Help, first night with newborn what’s should she wear?

[Itsnoteasyfeelingqueasy]

Hi, I had my baby in hospital yesterday evening and unfortunately felt a-bit abandoned after the birth. My husband and I dressed baby in a short sleeve vest and cellular blacket double folders. At this point the room felt boiling. We tried rest then a midwife came in and said our baby was very cold. She put her on my chest skin to skin with a woolly hat on and left us to warm her up. We felt terrible. She returned to recheck temperature and thankfully it had come up. She dressed her in the vest, plus a baby grow, wolly hay and wrapped cellular blacket. We were moved to the ward. I was shocked how much clothing our baby needed. I thought babies overheating was a major concern and hadn’t really considered them being too cold. So today she wore a vest and baby grow. Her chest feels warm temp 36.6, we were thinking of vest, babygrown and one layer cellular blacket? SIDS advice is no hat indoors but the hospital were very pro hats! By the way my baby was full term, no health concerns, weight 6lb 9. I have a gro egg to tell room temp. What should she wear?

Vest, gro, and blanket sounds great. You sound like you are very sensible and will check for a warm/ cold little one. Congratulations!

The general rule is 1 mor Elster than you're comfortable wearing.

I've found that brand new babies lose and gain heat very quickly so if they're cold then pop a cotton hat on.

Ultimately, don't stress. You're doing your best :)

Wow congrats

Congratulations!

Maternity wards are very odd places with lots of passive aggressive slamming shut of windows in my experience.

I dressed my June (middle of a heatwave) baby in a vest and baby grow with a cellular blanket as a swaddle. For sleeping I would also tuck another blanket over the top but single layer so not folded.

I kept the hat off in hospital. If they challenge again ask someone to properly explain how they feel your baby should be dressed for the temperature of the room

Congratulations vest, baby grow and cellular blanket sounds about right to me. As a generally rule of thumb baby wants one more layer than you. But if you have a Gro egg you might find this helpful, You’ve got this!
gro.co.uk/what-to-wear/

I also wouldn’t put a hat on a baby indoors in warm summer time

If you've been discharged baby will be fine in a vest + sleepsuit.

They are a bit touchy about keeping them warm in hospital because when they are very new they can struggle to maintain their body temperature and keep trying to fall to the ambient temperature of the room (this is probably because they're supposed to be skin to skin with you, which regulates their temperature beautifully). But once they've given you the OK to come home, you don't need to worry about bundling them up against the "freezing" 20 degree room any more. No hats, unless it's winter and you're outside. And then, yes, the concern about overheating applies instead!

The gro chart is quite good, I found my babies tended to want a layer or two more than the chart suggested though.

Don't worry. I had exactly the same argument/misconception where I got told off for baby being too cold and I worried about him overheating, when I had my second! You'd think I'd have known :)

One more layer on the body than you would be wearing comfortably. Putting her on you skin to skin with nothing but a hat on? Just go with vest, onesie and cellular blanket. I wouldn't be putting a hat on baby indoors at this time of year though.

Firstly congratulations! I remember having this exact same panicked thought the week I was due. Loads of great advise has been posted, and I really reccomend the gro company newborn sleeping bags which work alongside the groegg and reduce the need for blankets. They were a game changer for us!

Congratulations again, and enjoy your wonderful newborn

Thank you so much everyone, such lovely supportive comments! Total opposite of the maternity ward where @Passmethecrisps you are totally right about the vibe there! I found them less than helpful and couldn’t wait to leave. I rung the bell at 4am cos I was sitting in sheets covered in blood from episiotomy couldn’t really move due up epidural and catheter baby crying despite have had some milk. Someone came and I said tearfully “ I’m in a bit of a mess here” showed the blood and said I don’t know why baby is crying. I was hoping for some suggestions and kindness and ideally clean sheets. I got none of these, they put a plastic into sheet over the blood and seemed irritated that was asking why my baby was crying, they weren’t offering suggestions so I just asked for more formula to try feeding her again. Unfortunately I rung again a short while later and a different nurse came but was exactly the same response. A lovely healthcare assistant finally changed my bed about 7 am. I definitely felt being there did me more harm than good.

Anyway we came home and survived the first night. Baby stared off in vest, baby gro and swaddle but later on I changed her to vest, swaddle and cellular blanket. All the poppers on the baby grows are so fiddly! She seems happy in the swaddle and slept for blocks of an hour between feeds.

The gro egg chart is really helpful. Thank you all xx

Good morning! It’s a shame that the wards aren’t a little more kind during the night. I had exactly the same experience as you - absolutely numb and couldn’t reach my baby when she cried.

Anyway, you are home now and you can spend all the time you need picking up your baby’s cues about what makes her happy and comfortable.

Happy cuddles!

Ow bless you OP that sounds so tough. Maternity wards can be so hit and miss, it baffles me that they'd treat a brand new mum who is in pain that way. A little empathy wouldn't go amiss. Glad you are home now and congrats on your lovely baby!

What you've put them in sounds absolutely fine. I too got told off in the hospital, it was like a sauna in there but apparently baby still needed a hat and blankets.... The gro chart as PP have suggested is really helpful, and ultimately if the baby is a little chilly they will let you know.

Congrats

Btw the hat thing - we were told by NCT never put the baby to sleep on a hat. In hospital I was told for the first 24 hours they need the hat, after that no hat to sleep.

I hated every minute on the maternity ward. Most of the staff are doing their best but they’re so understaffed. Horrid that you were left sitting in your own blood for hours and they were so unsympathetic 🙁

Thank you so much, the maternity ward was definitely under staffed. It’s such a shame as I’m sure they had so much knowledge and experience that I would found helpful but unfortunately they were way to busy to be able to spend anytime with me at all. It was a complete waste of time being there and has left me with some horrible memories. I’m thankful the actual birth was was positive and I had a lovely midwife with me