Family Health and Wellbeing
Dressing Your Winter Baby
“How do I know if my baby is too hot or too cold?”
The age-old question asked by every parent many times every year. It is hard to know if someone else feels the cold like we do so with babies and young children I always firstly think about how I feel. If it is cold outside then you need to layer up. Young babies should always wear hats or beanies when going outside if it is very cold as they lose a lot of their body heat through their heads. I also think all children should wear singlets/vests in the winter months (something my grandmother used to say to us every Winter!) and their little legs need to be covered with trousers/pants or tights when going outdoors.
When sleeping you need to assess the temperature of your child’s room. The ideal sleeping temperature is about 18 to 20 degrees. I like older babies to sleep in sleeping bags so you can rest assured they won’t get cold overnight. And if it is really cold in their room make sure you layer them up under the sleeping bag. Ideally winter sleeping bags should be at least a 1.5 TOG rating.
Jo Ryan www.babybliss.com.au
