It’s really difficult to know how many layers to dress baby in. From birth, midwives want to keep baby nice and warm, but don’t tell you what “nice and warm” actually means. It’s a topic that can cause quite a lot of anxiety, over something that should be simple. So let’s change that and make it simple. The main reason it is so important to dress baby properly is because newborns are learning to regulate their temperature when they’re first born, so we have to help them learn.
When babies are first born, the midwives will encourage skin to skin contact and to dry baby off with a nice warm dry towel. This is because baby is used to matching your core body temperature, so by putting baby on your skin, this will help to make the transition into a much colder world much smoother and less stressful. They will dry baby off with a warm towel because when babies are born, they are still covered in amniotic fluid (your waters). You know that feeling of getting out of the nice warm shower and you immediately feel freezing? This is because as the hot water evaporates, it takes heat particles with it. This process happens immediately after birth, so by drying baby off, it reduces the chance of baby getting too cold.
After this golden window of skin to skin, it’s time to get baby dressed. Labour wards and postnatal wards are known for being on the warmer side, it’s not always comfortable for us, but it’s like this to support baby. Let’s skip to when you’re home with baby, let’s get into it.
General Advice
The advice from the Lullaby Trust is when you’re dressing baby for sleep that you use a sleep bag rather than blankets, because it is easier to know “my room is X degrees, so I need X tog of sleep bag”. However, if you don’t have sleep bags, don’t worry, just remember thin layers are always preferred to thick layers. Cellular blankets are always preferred because it allows heat to escape easily.
