Adventures into the wilderness

I have a 6 week old baby and it’s winter.  How can we get outside and be sure my baby is warm enough?

The guidelines for dressing a baby for cold weather is the same as the guidelines for dressing an adult.

Dress Baby in Layers

When you are dressing your baby for cold, plan on dressing him in layers.  Start with a wicking base layer.  Follow with an insulating layer.  End with a waterproof, windproof outer layer.  If this sounds like a familiar formula, well you dress a baby the same as you would dress an adult.

Avoid Cotton Clothing

Babies, as well as adults, should not wear cotton clothing in the snow.  When cotton gets wet, it loses it’s insulative properties. 

For the base layer, Halo (the sleep sack people) have come out with a Technical Comfort System line of infant clothing made from Cool Max fabric.  These are available as footed coveralls, onesies, or 2 piece sets starting in size 0-3 months.

The easiest insulating layer would be something like this Fleece Blanket Sleeper by Little Me.

For an outer layer, you are looking for waterproof and windproof.  You also want to look for something that has an attatched hood, pullover mittens and booties.  Columbia Sportswear has several good options like their Snow Powder Bunting or Snow Powder Down Bunting .  These both come in sizes from 6-24 months.

Perhaps the most important piece of clothing for your baby is his hat.  As with adults, most of a baby’s heat is lost through the head.  This is actually more true of babies because their heads are proportionately larger to their bodies.  You can layer hats the same way you layer clothing.  Consider getting a fleece hat with a velcro chin strap to make sure baby’s had stays on baby’s head.

Use One extra layer for Baby

 One of the best guidelines that I have gotten for dressing a baby is to dress her in one layer more than you would need to be comfortable.  If you are going out snowshoeing or cross country skiing, you need to dress your baby for going out and being sedentry.  You may be working up a sweat, but your baby is probably just resting.

Wear your baby in a Wrap

Finally, my favorite cool-weather accessory for baby is my baby wrap.  This is a long swath of fabric designed for wearing your baby.  While you are wearing your baby, he will benefit from your body heat (and you from his).  As a Mom, I can relax so much more about whether or not he is too cold when I am wearing my baby snuggled up against my chest.

If you want to make a wrap, MamaToTo.com has instructions on how to make (no sewing required) a wrap. For outdoor, cold weather use, you can even make a wrap out of fleece. Choose a plain colored fabric and you might even be able to get Dad to wear his baby. (My husband likes wearing our baby because he likes the extra body heat).

If you are not crafty, the Moby D wrap is a good choice to wear your baby.  The Moby Original is made from jersey cotton, but the Moby D has a fleece (or silk–your choice) panel in the center for extra warmth.

Moby has provided good instructions on how to use a baby wrap .  For going outside, I prefer the hug hold (for a young baby, check out the newborn hug hold).

Other Considerations

While babies can get cold quickly, they can also overheat quickly.  A sweating baby will quickly get chilled in cold weather.  To check if your baby is too warm, touch the back of his neck and see if it is damp with perspiration.  If he is sweating, remove a layer of clothing.

If you take your baby out often, eventually you will have to do a cold-weather diaper change.  Chose your baby’s clothing so that you can change his diapers quickly and with minimal undressing.

Having a new baby doesn’t mean you have to stay indoors all winter long.  Following the basic rules for winter dressing and taking some basic precautions can open a winter wonderland to you and your baby.

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