While the clothes your baby wear doesn’t matter, for the most part, there are certain situations where you may want to think twice about what your baby is wearing. Yes, your baby spends most of his/her time in the house wearing comfortable clothing, and it’s at these times where you don’t have to put too much thought into what your child should be wearing.
However, when taking your baby out of the house and having them engage in different environments or situations a little more thought is definitely helpful. Here are situations or things to think about when making a conscious decision about what to dress your baby.
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To Hat or Not to Hat
Chances are you don’t have your baby wear a hat when they’re inside. However, in instances where they go outside or exposed to more cold than usual a hat is a good idea.
There is a common myth that people generally lose 40 to 45% of heat through their head, but that has since been debunked. Although now estimations seem to be closer to 7-10% that’s still a good chunk of heat that your fragile infant can lose.
Going outside can expose babies to colder elements and even wind chill. If you’re on the fence about having them wear a hat or beanie; it’s better to be safe and bring one along than not. A tiny inconvenience is well worth potential hours of comfort for your baby.
Playgrounds
When around playgrounds there is a lot that can go wrong and a lot of things to consider for your loved ones. Here are a few
Avoiding sickness –
Because there are a lot of kids around the area it’s easy for your baby to be exposed to pathogens. While this isn’t always a risk by itself, if your baby is cold then its immune system is weakened, increasing the chance of it becoming sick. Because of this warmer clothes are essential and important when going out to public areas so that your baby’s body doesn’t have to fight to stay warm.
This allows the body to focus on its immune system so that the baby can remain warm and healthy instead of struggling to stay warm, let alone not being sick.
Robes, onesies, hats, and even blankets for your infant are all great things to keep your baby warm. Of course, onezies can be worn while robes and blankets are extra accessories to help improve the warmth, but really shouldn’t be worn around the playground as they will limit movement. Instead, they can be used after play time to maximize warmth and comfort.
Reason is to avoid physical harm
Although you’ll be closely monitoring your infant, it’s possible that splinters may come up through playgrounds or wood chips. It’s also easy for your baby to get scratches from corners or not so gentle areas of the playground.
Reducing skin contact to foreign objects as much as possible is a good, simple safeguard. Onezies are useful since they cover your entire baby’s body and will reduce the chances of your baby getting minor injuries that can be a pain to treat as they cry and cry over simple injuries.
The head isn’t a big risk of touching objects, but hats or beanies can be useful as well in protecting your baby’s head in case anything should happen. It won’t help for big falls, but babies aren’t very coordinated and often brush into things. Having even small padding protects the head quite a bit.
Another benefit of having full outerwear is avoiding allergies. Allergic reactions can be tough to treat and chances are you don’t always know what your baby is allergic to quite yet. These can be annoying to deal with since in these situations babies will cry a lot, but won’t always tell you what’s wrong – you usually have to identify the red and swollen parts yourself to understand that they’re having an allergic reaction. If this happens to you be sure to take the time to identify what caused the allergy by seeking an alle.
Stroller Temperature Balance & Maintenance
If you’re from anywhere remotely cold then you’ll know the trick to layering – wear 3-4 layers of thin-medium thickness to best manage your temperature. From there, you simply take off layers when you go inside, and put them back on when you go outside.
Treat a stroller almost as if the baby is going inside – after all, there are blankets in there to help keep your infant warm and the stroller itself helps to provide protection from the elements.
Because of this, you can take off (and sometimes should) take off a layer when you put your baby in the stroller and add one when you take them out. This prevents them from getting cold when you take them out, which is a much bigger issue than if they are too warm inside the stroller (though still a minor issue).
Conclusion
Next time you’re dressing your baby thinks about the occasion and possible risks. Although it probably won’t be a life or death situation, taking these tips in mind can increase the comfort of your baby and make your tough life as a parent a little easier. Best of luck!