What do winter babies wear?

[itsybistyspider]

My dd is august baby, born in central America. We are now in Denmark have a January baby. I have no clue about what newborns wear in winter! Snow suit? bunting? layers? 

What are you guys planning?

[Conchobhar]

I'm actually asking my friend, who lives in Denmark.  Stand by...

[Mommyofalmost6]

I am planning on onesies, sleepers, gowns, socks, hats and swaddle blankets.

[mariacm]

We live in the mid-atlantic and it gets cold here over winter.  DS was born in November.  He lived in layers - a onesie and socks under a one-piece sleeper or sleep and play, and a blanket in the newborn days.  At night, he wore that, plus a long-sleeve sleep sack (wearable blanket), a hat if it was particularly cold, and a fleece blanket wrapped around him twice.

Because of the carseat straps, we never had him in bunting or a coat or a snowsuit, it was a pain to put it on and then take off just to get in the carseat safely since they can't wear that in the carseat.  So we just brought the seat inside, and put him in it inside, with a blanket overtop til we got to the car and then we draped if over his legs.

We had gowns but never used them bc it was too cold to have air getting up to his legs underneath.

Edited by mariacm - 5/16/11 at 1:00pm

[ablepearl]

Definitely not snowsuits or buntings in the carseat!  You have to take htem off when you put them in or risk the baby being ejected from the seat in an accident.

We will dress in layers and have a fleece snowsuit for in the car seat.  Fleece is very warm and does not compress under the straps, so  it is safe.  We will use a blanket or 'snuggie' style blanket on top of that. 

We live in the interior of Alaska, so it will be brutally cold, far below zero.

[Conchobhar]

Copied and pasted from my Denmark friend (in other words, don't shoot the messenger):

Well, I'd go for warm stuff really - wool!

The thing is, we dress our kids to nap outside. Now, you don't do that with a newborn in winter - lungs aren't developed enough, so for that she should look more towards spring. I'd invest in a sheep skin for the bed and pram. It's very insulating + keeps a good temperature. I wouldn't invest in a snow suit (flyverdragt) since you can get by with the duvet as a good cover when transporting. Buy a nice thick duvet and a thinner for spring and summer and she'll be covered. Buy long sleeved body stockings - they can double as a nice shirt if it's a warm baby like Josephine (she's never used anything of her t-shirts of shirts - she just overheats ;)). If it's a cold child I'd buy wool body stockings (they are a good idea for winter in any case) and I'd shop for that in Bilka - low price and good enough quality for the length of time they wear it at that age. Second hand stores are a treat as well for baby clothing since it's never worn and it's extremely cheap.

I never go for brands, but rather good quality for cheap money. I'd look in JYSK for duvets and other supplies first. Then check Babysam and Kære Børn for the rest but that's the brand stuff and expensive to boot. We're a bit strange in having our kids napping outside during the day so a lot of stuff is made for that. However, there's no point in looking for anything this time of year since it's all summer stuff.

Child seat - she' can't buy one in the US and use here although it's a lot to save. It has to have a special marking from the EU or you could lose your license for driving your kid in it. The chair we bought in 2006 is actually illegal and we haven't used it for Josephine. This is probably the most expensive thing (if she doesn't buy a pram) she has to buy and there's no getting around it. For the first 2 - 3 months she can rent a liftnet so she doesn't have to worry about how long the kid is in a chair. But she will have to spend 2 - 3k kr on a chair after that. We got Römer for Jonathan and have a Maxicosi (got it used - was lucky, only 1k) for Jospehine. But they are easy to find used - I might even have one for sale at that time ;).

If she's American though - everything will be expensive for her.

Hope it helps :)

[mamasmoman]

We're big knitters/crocheters/sewers in my family, and DS was born in late October. I had several knit/crochet buntings with a special slits in them for the car seat straps, some sleep sacks made from old sweaters, and a very special sack I knit to go over our ergo baby carrier. He also had a fleece snowsuit with legs that fit well under the car seat straps. We also had a duvet for the pram like the woman from Denmark suggested. At home he wore tights(common for babies of both genders in Germany), a long-sleeved gown, and a sleep sack. Sometimes a hat if the house was drafty. He also had and still has lots of handmade cardigans and wool pants. I'm planning on using all these again for the new LO, only maybe adding some more feminine-colored items if we can afford them or the baby is smaller at birth than my son(10-2).

[sarah_bella1050]

I just love dressing a baby all cute and cuddly for winter!  We just do little cotton pants (or wool if it's colder) and shirts most of the time with wool sweaters, hats, booties and a blanket or two.  I love sleep sacks for napping and I usually just do a blanket tucked tight around the baby in the carseat.  The rule of thumb I was always told was to dress the baby in what you are wearing except for one more light layer.  So if you are wearing pants, a shirt and a sweater, then do the same for the baby, just add a light blanket or an extra long sleeve shirt.

[Kindermama]

I plan to do mostly wool in the early months. Wool t-shirts with longies or wool diaper pants. Wool sleep sacks and pilot caps too. Nova natural has some sweet baby wool clothing.

[MeaganK]

I'm going through the same dilemma.Funnily, I'm also currently living in Denmark and am awaiting my first baby,who will be born in January. I've been asking around to some of my other friends who have had winter babies and they're all recommending the wool body suits that you can find at many baby clothing stores. I keep seeing one that's really nice-it's gray and completely wool,really soft. Usually costs around 500 DKK. I'm also planning to carry my baby in a sling under my coat,when he's a newborn,and my friends are still saying to get a suit like this because wool breathes really well so he won't end up being too warm or cool. You can find matching booties,hat and mittens to go with this wool suit.  Hope this is helpful to you. Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy!

[juneboymum]

Where are you finding soft wool clothing?  I always associate wool with being scratchy.  I looked at Nova Natural.  Anywhere else??

[montessorimama1]

Originally Posted by juneboymum 

Where are you finding soft wool clothing?  I always associate wool with being scratchy.  I looked at Nova Natural.  Anywhere else??

http://greenmountaindiapers.com/covers.htm  You have to scroll down past the diapers to the bottom of the page, where they have several types of wool pants and sleepers.  Hope this helps!

[montessorimama1]

I just sewed this warm fleece outfit for our little one (it's not done yet, missing the collar and buttons).  I love how snuggly the fleece feels, and the jacket can be used with the pants or on its own.

[juneboymum]

Such a cute outfit MontessoriMama!  Thanks for the recommendation - I love the Green Mountain Diapers website!  This gave me good idea what to look for.  I won't even pay $50 for a pair of pants for myself so I guess I'll be scoping out the consignment shops. 

[AfricanQueen99]

I'll just add that my last babe was born at the end of January and we live in the bitterly cold midwest.  So I *planned* on having him in all this warm, warm clothing, but he's a heat machine and never wanted tons of layers.  We keep our house at 63* and he was happy in sleepers and cotton stuff like that.

Whenever we left the house I just dressed him in stuff that he would wear in our house (because ANY place we would go would inevitably be warmer than our home) and threw a blanket over him in the car.  It worked like a dream.

Wool is adorable, but your baby might be a walking furnace like mine!

[HardCoreMom]

^^^ yes to what angela said.  my last babe was also a late january baby, and we live in cold new england.  we didn't crank the thermostat very high, either.

i keep my babies mostly skin-to-skin for the first few weeks, only in a diaper.  (i'm a big fan of these.)  i wear a flannel button-down shirt or pajama top over us both.  if we go out, and after the baby is to big for the babywearing shirt, i usually just dress them modestly- nothing too bulky.  between the warmth of being with me in the carrier and under a blanket in the car, they do just fine.  i'm sure my tactic would be different if we planned on lengthy outdoor activities in the middle of winter, but we spend most of the early months indoors.  indoors or outside, babywearing keeps you both a lot warmer!

[montessorimama1]

juneboymum - I'm going to make my wool diaper covers and leggings out of old wool sweaters (repurposing is all the rage in my house), following the directions found here (scroll down the page to see the leggings): 

http://www.brighthub.com/environment/green-living/articles/28956.aspx 

and here (for wool diaper covers):

http://www.borntolove.com/frugal-column2.html

Perhaps you can give the leggings a try?  Affordable and cute!  :)

[writinglove]

My mom made wool diaper covers out of my family's old wool sweaters, and they turned out really well. However, some of the wool is a little scratchy, so we'll see how lil' guy tolerates them.

[juneboymum]

Originally Posted by montessorimama1 

juneboymum - I'm going to make my wool diaper covers and leggings out of old wool sweaters (repurposing is all the rage in my house), following the directions found here (scroll down the page to see the leggings): 

http://www.brighthub.com/environment/green-living/articles/28956.aspx 

and here (for wool diaper covers):

http://www.borntolove.com/frugal-column2.html

Perhaps you can give the leggings a try?  Affordable and cute!  :)

Awesome idea!  Thanks!  I've bookmarked the links...now just have to find the time.....
 

[ameliaanne]

i have been sewing and knitting all of my wool covers also. ravelry has been a great source for knitting patterns. i found a great (FREE) pattern for soakers sewn from old, felted sweaters here, and they have turned out ridiculously cute!