For some reason, I am really nervous about bringing baby home in dead of winter…January.
We’re having a rough one. Our temps have already dropped to the 10’s and its not even Thanksgiving yet.
Of course, I will get the full body suit coats, blankets, sweaters, hats, etc.
But what about when I am transporting him for appts? Or when he’s home and its bitter outside?
Ah, maybe I am just being paranoid and please feel free to tell me if I am but if you came home with baby during nasty weather…did they get sick right away? I am worried about that. How can I prevent that?
And did everyone have baby first aid kits at home? Am I bad if I didn’t think of that yet?
my friend had her baby last month, where we’re from it was already running -20 to -30 degrees celsius, (-4 to -22 deg. fahrenheit). She’s been perfectly fine and actually my friend takes her out all the time to the mall and for errands and what not. She just bundles her up. I wouldn’t worry about it too much.
I will give you the other perspective, everyone above is right, BUT, make sure that once you get the baby back indoors, PLEASE remove all excess layers. More parents over HEAT a baby than letting the baby get too cold. Specially in winter, most places have their heat indoors cranked up high, so you'll bring the baby all covered up into a 73-75 degree room and the baby will melt. Please don't over heat the baby. I've seen SO many parents with miserable babies crying and screaming and I've asked them to just take the gloves, mitts, and hats off indoors and the baby immediately calms down. I've been around a LOT of babies and this almost always works.
The newborn shouldn't be in too many layers of clothing, even when being taken out. Something that covers the head, feet, and maybe a sweater over the outfit. You can then put a BundleMe on the carseat for extra coverage and a blanket over the handle to protect/shade baby, especially if s/he is asleep. That should be fine.
Do not use snowsuit. Use a full body suit made from fleece kind of fabric. Once buckled in the car seat, use blanket to tug him in. When leaving home, put a blanket over the car seat to avoid any wind exposure. When in the car, remove that top blanket.
Get the 3-6 months size suit. You never know how long the winters will be.
I had 4-5 blankets so I could wash them frequently.
saline drops, nose bulb, nail clippers, thermometer (we have an ear one by Braun that makes life much easier). I also keep tylenol and ibuprofen on hand at most times.
I didn't have a birth plan either. And what S02 and Lusi said, just keep those items on hand, the rest, you'll come home with a lot of goodies from the hospital nursery
agree with everyone above.
didnt have a birth plan either.
i’ll add sanitary hand wipes/hand sanitizer and disposable face masks … that’s for the sniffling/coughing guests who will not use common sense and come to see and touch and breath on the baby anyway :halo:
you may offend some ppl with this so consider this fair warning but my rules (with my first one) and now with the 2nd one coming end of dec were/are …
i ask anyone coming(those that called ahead) if they are sick with even slight upper respiratory sx … if they are … i ask them (v politely and with explanation) not to come till they are asymptomatic.
if they come anyway (out of towners etc) and for anyone else who sets foot in house. Hand wipe first. those sniffling/coughing sx … face masks … all before the baby gets brought into their presence.
may seem OTT but i have done enough infant sepsis workups in the ER to know that i wont be putting my baby through it because of fear of being perceived as impolite.
The JJ cole bundle me is very helpful. And I would always warm the car before hand for at least 15 minutes before taking the baby out.
Both my kids are winter babies and they didn't get sick. But I was very cautious the first 3 months because their immune system is very weak and you don't want to expose them to too many people during prime flu season. If your baby gets a fever of 101 and over the first two months, they will need to get blood work and a spinal tap done. Even though it's routine work for the doctors you don't want to make your newborn go through these invasive procedures so I would recommend you to avoid going to public places the first two months and keep the baby away from people with even a slight cold.
^ I think that's what I plan on doing for a while at least but not sure if that's extreme.
Two of my nieces and nephew were winter babies with my nephew being born in one of the worst blizzards we've seen for a while now. I cannot understand how my sisters did it but I seem to be drawing a complete blank here.
I'll be using hand sanitizer for surrrrre...this is prime flu season and right errrryone and their mama is sick!
^ You'll be fine Reha! Keep in mind babies get sick primarily when exposed to other people with colds and the flu. The cold winter itself will not give them a cold or the flu. So as long as you keep him reasonably warm and avoid crowded places like the mall on weekends etc. for the first two months (prime flu season for you) you'll be fine. I did take my kids to other people's houses though even as newborns but just made sure anyone sick didn't hold them and honestly no one ever did. People were great and kept away if they were sick.
If u r making sure the baby is warm enough then there’s no need to be worried. Rule of thumb is babies need as many layers as ur wearing (same general thickness/warmth) plus one extra layer. So there’s no need for them to be packed like an Eskimo. One of the posters who suggested the warm fleece onesies instead of a snowsuit makes sense to me because a snowsuit means the baby is actually out in the snow. Not packed in a car seat (which makes babies warmer than how u’d be sitting in a regular seat in the car) with a blanket on him/her plus a blanket thrown over the carseat (for windy or extra cold days).
And I’ve seen a lot of babies crying from being overheated. I mean the baby’s turning red in the face and the parents can’t connect the dots that he’s feeling hot. And ppl here in saudia are so silly, the winter here is just pleasant, hardly ever cold, I’ve never had to wear a sweater, the abaya is always enough, and u get temps in 21-24 C range and u see ppl with ski caps and kids layered in woolen stockings and turtle necks, it’s really weird to watch if ur on the other side.
Once the temp was around 25, and that’s considered comfortable room temp! And it was pleasantly breezy(at the park), a friend of mine who’s a doc, had her two year old daughter in a full sleeves fitted tshirt with an undershirt and jeans and sneakers. This and climbing up and down steps and slides and swings and what not, bechari bachi was damp to the touch! Her sweat had soaked through her layers but she was a trooper and just continued playing. Anyway I asked my friend about it, she said her daughter catches a cold really quick so she does this to stay on the safe side. I thought being a doctor she would realize that she’d probably catch the cold from germs caught from another kid in the play ground and not 25 degree weather. I had my daughter in shorts and a sleeveless tshirt and she still had sweaty hair from playing.
Buy the JJ Cole BundleMe and put it on ur carseat. My son was born in October and whenever we went out i would dress him as i normally would - jeans, full sleeves, and winter hat. Thats it. It was so warm sometimes he would be sweating in the Bundle Me when we would take him out lol. It's awesome u don't have to worry about blankets or layers. And they have different versions...the year my son was born it wasn't such a bad winter, so i got the basi one which was awesome...but they have the Arctic Bundle Me which is super thick and lined with wool, water proof etc etc. I think it was one of the best and most used purchases i made for my son, esp since his really early months were spent in our horrible Chicago cold.
but my rules (with my first one) and now with the 2nd one coming end of dec were/are …