How to know what to dress baby in
How To DRESS BABY For SUMMER + WINTER + SLEEP | Signs Baby is TOO HOT
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hey momma's for the first eight weeks
after a baby is born it is very
difficult for them to regulate their own
temperature adapting to their
environment takes up their whole body's
effort and energy babies are pretty
fragile and vulnerable especially in the
early months when it comes to their
relationship with their environment in
fact it's only at about eighteen months
to about two years old that children are
able to really regulate their
temperature on their own and as a parent
it's your job to help protect them from
overheating or getting too cold so in
this video you are going to learn how to
dress your baby so that they are safe
and comfortable in their environment I'm
Bridget and I'm a childbirth educator in
birth doula in the San Francisco Bay
Area and it's my passion to help mamas
just like you believe that they are
built to burn nourish and care for their
babies if this is your first time here
and you're looking for an empowering
education on birth pregnancy and
motherhood make sure you subscribe to
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dress-up with our babies is so much fun
but beyond the fun what they wear
actually serves as protection for their
vulnerable bodies by helping them
regulate their body temperature when
they can't do it for themselves to help
you from obsessing and worrying about
whether or not you dress them the right
way I'm going to give you four tips to
go by when you are dressing your baby
for the daytime or nighttime the first
tip for dressing your baby is this
assess the environment every body
responds to their environment
differently so there isn't a
one-size-fits-all when it comes to your
baby and the temperature now the ideal
temperature for a baby's environment to
be whether that's the house their room
or even outdoors is between 68 to 72
degrees Fahrenheit or 20 to 22 degrees
Celsius but we aren't always able to
have that temperature which is why it's
important to assess the environment and
your baby and then meet their needs as
little individuals so when you're
assessing the environment you're going
to want to ask yourself how you feel in
it if you have a monitor in your baby's
room it's likely that it has the
temperature on it however it's not
always accurate which is why you'll need
to assess the room yourself ask yourself
that feel hot to you or cold to you
because if you are feeling hot or cold
your baby will be feeling that as well I
know this is a really seemingly basic
step but it's the first one that you
need to do to stop obsessing over
helping baby regulate temperature and
taking proactive measures to actually
help them
so assess the temperature of the space
that you're in yourself don't only rely
on a thermometer or weather report to
determine what your baby should wear
because like I said at the beginning
it's not a one-size-fits-all when it
comes to regulating your baby's
temperature
so once you've assessed the environment
they're in and ask yourself how you feel
the second tip is to address your baby
similarly to how you're dressed if it's
a hot summer day out and you're wearing
shorts and a t-shirt then it's likely
that all your baby is going to need is
their diaper and a onesie on to keep
them warm enough but avoid overheating
if by the evening you want to throw on a
sweater to stay warm your baby will
likely need something to keep them warm
as well so maybe you're going to put
some pants on them now and a little
blanket over them too I know this sounds
like really easy stuff again but it
really isn't rocket science and the more
that you trust yourself and the better
you get to know your baby the easier it
becomes to dress them appropriately now
if it's cold out think again what you're
wearing if you're wearing pants long
sleeves jacket socks and boots then your
baby is going to need several layers as
well so maybe a onesie with a
long-sleeve shirt over they'll maybe you
need pants and socks and a sweatshirt or
a jacket with a blanket over them if
you're feeling too hot or cold and your
baby is dressed similarly to you then
you know that you need to either dress
or undress them a little bit more now
when it comes to sleeping you again want
to think about how you are dressed if
you're wearing a warm long-sleeve pajama
set and sleeping under a comforter your
baby might need a onesie footed jammies
and a swaddle or sleep sack after my
daughter stopped using swaddles when she
could flip from her back to her belly at
which point it becomes dangerous to keep
swaddling your baby we switched to a
sleep sack which is basically a wearable
blink and I'll link one down below in
descriptions a swaddle sleep sack or
blanket counts as another layer and if
you fold a blanket it counts as two
layers so consider that as you are
dressing your baby for sleep again when
it comes to dressing for sleep you need
to go back to that first step assessing
the environment asking yourself how you
feel because it's likely that your baby
feels similar to you now all of these
outfits that I have mentioned for baby
if it is hot or cold are just total
suggestions because like I said it is
not a one size fits all for all babies
and the temperatures that they are in
there is no chart that says if your baby
is in this temperature these are the
things that they are they should be
wearing that if a room is this many
degrees this is what you should put them
in to sleep because every baby is
different in responds differently to the
temperature and the environment that
they are in so while one baby might fall
asleep comfortably and safely in a 76
degree room wearing footage Emmys and a
sleep sack another baby might need to be
dressed in just a onesie when you put
them down and so it really is catered to
your baby and you're going to know them
best the more that you just get to know
them and how they interact with their
environment and that brings us to the
third tip for dressing your baby dress
your baby with layers layers are so
great because if they're too warm all
you need to do is to remove one or two
things to cool them down and if they're
not quite warm enough you just put them
back on layers are the best way to
ensure your baby it will be warm enough
or if they get too warm a convenient way
to cool them off now obviously during
the warmer months you're not going to
dress your baby in layers right off the
bat but it's a good idea to bring with
you a small sweater or light blanket if
they need it
so as you're dressing your baby remember
layers are your baby's friend so now
we're at tip number four which is assess
your baby you've assessed the
environment you dress them similarly to
yourself and either put them in layers
or have brought layers with you and now
you can assess your baby to see if they
are comfortable the first thing to look
for is are they acting comfortable if
they're not crying or fussing that's one
good indication that they are
comfortable if their trunk meaning their
back and belly is warm not hot you've
gotten it
just right now if their hands and feet
are a little bit cold that's actually
okay because even for a lot of adults we
can have cold hands or feet and the rest
of us feels totally comfortable plus
baby's circulatory system is still
developing which means more blood flow
is going to their vital organs such as
their heart kidneys and lungs and not as
much as go is going to their extremities
as your baby continues to mature and
become more mobile the better
circulation there will be but still you
want to be checking around their neck on
their chest and their back to know if
they are comfortable and at a good
temperature you also want to assess your
baby for overheating do they have bright
rosy cheeks do they have damn sweaty
hair is their breathing kind of rapid or
are they acting kind of lethargic
because these are all science that point
to overheating which means you need to
address some of those layers and cool
them off overheating is more of a risk
for babies because when they're cold
they're just more likely to cry until
you warm them up overheating it causes
their body to work really hard to try to
cool them down and that's where the risk
lies so assessing your baby is the best
way to know if you have dressed them
appropriately now if you're out and
about wearing your baby clothes to you
it's important that you are taking into
account body heat again if you are
feeling too warm and uncomfortable they
are too very likely oftentimes if you're
wearing your baby on a hot day it's a
good idea to dress them really minimally
in light loose clothing or maybe even
just a diaper since they're going to
have an outer covering of the wrap or
sling anyways plus they're going to be
sharing your body heat now if they're in
the stroller or the car seat sometimes
we think that if we drape a blanket over
the covering it's going to block out the
Sun and keep them cooler
however this actually traps in more heat
and can cause your baby to overheat so
while you do want to keep your baby out
of the bright hot Sun you also want to
avoid trapping in extra heat by draping
a blanket over their stroller or car or
car seat now if you're layering your
baby up during the colder months you
want to be sure to take off that big
outer jacket that they're wearing before
strapping them into their car seat and
the reason for that is because in order
for a baby to fit into the
Arness wearing that big jacket those
straps have to be loosen and aren't
actually fitting snugly against baby's
body which is what protects baby in the
event of an accident again this is why
layers are so convenient so that even if
you have to take off that big winter
coat that your little one has on they
still have a few on beneath that keep
them warm enough until you strap them in
and can put their coat or a blanket over
them as they ride in their car seat as
much as dressing your baby isn't rocket
science it's still something you're
bound to worry about at some point as a
parent but using these four tips
assessing the environment dressing your
baby how you're dressed
layering up and then assessing your baby
is going to help decrease those queries
and replace it with confidence that you
are a wise parent who knows your baby
and trust that your baby will
communicate with you when they need your
help dressing your baby for warm or cold
weather during the day or at night is
nothing to obsess about or worry over
and I hope this video has given you the
confidence to help you believe that so
thanks for being with me in this video
and I'll see you in the next one
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