Moms of Summer Babies-enlighten me!

[LZP]

How do I keep baby from overheating in August?! We live in an area that easliy reaches 90 degrees and 95 percent humidity in August. What can we do to keep our summer baby cool?

*We have central A/C that we set at about 76-78F during the day, but the upstairs is still pretty toasty and we'll be sleeping up there, and possibly hanging out for a good portion of the first few days. Is 80-82F too warm? should we turn downthe temp on the AC?

*Can we continue to use our standing oscillating fan (~3 ft from the foot of the bed) or would that much air blowing be bad in some way? probably overthinking

*what about going out for walks? will the bassinet be OK on the stroller frame, or will she get too hot? what about babywearing in the heat?

*Will she need all those adorable baby hats? or will that keep in too much body heat?

*what about swaddling? I was thinking just a CD and the blanket? or is a CD and a t-shirt a better option? I want her to still feel safe and secure.

I am SURE i'm overthinking this. But for some reason, keeping cool just isn't as intuitive as keeping warm is to me.

any BTDT from experienced mamas that would care to enlighten a newbie who's a compulsive planner??

[BlueWolf]

I have a July baby... she hung out in her footie jammies the majority of her time as a newborn.

For baby wearing outside, I stripped her down to her diaper.

House temp, I'd say follow your baby's queues. She'll let you know if it's too warm for her to comfortably sleep. My daughter found 80s to be too warm... but she prefers things on the cooler side in general.


I really just remained in doors last summer because I was just so overwhelmed with being a new mom and I was terrified of stepping out into a new situation when I didn't even have a handle on the current indoor situation. But I was also suffering from PPD.

[Ldavis24]

DD was born last June and I think she spent the first 3 months in pretty much just a diaper or a really light onesie. I didn't even worry about summer hats because she was NEVER in direct sunlight. This kid is as pail as a ghost (like me) and would burn too quickly to risk it at that age.

We had our big oscillating fan running pointed at the bed every night starting I think when she was a week old or so (co-sleeper). I think I even read somewhere that having a fan in the room going helps reduce the risk of sids who knows though. DD never seemed to mind.

When we used AC it was set very cool like 65 generally. DD didn't seem to mind at all.

I can't help with swaddling and the summer days because DD didn't let us swaddle her from day 1. she would scream until she was completely uncovered so unfortunately I have zero experience with what to do in that regard.

I did notice though that she got very hot when we would walk her in the stroller and I would end up just taking her out and carrying her. I didn't even try wearing her with a sling until she was 3 months old or so and it wasn't too hot, but she was still prone to getting overheated in it.

Hope thats helpful. Gotta run screeching baby in my lap!

[Angelorum]

My babe was born last July, it gets pretty hot here in the summer (90s usually) but it's dry heat. We had no air conditioning in the house he was born in, just a swamp cooler that kept the hallway directly under the swamp cooler at about 80 degrees. The rest of the house was warmer. We had a ceiling fan in the bedroom. For most of the first week, he hung out in just a diaper and a light blanket for when we were going down the hallway under the wind from the swamp cooler. I didn't plan this, but his little body was so cute, with it's lanugo and chubby belly. Also, most of my newborn clothes didn't fit yet. Come to think of it, I was mostly naked that first week too, lol. When we did dress him, it was just in a onesie or a loose fitting sleeveless romper. He didn't seem to get too hot in the 80+ house, I was always checking to see if his feet or head was sweaty.

I don't think the fan is going to be a problem, I know some cultures have old wives tales about any air blowing on the baby being unhealthy, but I'm pretty sure they don't have any actual data behind them. I had the our bedroom ceiling fan on much of the time, and it was right over the bed where we all slept and hung out in the early days.

For swaddling, you could get some of those light muslin swaddling blankets, and just do a diaper underneath. That would probably be the coolest. Just check to make sure her face isn't red and her head isn't sweaty to make sure she's not overheating.

As for walks, I'd just check for signs of overheating. You might want to get a gauze wrap or sling for the breathability.

We didn't do any newborn hats at the birth or any other time. My midwife didn't think they were necessary as long as the room was warm enough and the babe didn't seem to be having any trouble regulating body temp. A brimmed hat if you're going out in the sunshine is probably a good idea though, to keep some of the heat off, and protect from sunburn.

Good luck!

[LZP]

sun hats! thank you. They are on my list of things to sew, but it's getting so long I think that I may have bumped them. Not anymore!

Thanks, mamas! Keep 'em coming!

[jdg]

I'm expecting in June and can't speak from experience, but would like to point out that I'm one of six kids and we lived in climate very similar to what you describe. To this day, my mother lives without air conditioning. Somehow, we all survived the heat.

There were always fans on, and the windows were thrown open as soon as it became twilight every night. Babies were usually either just in a diaper or in a diaper and some light clothing - tshirt, onesie.

[cristeen]

Well, my guy was born during a heat wave last year - by which I mean we were in the high 80s (no A/C here). He spent most of his time just in a cloth diaper. We use fitteds or PFs, which breath more than AIOs or sposies.

We did have to swaddle him, and I really wish I had had some lighter blankets. Now I have Aiden & Anais blankets, which are perfectly light, but at the time I only had flannel.

I did Moby him, but stripped him down to diaper first (and resigned myself to being peed on). We didn't get a stroller until the dead of winter. And we had the ceiling fans going, but any other fans we used were not pointed at him.

[sapphire_chan]

My summer sling was a wrap sling made of an old sheet. Super thin cotton. You will want one layer between you as much as possible or your tiny little furnace will drive you crazy.

Cool sponging helps every body stay happier.

Lots and lots and lots of water for you, and then drink another glass.

I liked the little short-sleeved kimono shirts. They can be put on and taken off the baby while nursing, they fit loosely for more breathability, can be worn with just a diaper. (mind you, come the cool weather footed pants ROCK, so put those on your lists too so you can grab them if you ever see them).

For a diaper we did ECing (okay, still are ) and were changing for every pee so we just used a single flat diaper with or without a cover.

Heat rash is harmless, and will probably happen despite your baby never getting overheated. Or maybe that's just what happens with my super sweaty LO (seriously, I can tell she's fallen asleep because her head is drenched in sweat).

[Happiestever]

Just have a little bit of everything handy- sleepers, hats, socks. Sometimes there may be a really hot day followed by a cool night three days later. You will be holding the baby all the time anyway, so a carrier is great for leaving the house. I never really wear at home unless they are fussy. I think having a summer baby was easier than a winter baby. I didn't have to deal with multiple layers and slippery snow. Sure sometimes it will be so hot you'll feel like your melting, but that will be a great time to do skin to skin with babe.

[maptome]

DD was born last July in triple-digit temperatures here in Texas. Kept her naked with CD during the day. Naked with swaddle and ceiling fan at night. We found it much better than turning the AC cooler because it was so hot outside, she would get hot when AC wasn't on and cold when it turned on. It was too hard to dress her for two different temperatures. She is VERY sensitive to temperature changes and would wake up and cry when the AC turned on.

As far as babywearing, I never figured it out. She would get heat-rashes naked in the moby wrap. Maybe a solarveil sling would have worked, but she didn't like the sling. We pretty much stayed inside all summer.

[Jayray]

We stayed inside a lot--babe in diaper and onesie or t-shirt. We swaddled using a miracle blanket and just a diaper. Although we have photos of the baby sleeping in just a diaper--so we must have done that, too!

I babe wore a little outside when I got cabin fever, and the babe seemed okay--but it did kind of weird me out a little bit, so I never went out for long.

I agree just to follow your babe--if they seem comfortable, they probably are!

[Aka mommy]

Awesome info! I'm curious, anyone take their newbie to the pool? We also live in a hot climate (between 90-110) during the summer and we live at the pool. I'm so worried that we are going to haveto ditch this option this year, which would be torture on my older 2 as it's the best way to burn energy and stay cool here. My plan so far is to have the stroller with the shade and a fan that attaches as well as a mister for the babe. But i'm really fearful this wont work for such a young one! I've only ever had fall babies before!