What do I dress my baby for when I sleep?
introduction
The market offers a wide variety of clothing items to put on your baby. A general statement as to which product is the best or that more expensive is always better cannot be made.
Rather, every mother or family has to decide for themselves which products are suitable for them. Of course, the experiences and advice of the older generation have an influence on young mothers that should not be underestimated, but in the end every mother should dress her child as she sees fit and as it is tolerated by the baby.
To give a brief overview of the potential products: Nowadays parents can choose between baby bodysuits, pajamas, rompers, tights, sleeping bags and many other products.
A short but very important note at the end: You should mainly orientate yourself on the room temperature and make sure that the room does not get too warm. Studies have shown that so-called sudden infant death syndrome occurs significantly less frequently in cooler rooms.
It is not yet known exactly what this is due to. However, every pediatrician should advise not to bed the baby in hot, stuffy rooms and not to lie on his stomach for the night.
According to the seasons
What do I dress my baby in winter?
The winter time tempts many parents to dress their child particularly fat, if not too fat, in order to prevent the baby from freezing at night. In principle, this basic idea is not reprehensible and rather testifies to the parents' duty of care. However, even in winter, the room temperature should be the measure by which you orient yourself. If it is possible to keep the room temperature constant throughout the night and if the room temperatures are similar to those in autumn or spring, the babies can sleep very well and comfortably with a maximum of one additional layer of clothing.
As an indicator of whether the child has become too cold or whether an additional layer of clothing can produce more warmth, you can take a clinical thermometer in the morning immediately after waking up and determine the body temperature. The fact that the body temperature is lower in the morning than it is during the day is completely physiological and therefore not a cause for concern. However, if the temperature has dropped significantly, it is advisable to pack the baby a little thicker for the next night.
What do I dress my baby in spring?
Cleverly combined, you don't have to buy separate clothes for each new season. As already described above, the main thing is to keep the room temperature relatively constant at around 18 degrees Celsius. A combination of long-sleeved pajamas or body and a thin sleeping bag is ideal. If the pajamas themselves do not have "feet" sewn on, a pair of thin cotton socks should also be put on.
What do I wear my baby in summer?
There are also a variety of ways to dress your baby in summer to give him the best possible sleep. While it was still quite possible to keep the room temperature low in autumn, winter and spring, this is much more difficult in summer.
Cooling the room with a fan while the baby is sleeping is, however, strongly discouraged, as this significantly increases the risk of hypothermia and colds.
Depending on whether the baby tolerates a sleeping bag - enough legroom of approx. 15 cm should be ensured at this point - a thin sleeping bag in combination with a short-sleeved body or pajamas is recommended. Thin cotton socks can also be worn for this.
Another variant would be to use a light summer blanket instead of the sleeping bag. However, this should then be fixed to the lower end of the cot to prevent the blanket from kicking over its face at night and thereby restricting the air supply itself.
However, cold hands or feet in the morning should not lead to the assumption that the baby is too cold at night. These "measuring points" only give a very imprecise picture of the core body temperature. As already indicated above, this can best be estimated using a clinical thermometer or by checking the temperature in the baby's neck.
What do I dress my baby in autumn?
In autumn it is advisable to behave similarly to in spring. Since it is also a transitional period, the sleeping clothes should also slowly adapt to the changed conditions.
However, as already mentioned several times, the room temperature should be the main indicator for the choice of clothes. As long as this is still above 20 degrees Celsius, the babies can also be put to bed with their summer dresses. If the room temperature falls below, however, it is advisable to take the step to the “winter wardrobe”. You can start here, however, by exchanging the short-sleeved pajamas or body for a long-sleeved one and only in the second step swap the summer sleeping bag or the summer blanket for a warmer winter model.
What should I wear to my baby if I have a fever?
When the baby starts to have a fever, there are two main phases of fever. On the one hand the rising fever. So the period in which the fever occurs again and increases day by day. During this time the baby should not be dressed too thinly, even if the temptation is great with red-hot cheeks and a warm forehead. As long as babies do not sweat excessively, they should be kept warm.A fever is a sign that the body has brought itself to a new base temperature. In order to be able to hold this, the baby should not freeze under any circumstances. Otherwise this would result in chills, with the help of which the baby - just like the adult - tries to raise the body temperature again.
The second phase follows when the babies start to sweat more. During this phase, the baby can be “supported” to work towards cooling. Lighter sleeping clothes are appropriate in this phase. Care should be taken to change clothes if they have gotten wet from sweat to avoid worsening the cold or illness.
