Baby clothing: How to dress your baby properly in summer and winter!

How should you dress a newborn in summer?

When it is really hot outside in the height of summer, we ourselves want to wear as little as possible. But is that the right clothing for a newborn? The fact is that babies cannot yet regulate their own body temperature during the first three months of life. Neither shivering when cold, which warms up an adult, nor sweating when hot, which lowers body temperature, are well developed in newborns, and they must learn these compensation mechanisms slowly.

This is perfectly logical, as the baby was nice and warm in the mother's womb at a constant 37 degrees before birth. Therefore, high summer temperatures don't bother them much, and your baby is correctly dressed in long clothing even in summer heat. To play it safe, you can use the onion principle (layering): instead of a few thicker layers, you should dress your baby in several thin layers, for example, a pair of very thin leggings or fine tights over a bodysuit, with dungarees on top. If your baby gets too warm, you can simply take off the top layer. If the baby is cold, you can put a cardigan on them.

To find out if your baby is too warm, you can easily perform the "neck test". Since your child releases excess heat through their head, it gets particularly hot and sweaty there. If that is the case, it is better to take off a layer and check again later. You should be especially attentive to their body temperature during transitions between indoors and outdoors, at the supermarket's refrigerated aisle, or while bathing. These rapid fluctuations are a real challenge for newborns, and you can support them with an extra layer.

In addition to the warmth clothing provides to your newborn, it is also extremely important for sun protection. This is because in the first years of life, the skin of infants is particularly susceptible to sunburn, meaning they can burn quickly even in the shade. Furthermore, one should be cautious with sunscreen for newborns, as their skin is often very sensitive and, although they have the same number of skin layers as adults, these are much thinner, allowing environmental influences to penetrate more quickly. Therefore, a newborn's arms and legs should always be covered with long clothing, and they should wear a sun hat that protects the face and neck even in the shade.

When getting your initial equipment, you can look for natural materials that feel soft and comfortable on your baby's sensitive skin. Fabrics made of organic cotton, silk, or wool are breathable and also have a high sun protection factor (25-50 SPF for wool and silk, 10-15 SPF for cotton). These high-quality natural materials can be quite expensive, especially for baby clothing, but you can also purchase them second-hand or rent an entire set including bodysuits, trousers, a pair of socks, a sweater, and a pair of crawling shoes at a low cost. There are many different websites on the internet where you can find beautiful, sustainable baby fashion that is colorful and gender-neutral, fitting every child, whether boy or girl.

Many parents swear by the long-sleeved onesie, which is suitable for all weather conditions, but if you want to be a bit more precise, you can find the perfect baby clothing for summer on our checklist:

Photo © Paul & Lori: Checklist - the perfect baby clothing in summer

How should you dress a newborn in winter?

It is freezing cold outside, but you want to go out with your child to enjoy the beautiful winter sun. And especially in winter, when we spend a lot of time indoors, it is important to take your baby out into the fresh air. Just as in summer, the onion principle (layering) applies to your baby's winter outfit. Wool materials are perfect for winter, preferably as a blend with other natural fibers so that it is not scratchy.

When dressing your child for outdoors, you should consider how they will be traveling: as long as your child cannot walk by themselves, you are probably pushing them in a stroller or carrying them in a baby wrap very close to your body. When you carry them, you are naturally warming your baby with your own body heat, and they need less warm clothing than when they are lying in the stroller. However, even in the stroller, your child's clothing depends on the equipment of the carriage.

If your stroller is well-insulated and perhaps lined with a wool blanket or a fleece, you do not need to put your baby in a thick snowsuit. Instead, you can dress them in a pram suit made of water-repellent boiled wool or a thin fleece overall. If their arms are poking out of the stroller, mittens are absolutely essential. For babies, mittens where the fingers warm each other and into which you can tuck the sleeves are best, such as our popular Paul & Lori Contrast Mittens.

 

Paul & Lori contrast mittens cool in summer and warm in winter. The mittens protect your baby from scars and scratches, while babies enthusiastically begin to discover their own hands due to the contrast pattern.

Many parents love the baby wrap, especially in winter, where they dress themselves and the baby together using a suitable jacket. Because they warm the baby in the carrier with their own body heat, they have less to worry about regarding the baby becoming hypothermic. As with the stroller, headgear is important in the wrap because babies lose body heat quickly through their head.

Anxious parents often dress their child in too many layers in winter, which can cause the child to overheat. If they then sweat a lot and subsequently have to go back out into the cold in clothes damp from the inside, a baby can easily catch a cold. Therefore, it is advisable to rely on the described onion principle and keep checking the child's neck (neck test). If you suspect your baby might be too cold, you should feel their feet. If they are too cold, you simply put something warm over them or go indoors.

As a rule of thumb for winter, you should always dress your baby in one layer more than yourself. However, newborns differ from one another in many ways. And so, your child's sense of warmth is extremely subjective. It is advisable to keep checking the child's body temperature, but you will quickly learn what other signs your child shows when cold or hot and at what temperature they feel most comfortable!

What do you dress a newborn in for sleep?

When sleeping, you should not dress your newborn too warmly. A long-sleeved onesie or an overall are comfortable and offer the possibility of pulling the long sleeves over the newborn's hands so that they cannot scratch themselves in their sleep with their long fingernails, which one must not cut in the first few months of life. Incidentally, our Paul & Lori Contrast Mittens were also designed for this purpose. On hot tropical nights, silk pajamas can also provide pleasant coolness.

Newborns should never sleep with a little hat, as they can release excess heat through their head. In case of doubt, you can also perform the neck test at night, because although your child becomes restless and wakes up when cold, this is not the case with heat; they simply sleep on and overheat. If your baby's neck feels hot and sweaty, they are too warm and you should change their clothes even while sleeping.

Your baby's light sleepwear is best complemented by a sleeveless or long-sleeved baby sleeping bag. Compared to normal bedding, the sleeping bag has the advantage that your baby cannot slide under the blanket or kick it off while sleeping. The neckline should not be larger than your baby's head so that they are safe from rebreathing their own exhaled air.

More and more parents are also learning to love swaddle cloths. Newborns are wrapped tightly in these soft, large cloths so that their arms and legs lie close to their body. They simulate the warmth and security of the womb while sleeping. Because they are tight and warm, your baby only needs a short-sleeved bodysuit and trousers with feet underneath.

In addition to clothing while sleeping, the room temperature and the crib's equipment are of course also extremely important for a restful sleep. Since newborns are extremely sensitive to drafts, you should find a cool but wind-protected place to sleep. The perfect room temperature for sleeping is around 20 degrees. If it is significantly colder in winter, you can preheat the crib with a cherry stone pillow or a hot water bottle, which you should definitely remove before you place your child inside. As for the bed itself, you should avoid pillows and extra fluff.

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