How to dress baby in a sling?

[Sophie9090]

I really struggle with knowing how to dress my LO when wearing a sling, he’s 5 months old, is facing me in the sling and is out of my coat.

I heard you shouldn’t use pram-suits, but I keep seeing parents on social media with their LO in all in one fluffy style pram suits (they don’t look padded so not a thick pram suit) I’m worried I underdress my LO now.

If we are walking outdoors I usually dress him in thick joggers, short sleeve vest, long sleep top and cardi or jumper, with sock and thick booties and a hat. If we are doing indoor shopping he would wear the same but maybe minus the hat.

What do you dress your LO in?

I had the same worries! LO is 4mo now and we always use a sling. I have read so many articles saying NOT to overdress and that a LO will let you know if they’re cold but not if they’re too hot.

I dress her in whatever she is wearing in the house, plus booties and a hat. I’ve checked her temp on her back a few times and always toastie, and I just give lots of kisses to the exposed cheek!

I’d dress them in exactly what you’ve said except id also zip my coat around them if it’s very cold x

Tuppence and crumble star wrap

Get a warm cover for the sling? Ergobaby make one that fits theirs, and you can get generic ones too.

You can take it on and off as needed

@CaramelWaferAndTea

Tuppence and crumble star wrap

Yes this is what I used

The sling counts as an extra layer so you’d be unlikely to need a snow suit plus a sling.

I used either a star wrap or a thin fleece onesie over indoor clothes (the kind of thing that’s thin so could be worn in a car seat).

Back in the late stone age when my children were young I dressed them in indoor clothes and a hat. Then I had a baby wearing fleece gilet with a head hole to go over them for warmth. (Same effect can be achieved with a big coat from a charity shop or an oversized cheap market stall fleece)

My reasoning was if they fell asleep when I got inside where I was going I wouldn't want to have to get them out to take layers off, I could just peel layers off the outside of me, pop hat off and carry on. Also, wore slip on shoes so I could get them on and off without breaking a nap.

Why shouldn’t you put them in a pram suit?

I read that the sling counts as one layer and heat from your body counts as another. When nipping out to do the nursery run, baby is already in sling in a sleepsuit and vest so I put on a hoodie That zips over his legs and a coat with a baby wearing extender. When the weather gets warmer and I’m not wearing a coat I will put him in tights underneath his trousers to keep legs warm.

Pramsuit way too warm in a sling in the UK! Depending on the sling it can be up to 3 layers. I think just make sure feet are warm enough and keep feeling their back to check they're toastie. Definitely more dangerous for them to be too hot.

My DD either wears the tuppence and crumble star wrap or the bonds sherpa fleece wondersuit. So an extra layer but much thinner than a snowsuit. But now the weather is warming up a cardigan and hat should be fine.

I had a thin fleecy pramsuit. The proper pramsuit I had wouldn't have allowed them to bend enough to get in the sling! And definitely not a snowsuit.

Tuppence and Crumble star wraps are perfect

We probably hugely underdressed DS but I was far more scared of him overheating than being cold. When he was a baby over winter he’d quite often be in a vest, cardigan, trousers and hat with my relatively thin baby wearing coat over the top. So basically the same as I was wearing. He used to sleep like that so I don’t actually think he was uncomfortably cold. As others have said you’ll soon know with a 5 month old if they aren’t happy, so if your baby is content I wouldn’t change anything.

Never heard you can't use a pram suit! Ours has been in a snow suit from Oct until now and is 10 months, no hip dysplasia if that's the concern. We use an Infantino carrier facing out.

Only when going outside for a walk.

I think the pramsuit concern is twofold - overheating as mentioned and also that the sling can pull up clothing and might make their toes uncomfortable. So joggers and warm socks are better than tights or babygrows etc. But you only really need to use extra protection for exposed bits - we used a hat and baby legs (basically legwarmers) and I borrowed one of my husband's coats so I could close it over us both if needed.

Feel his hands and feet, and put your finger down the neck of his top.
His torso needs to be toasty but his extremities can be cooler, but not chilly.

Never heard you can't use a pram suit! Ours has been in a snow suit from Oct until now and is 10 months
I literally couldn't have put DC in sling in a snowsuit. They are so bulky and just keep them in a straight line. It just wouldn't have been possible to get their legs bent in any way! I was given a brand new snowsuit for DC2 when she was a baby. Went to charity shop untouched. Never had any use for a snowsuit till they were walking.

A pram suit wouldn't have worked for us except maybe the absolutely coldest days, my daughter seemed to get really hot.

Ultimately I suggest layers so you can feel the back of LO neck as you go and adjust as needed. Definitely a hat and some warm booties because it's harder to keep extremeties warm.

Also to add it's easiest to have layers you can add and remove without having to take the baby out of the sling!

I had this amazing sleeping bag thing that zipped over the sling. It was excellent! From Amazon.

My son wasn't very communicative, it turned out he was autistic so I could never rely on him vocalising if he was hot or cold.

The reason is that they don’t ‘sit ergonormically’ if they’re in a snowsuit according to the ergo baby carrier website.