Are You Overdressing Your Newborn?
After 9 months in a perfectly regulated environment (yes, the womb), it becomes one of your baby’s first tasks to regulate his body temperature. However, babies cannot adjust to temperature changes as well as adults. Hence, it is important that you do not underdress or overdress your baby.
What kinds of clothes do babies need?
Your baby’s clothes should be comfortable, soft, and easy to take care of.
Baby clothes made from 100% pure cotton are a good choice. Cotton clothes are better at keeping baby cool compared to synthetic fibres (pure cotton is a natural fibre that regulates temperature and breaths better), and it is gentler against baby’s delicate skin too.
All our baby daily wear products are made of 100% % Japan Medical Use Standard Absorbent Cotton Gauze. Hence, our products are suitable for babies with sensitive skin or allergies as our pure cotton gauze fabric does not release small particulate matter that can trigger any skin irritations or an asthma attack.
Baby Daily Wear products include baby glove, sweat pad and undershirts.
Plus, it is easy to take care of our cotton gauze fabric as it is washable and dries quickly too! Parents can machine wash our cotton gauze fabric in cold water with baby or mild detergent before drying them under the sun. It is recommended to choose gentle cycle or low spin as cotton gauze fabric is more delicate than the others.
How to dress a baby for hot and humid weather?
Research has shown that overheating may increase a baby’s risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Here is how you can help keep your little one safe and feeling comfy in tropical climates:
- Use light and breathable fabric under a swaddle
Swaddling is important for a calm baby in the early days, even in hot weather. If you are swaddling your baby on a hot day or without the air conditioner being turned on, it is important to let your baby wears highly breathable clothing under the swaddle to avoid overheating.
Both of our Short Undershirt and Long Undershirt are soft and ultra-lightweight. It is also highly breathable and absorbent to help draw moisture away from your baby’s skin to keep him/her feeling cool and comfy. Just put an undershirt on your baby with a diaper under the swaddle will be enough for your baby to stay warm without overheating.
Go without a swaddle with our Long Undershirt as it covers up till baby’s legs.
- Take away layers and think thinner
Sweating is one way for the human body to cool down. Therefore, putting socks and hats on babies when it’s hot will limit their ability to cool themselves down as babies have limited ability to sweat and they only sweat from their neck, hands, feet and head. So, take away these unnecessary layers and think thinner to avoid overdressing.
Our soft and ultra-lightweight baby glove is ideal for hot and humid weather.
Parents can keep the mittens on to help prevent babies from scratching their faces. Our 100% pure cotton and highly breathable Gauze Glove is suitable to be worn on a hot day. To avoid baby being drenched in sweat, you can slide a fast sweat-absorbing and high permeability Sweat Pad behind baby’s back to keep baby’s skin cool and dry.
Place a sweat pad in between baby’s back and his clothing to keep heat rashes at bay.
How do I know if my baby is too hot?
Here are the signs that your baby is too hot or he/she may have a heat rash:
- A flushed face
- Rapid breathing
- Skin that is unusually warm to touch
You can also place the back of your hand on the back of your baby’s neck to check if your baby is too hot – their skin should feel comfortably warm.
Babies tend to become irritable, cry and fuss when they are feeling hot. Hence, dressing your baby appropriately will ensure your baby is comfortable and at the right temperature, which is a win-win for everyone.
