Guest Bloggers: Laura Hunter and Jennifer Walker, Authors of Moms On Call: Guide to Basic Baby Care
First of all, the temperature of the babies room should be between 68-72 degrees F. If your air conditioning and heater are like mine, then you need to get a little thermostat from the local Lowe’s and put it in your child’s room.
The crib should be free of any stuffed animals, loose blankets or thick bumpers. After the baby is regularly breaking out of the swaddle blanket, then we take the swaddle and the positioner out of the bed. All we want in the crib is the baby and a thin bumper.
What babies should wear to bed
68-72 degrees F – baby is wearing a cotton short sleeve onesie without front snaps or any embroidered elements that are scratchy on the inside. Over that, the baby can wear a cotton, long-sleeve, long pant sleeper with footies. (Putting socks on under the footies help them to stay in place.) Babies 0-3 months can have a tight swaddle with a Moms on Call swaddling blanket for added security.
64-68 degrees F. – baby can wear the short sleeve cotton onesie as mentioned above. Instead of a cotton long sleeve onesie, the baby can wear a fleece, zip-up sleeper with footies. If the baby is under 3 months and still being swaddled, then they can wear a cotton short-sleeve onesie, a cotton long-sleeved, long pant sleeper and the Moms on Call swaddling blanket, (swaddled tightly).
We get into more trouble with babies getting too hot than we do with them getting too cold. Remember, they have brand new effective metabolisms, so they tend to like the room a bit cool. That said, all babies are individuals and it is fine to experiment with the temperature a bit to be see what your baby’s preferences are.
For more information visit www.Momsoncall.com.
