What to dress baby in? Help needed!

[roseswade]

Hi all, FTM here!

My baby is one week old and I’ve been non stop stressing about what to dress her in!

Please could someone give me advice / a breakdown for:

What to dress baby in when going outside (temp is ranging from between 14-20 degrees over the next week and I’m unsure what to put such a little baby in.

What to dress baby in overnight (room temp is quite warm, usually around 23 degrees). We’ve been swaddling in a Love to Dream 1 tog with a vest underneath and she seems ok.

A general clothing guideline for temps would be amazing and such a huge help!

The attached should help for nighttime :)

Day time - unless it's absolutely boiling, I would put her in a sleep suit, then a babygrow. Then perhaps a light cellular blanket. Every time it goes up a few degrees, lose a layer. You will know when they're too hot or cold. Check the back of their neck. PM if you need more help :)

In the daytime at the moment I am doing the 'what I am wearing plus a layer' thing, so she is in a sleeveless vest/bodysuit, a teeshirt and leggings. If we go out for a walk in the pram I wrap her in a large muslin too.

Thank you!

Don't worry too much though. With such a small baby, you're probably picking her up for feeds and changes a lot so you can assess them regularly and adjust if you need to.

I think my kids lived in onesies. My son ran hot, so didn't wear a lot of layers.
23 degrees overnight is quite warm. I used sleeping bags (though yours may be a bit young). Never used blankets or swaddled, just a sleepsuit

I'm with you OP. I'm due in august and fretting about how to dress a baby. The terminology for baby clothes confuse me too, as a PP said I would put her in a sleep suit, then a babygrow to me they are the same thing right?

I'm just going to try and go with the 'one more layer than you' thing (even though I run hot so that's going to be tricky) and keep feeling baby's back / belly to check they're not too hot.

I have a 7 year old but I remember freaking out about this so much! And then the monitor would tell me his nursery was too hot and beep at me. It's very stressful so you have my sympathies

I think by sleepsuit the pp means what I'd call a vest! Also known as a bodysuit, they're legless and either sleeveless, short sleeved or long sleeved. Sleepsuit or babygrow is what I'd call a long sleeved long legged one, although some people now call these onesies, and others say babygrow when they mean what I'd call a vest! I even went to a nearly new sale last year where the mum selling told me she had sleeping bags and then presented me with a pile of sleepsuits/babygrows! It's very confusing, I agree!
My kids were born June, July and September and in the sort of weather we're having ATM I'd either put them in a short sleeved/sleeveless item then a long sleeved one with a thin blanket/big muslin to cover. Sometimes they'd just be in a long sleeved one if it seemed a bit warmer, sometime they'd have a cardigan on the top of it seemed a bit cooler, then on really warm days it'd just be a short sleeved one. Thin blankets/muslins which can be layered are your friends! Also remember that skin-to-skin is great to maintain their temperature in any weather, just cover them with something (thickness depending on air temperature). Can be sweaty for you if it's really hot though, and be careful when you remove them because they'll probably have stuck to you!

@MatriarchalDreams really helpful, thank you!

Don't over think it OP, it's just clothes. You've been dressing yourself for decades now, use that as a guide.

Our baby is 2 weeks old and he wears a vest and socks during the day, with a fairly lightweight blanket if he’s put down. He spends so much time on me feeding that he’s always nice and warm.

At night he wears a long sleeve baby grow and has a swaddle blanket over him, tucked in at the sides (he likes to chew his hands so doesn’t like being swaddled).

When we go for a walk, this week we’ve kept him in his vest and just put a wooly blanket over the top or a cotton one if it’s particularly warm. When it was a bit colder last week we put a long sleeve baby grow over the top of his vest and added a hat.

We weren’t sure if he’d be too cold in the vests to start with. The midwife said they were much more worried about us dressing up baby to be too hot. It’s okay for their arms and legs to be cooler than the rest of them

@MatriarchalDreams yes thanks for the help with the clothing names. It totally baffles me 🤯🤯

I remember stressing so much in the early
Days about clothes layers and room temp. It's amazing how quickly you get to know your baby. They will tell you if they are cold. Overheating is more dangerous however the best advice I was given was stay away from fleece blankets, never wear a hat inside, check back of neck or chest each time you pick them up (don't go by hands or feet temp as they are often cold) and finally for sleep follow any of the very many sleeping bag guides online. Even if not using a sleeping bag yet just Treat one blanket as 1 tog (but remember
Each form you fold the blanket it counts as another dog so if you fold 3
Times in to a smaller square that would be 3 tog).

Thanks all! Some great tips and reassurance.

In terms of hats, should one always be worn outside on a baby so young (1 week), or if it’s 20+ degrees like today is that not necessary?

Or would it be better for something like a summer hat?

@roseswade

Or would it be better for something like a summer hat?

Yeah, I think do always put on a summer hat, they need the shade from the sun. A legionnaires hat is a good idea, they have a brim at the front and neck protection at the back.

My second is a year old and I'm still shit at this. Last autumn when the weather was changeable I brought her overdressed and sweating for nursery pickup one day and underdressed and freezing the next.

If they're too hot (which is the one you want to avoid) they'll feel hot and sweaty. If they're too cold (which won't do them any harm) they'll be uncomfortable and cry a bit so you'll know.

Basically, don't overthink it.

Oh, and neither of mine ever wore hats, except a sun hat for the odd nanosecond before they took it off again.

If it’s indoor temperature outside eg. No colder outside than it is in the house we use a summer hat. Or non at all if it isn’t sunny and we have the hood up on the pram.

I’ve been using the guide pp posted a photo of for night, and the attached photo for day which a friend sent me. At the moment usually a vest in the day with a muslin or cellular blanket on hand to layer up if necessary, but she spends a lot of the day on me regulating her temperature via skin to skin. In the night at the moment either a vest and swaddle or vest and swaddle bag and our house is the same temperature as yours at night but I do worry! When it got really hot the other day she was in a nappy most of the day and then just a vest in the night x

I used to feel my baby’s tummy to check if she was too hot or too cold in what I dressed her in. I dressed her in onesies, little T-shirt and baby leggings with the press studs for changing nappies, cotton cardigan all in newborn sizes.

Following is a copy and paste on dressing baby for sleep:

Dressing baby for bed: the basics
Dress in layers
Dress your baby in layers of fitted clothing rather than just thick pyjamas. You can add or take away layers as the temperature changes.
No hats and beanies in bed
Babies cool themselves down by releasing heat from their heads and faces.
Babies can quickly overheat if they fall asleep wearing hats or beanies. So it’s important to keep your baby’s head uncoveredduring sleep. Headwear in bed can also be a choking or suffocation hazard.
Baby’s temperature
Your baby’s hands and feet might feel cool, but this isn’t a good indication of temperature. You can find out how hot your baby really is byfeeling baby’s back or tummy.
raisingchildren.net.au/babies/sleep/sleep-safety/dressing-for-bed

www.madeformums.com/reviews/best-kids-sun-hats/

Hope this link helps for sun hats for newborns. It’s from the Uk. The images were cute but I couldn’t copy and paste them here.

Short sleeve or sleeveless vest plus babygro

I remember positing the exact same thing when my little one was born. He will be 2 next month.

Don’t stress or overthink it. It’s easy to do though!

Our little one wore vests throughout the day when he was born as it was so warm initially. I remember the midwife came in and stripped him off and I felt like a terrible mum. (He had hat on and everything lol).

At night he also had a vest on. That was only if it was really warm. We stayed in a flat and the heat was ridiculous when he was born. Then had him in wee onesies. He was fine. Didn’t stop me checking him constantly though

Enjoy this time and congratulations