What should my baby be wearing

[BelleEtoile]

Hi everyone.
I need advice on what clothes should my 6 week baby be wearing - how many layers etc.
The house is pretty warm 22-24 degrees, drops to 21 at night. (Very well insulated house but with good ventilation)

He is asleep at the moment in a Tesco babygrow/sleepsuit and a cellular blanket folded over (2 layers)

What should he be wearing:

1. In the house during the day
2. During the night (I tried a growbag but he hated it - think it was the collar at his neck that irritated him)
3. When we are out and about 8 - 13 degrees - typical spring weather.
4. Do you take off some outdoor layers when the baby gets into the car or when we go into a shop or shopping centre either in a car seat or maybe at some stage in the bassinet.

I really haven't a clue, I've been avoiding going out as I don't want baby to be cold and I don't know how to dress him.

I know you are suppose to put on one extra layer than what you are wearing but I'm a cold creature - I don't break out the short sleeves unless it's close to 30 degrees.

Just go with what you feel is right. Your baby will let you know if too hot or too cold. If you feel it's too hot for them take a layer off and if you feel it's too cold add some more layers. My mum thinks I'm freezing my son half the time and I think I boil him half the time. Just add a blanket or two if chilly when outside then when you walk indoors just remember to remove those and any jackets.

As for the car I've never really undressed my son to get in the car because you can control the temperature of the car.

Have you tried swaddling? Maybe your son will like gro bags when he's bigger, we swaddled for 2-3 months then swapped to gro bags. I'd give swaddling a go maybe or just covering with blankets. I think what your doing when he's asleep is completely fine, we do they during the day for naps.

You'll find what works best for you, I didn't have a clue and I still feel like I overdress my son on sunny days (partly due to being born in November so was always wrapped up warm)

Also put at least a hat on or pull hoods up if it's chilly out to keep heat in and protect his ears!

When he was very little I put my son in a vest and baby grow to sleep, swaddles in a light blanket at first and later in a sleep sack.

As for out and about I generally use the "one more layer than you" as a good starting point. So today I went to the shop in a t shirt and fleece so baby wore long sleeves vest, trousers/t shirt and a fleece lined cardigan. Try not to let your worry about temperature stop you going out - it's true that they let you know if they're too warm or cold (take an extra jacket/blanket just in case).

Thanks guys. I suppose I don't have built up my instincts yet. This sounds so silly but I had to go to the shop today for nappies and I raced home as I was so unsure if DS was ok - completely illogical I know!

Actually it's not strictly true that a baby will tell you whether they are too hot or cold. Cold, yes (unless they are so cold they're unconscious) but if they get too warm they can quickly get all sleepy and lethargic. So it's perfectly reasonable to be worried about this.

During the day in such a warm house like yours I would use one body/sleep suit. If he gets a bit pink in the cheeks or hands feel warm I'd put him in a vest instead.

I used to use vest and baby leggings because the leggings were an easy layer to add/remove if need be.

If going out for a walk in his pram this time of year I would put him in a vest, a sleep suit, a cardigan, a pram suit and a hat with a folded blanket or two for the coldest days.

If he's in his pram suit and you go into a warm shop you can pull back the blanket and unbutton the front of his pram suit.

If going out in the car and then using his car seat to go in and out of warm shops I would put on a thicker cardigan / jacket and loose the pram suit and hat. Keep the blanket for outdoors.

Night is more difficult. If you can keep him using blankets instead of a sleeping bag that's great because they build up heat under the blankets whereas using the bags the mattress or air around them doesn't warm up.

Mine were wrigglers though so I used the sleeping bags. I only ever used Gro Bags though because they came with tog ratings (like duvets) and a very helpful guide as to how many layers to wear at what temperatures. They don't have a collar either.

21 degrees is very warm for a baby's room. 18 is optimum. At 21 I used to use a long sleeve body and a summer weight Gro Bag. At 24 degrees they used to sleep in just a vest.

Gro Store have a few bags on sale.

www.gro-store.com/rascal-racoon-0-6m-2-5-tog-grobag.html?___store=default&nosto=nosto-page-category1

And this page might be useful.

www.gro-store.com/grobag-guide

Babies hands and feet should be cool
Feel babies back. Should be warm but not hot.

Generally, one thin layer more than you.

You can check easily enough whether they feel sweaty or clammy. One of my boys didn't need a lot of clothes as he was always hot and, once mobile, dying to rip them off.

I used to get extremely stressed out dressing my baby when they were new born, had to get my husband to step in on many occasions!
One thing that helped was writing out a 'cheat sheet '. It had 3 or 4 headings (something like Hot, Normal, Breezy and Cold) and I literally just wrote out what layers I'd need to dress her in. So cute example Hot = dress or romper, Cold =vest, onsie and jumper, and the others were somewhere in between. Keep it super simple and put it in the drawer with the baby's clothes and at least it'll stop you from over- thinking and hopefully help you get out of the house.
I used to always take baby's hat off and unzip costs or jumpers if we went into shops but looking back now it always woke her up and then she'd be unsettled and I'd start panicking that she'd never go back to sleep, so when I have my next I'll be leaving hats and coats on for shipping unless the temperature difference between inside and outside is extreme!
In a few weeks you'll be looking back and wondering how this ever seemed so stressful, I promise

I think we are quite a warm family as Dan my tend to have a lot of layers.

Mine just wears a sleep suit as a base / around the house, I'll put a blanket over him if it feels cool or he's asleep (house is cooler than yours 17-20 degrees).

If I'm going out in car/to shops etc. I just tend to stick a blanket over on his car seat. If we go out in pram then he wears a hoodie, a little hat if it's cold and blanket or two.

My baby (second child) is 9 weeks old. He mostly wears a short sleeved vest/bodysuit, and a baby grow. Day and night. At night he is in a sleepyhead, with a blanket over him. I have a variety of blankets for different thickness.

In the day I put a blanket over him if it's a bit chilly but usually not.

When we go out, I warm the car up and thinner blanket over hus car seat. If walking I use a baby carrier which keeps him (and me!) really warm. He keeps the same clothes,no outdoor clothes, but has a hat and mittens, and an outer cover over the carrier that is fleecy and showerproof and has a hood. If very cold/windy I zip my jacket over him too.

He often looks under dressed compared to other babies but is never cold.

We've got something that I think is called a footmuff in her buggy. Makes the car and going in and out of shops much easier as you can just unzip and fold down rather than a pram suit where you have to unfasten the harness to undress them. It's one of my top recommendations for any new parents.

If you get any of the Gro Bag products, they have a useful guide about how many layers your baby needs according to the room temperature. They may have it on their website too.

Babies should never wear thick clothes like coats in their car seats btw as it's extremely dangerous in an accident. This is because you can't tighten the straps of the seat adequately if your baby is wearing thick clothes.

Wow thank you all so much for your advice. 💐
I really appreciate it especially the real life examples.
I hope to get out and about this weekend so hopefully I'll be able to do so with less anxiety. 😀

My second was born at the beginning of March (not this year, she's 4 now ) so would've been the same type of season as yours.

She wore vests and babygrows with fold over mitts during the day at home, i added a wool cardigan and hat to go out. If she was in the sling I'd leave the cardigan as she was wrapped in that and i wore a thin jacket over us both. If she was in the pram she had a blanket or footmuff.

I removed blankets/unzipped footmuff in the pram and unzipped my jacket/removed her hat in the sling when we went inside.

It's best to avoid padded/bulky clothing in the car as it can affect the safety of the harness so i had a thin cotton footmuff on the car seat.

At night she wore babygrows or a babygown under a cellular blanket, she hated being swaddled and despised grobags which was a shock to the system as DS wouldn't sleep without one of these! Later on she just wore a fleece suit as she wouldn't keep blankets on!

Go with what you feel is right.
When my baby was 6 weeks old it was October, but not very cold. He had a short sleeve vest and babygrow on to sleep, covered with 1 cellular blanket and the coverlet from the crib bedding set.
To go out he had a short sleeve vest, t shirt (long or short sleeved), jeans or tracksuit bottoms, and a jumper or little zip up jacket, with a warmer wooly/ knitted type jacket over the top. He was always in the carrycot with a blanket over him.
We just did what felt best day to day.

It tells you here what they should be wearing:

www.gro-store.com/grobag-guide

A useful tip i was given is to feel their core temperature by touching the skin on their chest with your fingers to see if they are too hot or cold. You can do this at night or day to reassure yourself. I've also found the 'star blanket' handy as I can easily adjust their temperature. I wrap them up to go out, unwrap in the car, and add and take off blankets/hats as needed e.g. Going into shops - remove blanket, walk in the park with baby in pram - add blanket and hat. I try not to overwrap them if using a sling, as they also have my body heat, but add more layers if they are in the carry cot lying still with no human heat.