daft question about what baby wears in a sling!

[toomuchtooyoung]

Hi
Expecting our first in September, and have a collection of borrowed and bought slings to see what baby and/I prefer. I have a Moby, 2 Freedoms and a Bjorn - for now!

I know it sounds daft but what kind and how much clothing would you put on a baby that's in a sling when you go out? Do they need extra wrapping up for being more exposed than a baby in a pram, does that mean swaddling them or putting them in those padded suits? Won't they get too hot if going in and out of shops in Winter?

Am I just making it more complicated than it actually is??

Its the same thing as making sure its the right temperature outside of the sling ie

Put on what seems to be right number of layers (probably one more than you've got on?)

Then just monitor and see if they are getting v sweaty.

BTW babies hands and feet are always a lot colder than the rest of them so the best way to check is to feel their tummies. My DD used to have quite chilly hands but be a little furnace on her tum!

If I remember rightly, they get more hot in slings than they would be in a pram. My DD was in a sling pretty much permanently for the first 8 weeks or so. She was born in June so it was summer, but she was in just a short-sleeved body suit and with the thickness of the babybjorn/baba sling was probably a bit too hot. Sometimes she was just in her nappy. They get your body heat too and you tend to walk with your arm round them.

In September I would say shortsleeved body suit, trousers, socks and long sleeved T shirt/sweat shirt (with eg blanket/coat with you in case cold).

BabyBjorn sell winter fleece sling covers to go with your sling which friends used (I never did as DD outgrew her sling and preferred the pram by mid-September).

If they get hot going in shops you can just peel back the sling and let them get a bit of air.

DD2 was a September baby and I dressed her in a body suit then straight in the wrap with a hat on her head once it got cooler outside.

no need for extra layers, imo as your body heat works like a hot water bottle on them.

If we were heading outside, I would wear her inside my coat making sure it was open enough at the top for her to get fresh air of course.

Buy a cheap fleece about 2 or 3 sizes bigger than what you normally wear. It will work for most winter days. Of course if it gets cold enough that you need a jumper under your fleece then add a layer onto the top of the baby too.

for newborns. make sure it is tight. a stretchy wrap should stretch a bit when you put him in in order to make sure he is getting enough back support from the wrap.

Babies stay quite warm in a sling, especially a wrap sling, as they are tucked against your body, so no need for lots of bulky clothing

DS2 was a December baby and we used a stretchy wrap sling - never needed a snowsuit for him, just a fleece jacket (over a vest & sleepsuit) if really chilly out, some fleece trousers were very useful, maybe some babylegs or other legwarmers to tuck over his socks and give an extra layer, and of course a hat

Or a lightweight fleece all-in-one sleepsuit would be worth getting, they are much less bulky than snowsuits and less likely to cause overheating

I wore a large fleece jacket as already suggested in a post above :) and had a very big umbrella to keep us both dry if it rained

General rule for dressing a baby is one more layer than you have on. In a wrap sling I count the sling as one of those layers, and would generally put a big fleece over both of us zipped up to just below the baby's head level. I've never really gone for snowsuits (I think DD wore one twice in total, when it was actually snowing and bitterly cold).