Hey people who live in cold weather!

[rightkindofme]

How do you keep your baby warm?  I live in California.  It's really not that cold.  It's in the low 40's overnight (though our house has no insulation and we sleep right under a window so it is chilly).  My kid is currently wearing a long sleeved cotton shirt, cotton legwarmers, two pairs of socks, a heavy flannel footless outfit, a fleece sleeper, and a cotton aviator style hat.  Her skin is still cool to the touch.  I'm not sure what to do because at some point we are going to see temperatures drop from here and I'm not sure what else to put on her.  My older kid can sleep in shorts and a tshirt in this weather so I have no idea what to do.

Help!

[lunarlady]

That's a lot of clothing for one babe! We live in CO, so it is cold here in the winter. I do layers the same as myself, plus one. So if I'm in 2, she's in 3. I start with cotton onesie, then a romper ( all in one thing with feet) in either heavy cotton or fleece. She gets a hat next, then we go to jacket/sweater, and a sleep sack if it is really cold. If we are going out in the cold for an extended time, I wear her and zip her in a coat with me.

Cool skin does not mean your babe is cold. Overheating is linked to an increase in SIDS, so we never sleep that bundled up. If baby isn't fussy, most likely baby isn't cold. Remember your layers plus one, and you should be fine.

[Knitting Mama]

Yeah, we definitely don't bundle up that much, and we also sleep under a window. Lately it's been in the mid to high 30's overnight so it's definitely cooling off here. Cecilia generally sleeps in a footie sleeper and a microfleece swaddle blanket. Sometimes if I am cold at night (rare), I pull the blanket over myself and over her, but generally I sleep outside of the blanket, and so does she since she's swaddled. Her face is generally cool but the rest of her is for sure warm when I unswaddle her.

[P.J.]

We also layer during the day - legwarmers + socks + sometimes little booties on top, warm pants (fleece or thick jogging style pants) and a long sleeve onesie, plus a thick sweater / jacket (fleece or knit). Just today I realized I could put a hat on him indoors to add warmth so we may start doing that now more often. For outside, either I wear him and tuck us both into our wool babywearing coat + a hat for him and a scarf I wrap around both of us, or if using the stroller I put a warm winter coat on him and bundle him in the blanket. But babywearing is the best in cold weather, as it's like having a hot water bottle!

[rightkindofme]

Originally Posted by lunarlady 
Remember your layers plus one, and you should be fine.

Yeah, but whose layers are we judging by?  I'm sleeping in fleece footed jammies (I love these) plus a sheet, plus a couple of blankets.  My husband is slightly cool but comfortable in his underwear and a sheet.  *I* think her layers sound very reasonable and think we might have a problem when it drops another 20+ degrees and I can't add another blanket plus a huge down comforter for her.  I get *cold*.  I have a lower than average normal body temperature and so I have always worn tons of layers + blankets for hanging out in the house.  I was just hoping there was some sort of baby equivalent of 'an extra heavy blanket plus a down comforter' that I don't know about.  My older daughter is also happy sitting around in her diaper all day long so I'm not just the nutty sort who completely overdresses all kids/babies.  This baby seems to have a lot in common with m already. :)

[SpuglyRoo]

What about getting one of those fleece sleep sacks?  What part of her body are you using to judge that she is cold/cool?

[rightkindofme]

Originally Posted by SpuglyRoo 

What about getting one of those fleece sleep sacks?  What part of her body are you using to judge that she is cold/cool?

I shove my hand down the back of the neck and feel her back and I notice her legs during diaper changes. :)

[mommariffic]

I am always warm, so even in the dead of winter you will find me not wearing a jacket -- just a nice cozy G-ma sweater!

It's 45 degrees here, and DS (five months) is wearing: socks (but he kicks them off), sweatpants, long sleeved shirt, cardigan...If we go outside he'll just get shoved in a fleece footie with a hat. At night he wears a fleece sleep sack.

[poorlittlefish]

Wow! I live in MN where it is currently 17 degrees and my baby wears a onsie, a footed sleeper and a halo sleep sack and is fine.  Yes, her facial skin is cool but when I unbundle to change a diaper, she is toasty warm.  Our house gets down to mid 60's at night.  It it got colder I might add a hat but that is about it.

[mamaki]

I live in Ontario, Canada.  It's always warm in our house though (65-70 in winter), thank goodness for central heating!

I echo previous poster's comments that you should make sure your baby isn't too warm.  Check his/her tummy or behind the neck, it shouldn't feel damp and if it does, baby is too warm.

A blanket sleeper is a great idea - that's what I used for my kids as babies.  Much better than a blanket because it can't end up over their face.  Make sure you get the right size and that the neck and arm holes aren't too big or small.  They come in different weights for different seasons. 

Good luck!

[rightkindofme]

It sounds like the real solution is to just heat our house.  Because when we woke up this morning it was 37 degrees outside and about 42 inside.  I just pile more clothes on myself. 

For the record, she has never gotten even remotely sweaty.  She's only damp if I wait too long to change her diaper... :D

[HonkyTonka]

Originally Posted by rightkindofme 

It sounds like the real solution is to just heat our house. 

Haha, I think you are right. All us cold-weather dwellers turn the heat on in the house once it gets cold so we don't really know what to do with chilly nights!

(or me at least - there has been snow on the ground for the last 4 days so you'd better believe the heat is on!)

[lrgs]

Another Canadian here............we heat our house so it's about 70 degrees inside..........yesterday morning it was -22F but our house is pretty warm. My 3 year old sleeps in just one layer pyjamas, my DD (4 months) just wears a footed sleeper, with her woombie overtop and then a blanket on her legs. She runs pretty hot though and if I put too much clothes on her she sweats. I'd love it if she didn't need to be swaddled and could use a sleep sack..........is this an option for you? We loved this with our ODD...she had a nice winter weight one. What about one of those plug in space heaters? Could you use one of those to heat the room a bit?

For going outside.......we just wear our regular clothes and then a coat with tuque & mitts. YDD is in an infant carseat because it's the easiest way for me to keep her warm, she wears a footed sleeper with a warm hoody and then 2 big blankets overtop her.

[mamadebug]

OP - I notice you are in the Bay Area.  We just moved from there, and my son was a baby there.  I get cold really easily and hate to be cold, so we heated the house all winter.  We had no insulation and old windows in our bedroom (not the kind that help keep the cold out).  To sleep, when he was a baby, I put DS in one pair of thin PJs and then put him in a thick sleep sack (heavier than the Halo sleep sack - more like the thickness of a quilt).  Once he was a toddler, he slept in the thin PJs, a pair of sweats over that and socks on his feet.  

[wombatclay]

LOL... a cold weather mama here, but I grew up in a drafty farmhouse (bedside water glasses usually had ice on them in the morning) and although my dh and I heat our home more than that, the indoor temp is generally in the high 40s over night and in the mid-60s during the day (wood heat, no central air).  So I guess I'm used to chilly.

However, my dd2 has Raynauds so we're very aware of staying consistant/cozy (raynauds is essentially an extreme reaction to temperature change).

For winter we sleep in silk/wool long johns and socks.  We have warm comforters and polar fleece blankets.  When we have a tiny babe in bed with us DH and I wear extra layers on our upper bodies and use more of the thinner/more tuckable polar fleece blankets.  I've found that a footed long john sleeper is usually enough, but if it's cold a sleep sac is a nice addition.  And I tend to judge whether my little is cold by how they sleep... if the snuggle in then they may be cold, but if they throw their arms out and push at the cover then they may be too warm.

Oh, my sensitive dd2 does well with the silk/wool longjohns, warm socks, and sometimes a flannel pajama set on top of the longjohns.  We have a sort of sleep hood too but she doesn't like it much and prefers to burrow into blankets (when I was growing up we all had sleep hoods lol... very night before christmas!).

We don't use this brand, but you can see the sort of jammies/hoods we use here.  I don't like wool myself so my jammies are just silk like these (a tank top in a slightly larger size along with a flannel button shirt makes for warm night nursing too).  :) 

[ChristinaLucia]

We live in Minnesota and I just bought baby a bunch of stuff from here http://www.greenmountainorganics.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=54_58

I am planning on the wool sleep sack at night and wool longies during the day with wool socks.  I think I would be scared the Balaclava will turn around and baby will suffocate so she won't wear that to bed either. 

[rightkindofme]

Thanks!  Those are great resources. :D

[KSDoulaMama]

Oooh, I used to live in the Bay Area too... The cold is so much less bearable there since there is no insulation and sometimes there is no heating! When I was a postpartum doula in the Bay Area, we'd typically bundle the little ones with onesie+footie sleeper+swaddle/sleep sack+hat+one thin blanket. Also, cosleeping helps keep my daughter warm. ;) As long as your baby doesn't seem uncomfortable and has an okay time sleeping, then she's probably okay.

[wombatclay]

Yeah, I'm not a fan of the balaclava style.  What we have is more like a ski cap?  A knit hat that pulls down over the ears.  Growing up we wore something more like a "mob cap"... a sort of round hat with an elastic around the edge?  Kind of like a surgical cap made out of flannel.

[pianojazzgirl]

Another Canadian here.  It gets crazy cold where we live, but we have the heat on from fall to spring.  We do tend to keep it cool at night though.  If I was looking for another night time layer for my babe I'd use what other pps suggested - a baby sleep sack.