how to dress him?

[nikelodeon79]

My baby is six weeks old and we're not sure how to dress him:

1. In the house. It is generally around 70*F. He's been wearing onsies with no feet sleepers with socks.

2. To go outside. We live in Northern Wisconsin and its been a cool spring/summer so far. It does get breezy at times. He seems to hate hats... at least tight ones. We've been avoiding outside, other than short trips to the car, since I'm not sure how to dress him.

3. At night. He sweats a lot at night but sometimes his hands feel cold. He's been wearing onsies and sleepers and is covered with a blanket.

The doctor said one more layer than we wear but that's hard because I'm naturally cold and DH is naturally warm.

[SeattleRain]

1. That sounds about right. I'd maybe add socks if his feet felt cold, but if he's frequently in a blanket, you might not need to.

2. You could probably wear exactly what he wear inside, but with socks and maybe a hat. You could also do long sleeved onsies with stretchy pants, or short sleeved onesies with stretchy pants.

3. I'd do sleepers with feet if his feet are cold. Depending on where you get them or what size he needs, you can get sleepers that have hand covers also.

When my son was 6 weeks old it was in the 70's. He often wore these paired with these or you could buy a set that comes with a short sleeved onesie and a long sleeved cardigan that he could wear inside (air conditioning) and you can just take off the jacket outside. When it was warmer than that, we would take off his pants and he'd just wear a onesie. He most often wore socks though, so maybe you're missing that.

I swaddled my son, so he was often tucked in a blanket for most of the day at 6 weeks. If you're swaddling, you don't need to have quite so much clothes and you don't have to worry so much about socks. If you're not swaddling you should think about socks. Those extremities don't get as great circulation yet.

[nikelodeon79]

I'm sorry I was confusing! He does wear socks with his no feet sleepers.

I haven't gotten the hang of swaddling.. and I'm not sure if he likes it. He does seem to want his hands out. I also have the issue that he's a very light sleeper and if I swaddle him after he eats, he wakes up and its hard to get him back to sleep. Sometimes he also gets mad when he can't kick his feet. I might try swaddling again, though. He hasn't been sleeping very well at all... he's very restless. Maybe swaddling will help. I have some of those swaddle blankets with velcro.

Thanks for the reply!

[Anandamama]

Maybe try one of these cocoon things? http://swaddlesock.com/nzoverview.html 

My baby seem to really like one of these and they cannot undo it, but it allows them some movement. I remember it seemed great but my babe grew very fast and grew out of hers too quickly.

[SeattleRain]

I really prefer using an actual blanket because I think you can get it nice and snug that way. I loved the Aden and Anais blankets for swaddling, especially summer babies. 

[Ola_]

Originally Posted by nikelodeon79 

The doctor said one more layer than we wear but that's hard because I'm naturally cold and DH is naturally warm.

DH and I are the same way!  DD mostly wears onesies or sleepers, depending on temp in the house as the weather is really varied here right now.  She sleeps in either a onesie or one of those sleep sacks (covers body but has arms) again depending on temp.  I haven't put her in hats outside since it was cold enough for me to wear a jacket.  We mostly avoid going out when it's really windy anyway since it seems to bother DD.  She's 3 months btw.

[somegirl99]

I remember somewhere (maybe Happiest Baby on the Block?) reading that a good way to check temperature is to check baby's ears.  It has worked well for us.

At that age we mostly wrapped or swaddled him in an Aden and Anais muslin blanket and he either had a onesie and diaper underneath or just a diaper, depending on how hot it was (it was summertime).

[CookAMH]

I've been putting my 11 week old baby in a fleece sleepsack for naps and bedtime, just to make sure she's cozy and not going to get chilled if she squirms around. I just put it on over her clothes. We're in Seattle and it's been cool most days, and if it's sunny and the house warms, she's in a short sleeved onesie and pants, or a bubble suit type outfit, but in warmer clothes for naps regardless since we have a fan on and her room doesn't get direct sunlight.

When out, I wear her a lot and we've done hats some if we go to the park and it is breezy. Otherwise, she's in her clothes since she's against our body heat.  When in her car seat to go outside to the car or go in a restaurant and it's been chilly (ie 60s and cloudy), put a sweater on her and then put a light blanket around her lower body in the car seat. If it's sunny and warmer, then I don't add any layers. She is actually often kinda hot when I remove her from the car seat after traveling on a nice day, guess it gets warm in the backseat.

Usually always wear socks. I haven't been worried about her being too cold for her health, but have started lately to be more mindful of her being warm enough just for her comfort, so I've layered her up a little more lately unless I myself am am very comfortable in shorts and a tshirt and flip flops around the house (then I don't layer her up as much).

She was swaddled all day long the first 3 weeks or so - she was just more content that way. That was April, so it was still cool here most days.

HTH.