How much to dress a newborn to sleep?
Babies are not good at regulating their body temperature so you have to help them by dressing them appropriately in relation to the temperature of the room and the humidity present.
One of the most present doubts among mothers is how much to dress a newborn during bedtime and especially in winter.
The fear of being cold is probably inherent in every woman: how often do we wonder if she is dressed enough, too little or too much?
How to adjust?
First of all, it is important to keep the rooms where you sleep cool (temperatures no higher than 18°C in winter), and this applies to young and old.
For safety reasons it is very important not to dress the baby too much, as overheating increases the risk of SIDS.
If too much heat is dangerous and even annoying, even the cold can disturb a good sleep. For this it is necessary to find the right balance which can be achieved simply with common sense.
How to dress a newborn for bedtime?
Babies are not good at regulating their body temperature so you have to help them by dressing them appropriately in relation to the temperature of the room and the humidity present.
Instead of blankets, use sleeping bags whose ability to retain heat is defined on the basis of a special unit of measurement, the TOG.
The TOG is a unit of measurement to define the thickness of the sleeping bag and its ability to keep the baby warm. The higher the TOG the warmer the sleeping bag.
The choice of TOG depends on the temperature of the room where the child sleeps.
Always check that the child is neither too cold nor too hot. Also consider that it is normal for the hands and feet to feel cooler than the rest of the body.
Trust your judgment and assess your child’s well-being when you put him to bed. For example, to check that the temperature of the child is fine, check the back of his neck, if it is sweaty it means that he is too hot.
What you see below is an indicative table, it is not a guideline. Experiment with your child the combination he prefers.
Kathryn Barlow is an OB/GYN doctor, which is the medical specialty that deals with the care of women's reproductive health, including pregnancy and childbirth.
Obstetricians provide care to women during pregnancy, labor, and delivery, while gynecologists focus on the health of the female reproductive system, including the ovaries, uterus, vagina, and breasts. OB/GYN doctors are trained to provide medical and surgical care for a wide range of conditions related to women's reproductive health.