New born baby worries

[barnyb]

Hi all. Iv just come home with my new born baby and I'm so worried about her temperature I find myself taking it all the time. I know what the temperature is meant to be but I'm just so worried about it rising or lowering during the night when I'm asleep.
I'm sure this is a natural worry especially for the first night at home with a new baby.
Any advice to calm my nerves? I'm seriously not able to relax and sleep with the worry
Thank you x

I could tell you not to worry but it probably won’t work! Just make sure you’re doing safe sleep with the baby - nothing in the cot/crib/Moses basket except them and a blanket, feet to the foot of the bed and tuck in tight or use a sleeping bag but check the weight and height for a newborn as they tend to need to be 8lbs plus from memory. Also, console yourself that really you weren’t getting much sleep anyway

Congratulations on your baby. It’s very scary when you take them home, I remember having a moment where I thought oh shit! And definitely a few PFB panics over nothing. It gets better, I promise. Take some deep breaths, sniff your babies head and close your eyes

its normal. I used to wake mine up (accidentally) by checking they were breathing. Not just the once either....

One thing I was told is that they’ll wake up and tell you if they’re too cold but won’t if they’re too hot. So err on the less layers side if you’re unsure.

Thank you both for your message! I'm currently holding her while she sleeps because I couldn't cope with having her in the Moses not sure what to do. But I think I need to give myself some grace and remember this is the first night and it's natural to worry.
So what your saying is... if she gets cold she will wake me. Am I right by saying the real danger is over heating and not because they are on the cooler side? Because they will let you know when they are chilly ? Xx

@BadgertheBodger @newmumwithquestions xx

Lots of advice here:

www.lullabytrust.org.uk/safer-sleep-advice/baby-room-temperature/

In my experience babies like different things when it comes to room temperature (within the safe range). A friend’s daughter liked it v warm but my son would get hot, sweaty and cross if it was over about 17 degrees in the room. Thankfully we lived in a draughty old cottage! It is normal to worry a bit but if it persists and you are struggling to sleep/put the baby down then speak to the midwife or HV.

Also one thing which surprised me when DS was small is how cold their hands and feet can get. His hands used to be permanently freezing but he was warm on his tummy and back and actually too hot if I put more layers on so don’t worry over much about cold hands.

@BadgertheBodger thank you! I had a good look at the site and it did help me. Husband woke up and took over the checks so I got a couple hours. I think first night jitters got the better of me! Hopefully today I can catch up on a few naps and tonight will be a little better :) xxxx

We got a gro egg thermometer for the room, I found it makes it easier to know how many layers my baby needs. We were having the room way too hot and putting too many layers on but feel much more confident now.

Good luck and congratulations on your new baby

Invest in a gro egg room temperature device if you can, the baby won't just randomly heat up and cool down as they can't regulate temperature so it's about the environment they are in. Base guidelines....

1. Baby where's one more layer than you. This time of year I'd expect a vest, baby grow (with feet), and one or two blankets, or swaddle.
2. Ideal sleeping temp is 16-20 for baby.

The gro egg changes colour according to temp and doubles as a nightlight. If you wake up, rather than check baby temp and disturb them, just check the egg. You can leave it on all day to get a view for how warm your house is and adjust you're heating to suit.

Hope that helps.

Thank you so much that’s so helpful! Also you won’t believe it ! We have a gro egg thermometer but when we got back from the hospital last night we realised we had left it in the loft with her 3-6 months clothing! So husband is going up to get it this morning ! thank you it’s really kind of you to take the time to explain to me! I really appreciate any advice xxx @StealthMama

Welcome to motherhood- the panic never leaves you but you learn to live with it more comfortably- in my opinion. I did the same with all 3 of mine, used to get the fear before I checked and also woke them up checking they were breathing. My eldest is 8 and I got into bed last night realising I didn’t check them, thought they would be ok but had to get back up again and check because I couldn’t settle. It does get easier, the sleep deprivation doesn’t help either. Congratulations and just take each day at a time, it does get easier

Do you mean taking her temperature with a thermometer?
This won't tell you if she is too hot or cold in what she is wearing will it?

@barnyb my girl is 7 months old and we're forever in and out of the loft!

Also in the UK the coldest time is around 5am - again you could set your heating to come on through the day to maintain 18-20.

Our house is very warm, and regularly 21/22 so I just reduce the layers. She's in a growbag now and you can get different togs just like a duvet and adjust as needed.

As previous posters have said, err on the cooler side. Overheating is far more dangerous - if they're too cold, they'll wake and let you know! My baby is just in a sleepsuit (no vest) and a sleeping bag, but both my babies are warm - the "wear one more layer than you" advice was no use for my first DD who got heatrash at two weeks old, and even now at 4yo very rarely wears more than one layer, even in winter.

To reassure you, you WILL get to know your baby and how they are comfortable. The best indicator of their temp is to feel their chest/tummy or back which should just be comfortably warm. Hands and feet do get very cold but that's normal!

Congrats on your beautiful new bundle :)