuff sacks. We also paid attention to zipper quality and the usefulness of cinches around the head and shoulders.

Usable life: Kids grow fast. We favored bags that seemed the most likely to fit a kid comfortably for many years, while holding up to lots of use.

Over the past seven years, we’ve brought over a dozen different kids sleeping bags on camping trips, as well as to sleepovers and to sleepaway camp. Each time, we took note of how easy it was to stuff and unstuff and to zip and unzip a bag, and we noted which bags kids gravitated toward when they were presented with multiple options.

Of all the kids sleeping bags we’ve tried, this one has the most qualities to love: It’s warm, cushy, and tough. Plus, it was the one that our camping kids liked best.

With store pickup or REI membership (deal on green)

The mummy-shaped REI Co-op Kindercone 25 offers a lot of great features for a reasonable price. And it fits everyone from toddlers to small teens, so the typical kid can curl up comfortably inside it throughout childhood.

It’s lofty—and warm. The Kindercone 25 has a fluffier feel than similar kids bags. And we’ve found that it does keep kids comfy when they’re camping in cool weather, as its 25 ˚F temperature rating promises. The sleeping bag’s stuff sack is built into the bottom of the bag, and the cinch that secures the sack closed doubles as a cinch to shorten the bag, creating a smaller air bubble that traps heat and preserves warmth for smaller kids.

It’s protective and durable. The Kindercone 25’s polyester shell is tough, and it’s treated to repel moisture. Synthetic polyester fill insulates even when it’s damp. After many seasons of using this bag, we’ve encountered no tears or zipper issues.

It has a long usable life. This is a bag you could buy for a 1-year-old and expect that they’ll still be using it in their late elementary school years. Using the cinch, we put kids as young as 13 months in this bag. Without the cinch, the typical fifth-grader will still fit comfortably inside. And even small adults can squeeze into this bag if they have to: A 5-foot-5 mom on our Pacific Coast camping trip did just that when her 2-year-old son insisted on getting into his parents’ double bag in the middle of the night.

It has the best stuff sack. Even if you never actually use the cinch feature, the attached sack is a hit. As five families were packing up after a group car-camping trip to Joshua Tree National Park, there was a fair amount of confusion as to which camp chair, sleeping pad, and sleeping bag matched which carry bag. The Kindercone 25’s attached stuff sack was a top draw for obvious reasons: You don’t have to worry about misplacing it, and kids have one less excuse to avoid packing up their own bag.

REI has been making the Kindercone 25 since at least 2008, and we’ve now tested three generations of this bag. The colors and patterns change every year or two, and we’ve seen small design improvements over time. For example, the current Kindercone bag has a fabric strip at one end and a loop at the other; both are handy for hanging the bag to air-dry and for carrying it.

REI has a one-year, no-questions-asked return policy, but it’s for REI members only. The return window for non-members is 90 days.

The Kindercone 25 is marketed for backpacking. Reviewers complain, however, that the bag is bulky for backpacking and is more appropriate for car camping and sleepovers, and we agree. If your kid is going backpacking, they’ll probably want a lighter, more compact bag, like one of the bags from Big Agnes (our two upgrade picks).

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This rectangular bag is similarly rugged, but it’s not as warm as our top pick. It lies flat when unzipped, so it can double as a compact comforter at camp or at home.

With store pickup or REI membership

If your family avoids camping in colder weather, or you want a colorful, durable sleeping bag primarily for sleepovers or sleepaway camp, consider the REI Co-op Kindercamp 40. This bag has a similar price and feel to our top pick, the Kindercone 25, and it also uses polyester in its shell and fill. The Kindercamp 40 is not quite as warm, but that may not matter to you. And some kids may simply prefer the roomier feel of a rectangular bag.

It can unzip into a blanket. Like many—but not all—rectangular sleeping bags, the Kindercamp 40 easily unzips into a flat rectangle. So a kid could use it as a bedspread, on a bunk or twin bed, and then zip it back into a bag for added warmth when needed.

But it’s not as warm overall. With a 40 ˚F temperature rating, the Kindercamp 40 won’t keep your kid as warm as any of our other picks will. It also doesn’t have a hood, which the Kindercone 25 and many other bags do have. The Kindercamp 40 does have a cinch around the top, though, so a kid can cocoon inside if desired.

The stuff sack is tethered to the bag, but it can rip off. The Kindercamp 40’s shape prevents it from being designed with the fully attached sack that makes the Kindercone 25 so easy to stuff back into its carry bag. Instead, the Kindercamp 40’s stuff sack is attached to the bag with a small tether. This is still convenient and will prevent the sack from getting lost—that is, unless it’s somehow ripped off, which actually happened when we sent this bag to sleepaway camp with one particularly high-energy 8-year-old tester.

The Kindercamp 40 is also covered under REI’s warranty.

The Little Red is backcountry-ready for kids under 4-foot-5. There’s a sleeping-pad pocket on the back of the bag, for added warmth and comfort; you do have to supply your own pad, though.

For kids who are older than about kindergarten age, the Wolverine is likely a better fit—it works for those up to about 4-foot-8.

If your family does a lot of cold-weather camping, it could be worth it to get one of these Big Agnes bags for your kid. They both stand out for their built-in sleeping-pad sleeves, which will keep your kid on the pad—and thus warmer and more comfortable—all night long.

Big Agnes makes kid bags in three sizes, all rated to 20 ˚F. The Little Red is made for kids up to 4-foot-5. The nearly identical Wolverine is for kids up to about 4-foot-8 (though, as we found with the REI Co-op Kindercone 25, this bag can fit kids a bit taller than that). And the adjustable Torchlight is intended for those up to 5-foot-4.

If we were buying a Big Agnes bag for a 2- or 3-year-old, we’d get the Little Red, assuming the kid would get at least three years of use out of it. For any child older than that, we’d likely go straight to the Wolverine (unless there’s a younger sibling who will also need a little sleeping bag in the future, in which case it may be more practical to get a Little Red for a kindergarten-age kid). A Boulder, Colorado, dad we know bought a Big Agnes bag for his son when he was just 1. “In tents, in sub-freezing temps, he’s cozy and never wakes up,” the dad wrote to us, praising the sleeping bag’s stay-put pad system.

They create a warmer setup. Big Agnes built its reputation on high-quality sleeping bags with built-in sleeping-pad sleeves that—when stuffed with a sleeping pad you buy separately—eliminate the need for insulation in the bottom of the bag.

At first, we thought the system seemed a bit much for little kids. But a couple of mid-30s February nights in Joshua Tree convinced us of the Little Red’s superiority for cold-weather camping. At the time, we were putting our 5-year-old’s sleeping bag on an old Therm-a-Rest sleeping pad left over from our backpacking days. He’d typically roll off of it in the middle of the night—not such a big deal when it’s not too cold out. But on truly chilly nights, it was nice to know that his insulating pad was going to securely stay under his little, 37-pound body, significantly reducing the chance he’d wake up wedged between air mattresses—cold, confused, and begging to climb into bed with Mom and Dad. The Big Agnes system solved a problem that had never occurred to us needed solving.

But it may require purchasing a new sleeping pad as well. Any 20-inch-wide camping pad that’s less than about 4¼ inches thick will slot into the Big Agnes bags. Therm-a-Rest’s Z Lite Sol, the budget pick in our guide to the best sleeping pads, will fit in its regular or small version, and it’s a great choice for kids since it’s close to indestructible. Nemo Equipment makes a short version of its Switchback pad, and that’s another option, as is this self-inflating kid-size pad from REI.

It’s lighter and packs down smaller. All of the Big Agnes kids bags have a polyester ripstop shell with water-repellent coating, and they use a proprietary synthetic fill. They pack down smaller than the REI bags do, making them a good option for first backpacking trips. The Wolverine bag weighs 2 pounds 4 ounces; that’s notably lighter than the similarly sized Kindercone 25, which weighs 3 pound 3 ounces.

It’s more expensive, though. Some parents may choose to reserve pricey gear like this for camping only, and they instead buy a cheaper bag for sleepovers, fort-building, and the like. And there’s no doubt that your kid risks looking like a pint-size gear geek if she packs two tiny stuff sacks (one for the sleeping bag, one for the pad) for a birthday sleepover where everyone else is cuddling up with Elsa and Anna sleeping bags. Then again, she may be the only one to get a good night’s rest.

The Big Agnes bags have a discretionary warranty.

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If you want a high-quality flannel-lined bag. L.L.Bean’s Kids’ Flannel Lined Camp Sleeping Bag is a great choice. This cozy bag has strong reviews and a throwback aesthetic that could feel just right for car camping or summer camp. Like many rectangular bags, it can fully unzip and lie flat like a comforter. This bag is relatively heavy, bulky, and expensive, however, and it’s rated to 40 ˚F, so it’s not as appropriate for cold nights as some of our picks. The Kids’ L.L.Bean Cotton-Blend Camp Sleeping Bag is similar, but it has a regular cotton lining instead of flannel.

If you want something cute for little-kid sleepovers. We recommend the Pottery Barn Kids Shaggy Head Bear Sleeping Bag in our guide to the best gifts for 2-year-olds. This snuggly cotton bag is a fun choice for indoor slumber parties. But it’s much bulkier and heavier than the picks in this guide, and it won’t provide as much warmth or any moisture protection for camping.

If you’re not sure whether your kid is too big for a kid-size bag. We’d err on the side of getting an adult-size sleeping bag that will see more years of use. The top pick in our overall guide to the best sleeping bags is the affordable REI Co-op Siesta Hooded 20, a synthetic bag that’s ideal for car camping.

Fighting the cold: Though a sleeping bag with a lower temperature rating should keep a kid warmer, the surface the bag is placed on also matters. When temperatures are mild, plenty of kids are just fine slapping their bags directly on the ground (did the backyard campouts of a few decades ago happen any other way?). But on cold nights, the more insulation there is between a little body and the heat-sucking earth, the better. A foam sleeping pad or insulated air mattress made for camping is probably best, but an exercise mat, cheap piece of foam, or cotton futon could work too. Even a folded blanket placed under a pint-size sleeping bag will make a difference in fighting off the chill.

In cold weather, put your kid to bed in warm socks and jammies and a hat (maybe one that snaps under the chin so it stays put). Bring a hot-water bottle from home, or make your own at the campsite by filling an actual water bottle with hot water. Stick it inside a thick sock, and then stuff it in the bag with your chilly child. Just make sure the bottle is protected enough that it doesn’t risk scalding your kid’s skin. Hot cocoa before bed never hurts, either.

Cleaning: Avoid the wear and tear of machine-washing when a good spot-cleaning will do. Following our particularly sticky and dusty trip to Joshua Tree, we slung bags over the clothesline and simply wiped them down with a wet cloth. (No, our kid did not brush his teeth before bed, and evidence suggests he may have hit the sack with marshmallows still gripped in his grimy fists.) Most companies recommend that bags be washed in the bathtub or in a front-load washer, using cold water and gentle soaps (REI carries these). Our article on washing sleeping bags walks you through the process, and you can read additional care tips from REI here and from Big Agnes here.

Storage: It’s better to store a sleeping bag out of its stuff sack, though who has the room to do that? Of the bags we looked at, only the Big Agnes bags and the REI Co-op Down Time come with two storage bags—a compression sack (for on the trail) and a larger, looser mesh bag (for long-term storage). As with any camping gear, avoid mildew by ensuring a sleeping bag is completely dry before returning it to its bag. Big Agnes’s FAQ includes a discussion of optimum storage.

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We used to list the REI Co-op Down Time 25 in this guide as a good option for camping or backpacking, but as of early 2024 it’s been discontinued. This mummy-shaped bag is rated 25 ˚F and packs down to a satisfyingly compact size in its included nylon stuff sack (it also comes with a bigger mesh bag for storage). The one we tested held up well over three years of camping trips and sleepovers.

We tested the Kelty Kids Mistral 30, a relatively affordable mummy-style bag. The quality seemed good, but this bag was notably less lofty than the Kindercone 25, and it wasn’t a favorite of our kid testers. Kelty also now makes the Mistral 20, but we have not tested it.

In 2023 we ordered a Soulout sleeping bag from Amazon, after seeing it specifically recommended on the packing list for a White Mountains hiking camp. It comes in lots of colors and would be fine for car camping, but it’s heavier than our picks, and the fabrics and zippers don’t feel as soft or durable.

We also recently tried out the Teton Sports Li’l Bridger, a hefty canvas sleeping bag with an old-school camp look. At 4½ pounds, this bag is heavier and bulkier than any other one we’ve tested, and we think that makes it less convenient. Also, the “flannel” lining doesn’t really feel like flannel. But if you like the look and don’t mind the bulk, it’s rated down to 0 ˚F. And, like the Kindercamp 40, it fully unzips to double as a blanket.

We looked at the Teton Sports Celsius Junior 20˚. This bag is less expensive than our picks, and it could be a fine option if you want a warm, moisture-resistant bag that costs less. But the materials feel cheaper. And unlike many rectangular bags, it doesn’t fully unzip, so it can’t be used as a blanket.

We tested a previous generation of L.L.Bean’s Adventure Sleeping Bag for kids, and we concluded that the Kindercone 25 was a better value. The L.L.Bean bag has been redesigned, and it has some nice features. We haven’t tested the new version, but overall, L.L.Bean’s kids sleeping bags remain more expensive than REI’s.

We previously tested kids sleeping bags from Eureka and Kelty that have since been discontinued.

This guide was edited by Rachel Hurn and Christine Ryan.

Kalee Thompson

Kalee Thompson is the senior editor heading up the team responsible for health, fitness, baby, and kid coverage at Wirecutter. She has previously been a writer on the emergency prep and outdoor beats and is the author of two non-fiction books: Deadliest Sea and The Border Within.

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