Help - Newborns, bedding and temperatures

[lucidlady]

The FSID guidelines state that bedrooms should be no more than 16 - 20 degrees. In terms of bedclothes, swaddling seems to be recommended for newborns, but with no additional layers other than the swaddling blanket, which is a thin cotton.

I am deeply confused. If I was to sleep in just a thin cotton blanket, I'd be freezing. What do/ did you do with your newborns at bedtime?

DD has a cotton sleepsuit on under the swaddling blanket and I have put a cotton cellular blanket over the top - is this too much??

No - ds4 is 12 days - he has gone to bed in one vest and two sleepsuits. He is swaddled in fleece blanket (not tightly) and then has wool blanket over top tucked in. We live in Scotland and it's cold - reckon well get to about 14 degrees in here tonight. Remember no hats though. Hv told me' to stick fingers down this front to check his skin warm on chest and he would be ok. His hands always feel cold though.

Most of the guidelines really overplay keeping them cool I think, then you end up with a cold baby that won't sleep! Fully agree with Lollystix about making sure the chest/tum/back are warm, don't worry about hands and feet.

I got my DS into a sleeping back as quickly as possible (about 3 weeks old for him as he piled on the pounds) and that was much easier. Grobag do a sleep guide which gives you an idea of what they should be wearing at different temps under a sleeping bag and the 1.0tog is probably about the same as a swaddle blanket.

Don't forget babies have massive metabolism so they produce lots of heat and genuinely do need much less in the way of covers in bed. My DS, now 16 months, sleeps in his "winter" 2.5tog bag and gets pretty toasty, whereas I'm shivering under my 13.5tog duvet!

Hope that helps.

In retrospect I think that my poor DD1 was far too cold in the early days poor baby! It was winter and her room was on the cooler side (approx 16 degrees) and I would put her to bed in a cotton vest, cotton sleep suit, cotton swaddling blanket then cotton cellular blanket - in accordance with guidelines I had read about not over heating. Obviously she was freezing and crying all night. My Mum arrived took one look and insisted I popped a lovely warm cashmere baby blanket she had brought with on top of all that. DD1 was much happier and slept much better after that. With the next two babies (also winter babies) I was much more confident about judging their temp. It is certainly true that they mustn't over heat and probably don't need as many covers as we do, but in the winter if the room is cool then a warm baby blanket (not just the cotton cellular type) is probably required. I used sleeping bags from 6 weeks with all mine and that did make things easier to manage.

DS born in last year's winter used to go to bed on a sheepskin, in two sleepsuits, with a hat, in a sleeping bag and at least one blanket.

go into her room with your pj's on if you are cold she needs the extra blanket, if your cool but ok she is fine, if you are warm take something off her. Babies need one moor layer than parent, if of course its perishing in her room, think about moving her tell spring.

Hat is a bad plan.

At 16 degrees I'd go wit a vest, sleepsuit and blanket swaddled or sleeping bag, keeping an eye open for the possibility of another blanket needed if not using a sleeping bag.

At 20-24 I'd do the same, without thinking about the possibility of an extra blanket.

At 24+ I'd leave out the sleepsuit but do the rest.

My newborn DD had a long sleeved vest and 2.5 tog sleeping bag. Bedroom was about 18 degrees maximum. Did the same with DS. I was paranoid about overheating them.

I'm the same with them now, and feel quite guilty when I see friend's babies and toddlers out in fleecy all in ones - even in this mild weather. I reckon my kids will grow up very hardy!

Merino wool swaddles and sleeping bags are wonderful because they keep babies cool when it's warm and warm when it's cold. I fretted constantly about room temperature and sleepwear/blankets till I discovered this. Dd had a Cocooi (or something like that) swaddle blanket then a Merino Kids sleeping bag.

Oh, why no hat? I have a 3 week old and he sleeps much better with a hat on at night. He also has a vest, sleepsuit, two fleece blankets and a thin bobble blnket on. When I feel the back of his neck he seems fine - but now I'm worried.

There is a danger of young babies sleeping too well and too deeply. It's thought to be a contributing factor to SIDS as they might not rouse themselves if there's a problem. It sounds like your baby has an awful lot of layers on. Mine don't have half that even when it's minus 20 outside. Is your bedroom really freezing?

Yes, I was wondering about the no hat thing. DS wore a hat pretty much 24 hours a day till he was about 3 months. He had no hair to speak of and it was properly perishing in the house last winter (we were having work done and were missing a wall for a while). It was 12 degrees in our room or less a lot of the time.