(From a doula who wants you to get outside!)
Winter is here! And if you are having a baby soon, you are probably wondering how to dress them properly for the cold. Keeping a baby warm is important, but how can we know we are dressing our babies enough?
Babies use up blood sugar to keep warm, and they need those nutrients so they can grow and put fat layers on their little bodies. We can help them out with enough clothing so they aren’t working too hard to warm themselves.
A general rule about dressing infants is to put them in one more layer than what we are comfortable in. So if you are in pants and a shirt (single layer), baby can be comfortable with long pant and sleeve sleeper with an undershirt beneath, or swaddle overtop. If you need a sweater to be comfortable, your baby will want a blanket over top of their sweater. And if it’s very cold and you are in a coat, baby will be in a full body fleece or jacket layer over their clothes, with the addition of a heavy blanket or bunting bag (stroller muff).
If you are wearing your baby in a carrier or wrap, your body combined with the wrap/carrier count as a layer! I personally am a big fan of this. When my kids were babies, we had some cold and snowy winters and I found baby wearing to be the most reassuring on cold days. I would dress us in our warm inner layers and before my coat went on, I would tie the baby to me, and then wrap the outside layers ( big coat and scarf) around us both. I was not only able to use my body heat to keep my babies warm, but I was my own built in thermometer for the temperature of our bodies, in a way I never could with a stroller.
Please keep in mind that windchill warning days exist for the more vulnerable members of our population, and your baby is counted among them! So if the weather report is warning of extreme cold, keep your baby inside, and only take them outside for short 10-15 minute periods (following the one more layer rule of course).
As for chilly days inside the house, pick one thing to keep warm: house or baby! If you have the heat cranked above 23 degrees, please don’t heavily dress your baby. If your home is on the chillier side, then follow the one more layer rule. Ideal temperature for a baby’s room while they sleep in pyjamas and swaddle is 19 degrees! So keep those babies warm, but don’t overheat them either.
And if you’re ever in doubt that your baby is at a comfortable temperature (especially when they are still a tiny newborn) get down to skin to skin and put a breathable blanket over you both. A parent’s own internal temperature will help to regulate their baby’s. The birthing parent can raise their own internal temperature 2 degrees to warm a cold baby, and can even drop a degree to cool an overly warm baby. A non birthing parent’s temperature will even go up a degree to warm them! Our bodies are wired to support our baby’s safety and growth, so if you are following your instincts, you are probably doing the right thing!
Getting outside is important! You and your baby both could use the fresh air, and anyway, crying is a lot easier to listen to outside 😉
Book Mira for a 1 on 1 session for newborn care tips and skill building here!