question re winter newborns

Hi all

Any suggestion on what to wrap a newborn in during winter? :)

cheers
tictac

Hi Tictac-

Think it all depends on how cold and what bubs is wearing...i like the waffle blankets, some like the fleece blankets.... If its really cold just add a cardi or jumper to bubs, maybe booties, mittens and cute little bonnets or beenies....

I love winter babies so many things to choose from to wear...

hope that helps a bit

Thats a good point about the layering up on the clothes for warmth, thanks Jess :)

Sorry I should have specified what I meant... still sleepy! I am curious to know about wraps & blanket for sleeping newborns! ;)

I've got some muslin cloths to wrap him in but wondered if I needed to get something a little warmer like soft cotton blankets or flannelet?
Not sure what is best?

My baby was born a month early in the middle of winter. I had not bought any wraps or anything, so for the first few weeks she was wrapped up in bath towels,lol.

DO you mean like in a bassinette or cot (ie sheets and blankets) or do you wrap bubs up and put him/her down to sleep???? My first hated being wrapped up so i just used to put him in the bassinette with all the blankets tucked under the little mattress. I had a summer bubs thou.... he was bout 6 months by winter.... i was always worried bout weight of blankets so i tryed to maximize the warmth factor in as little blankets/wraps as possible... (ie instead of cotton sheets with 2 blankets for warmth i would use flanelette and one blanket.... If your wrapping bubs up you probably wont need more than one warm blanket as the warmth stays in.... i also liked the sleeping bags.... i found with a bubs who worked his way out of every wrap and would wriggle the blankets off these helped him stay warm without the need for a hevey blanket... with the sleeping bag i would just use a sheet or light blanket over him

I bought one of those wraps that has the velcro on it to secure it. I haven't used them before but with my other dd's they unwrapped themselves every time when they were wrapped in bunny rugs or muslin wraps.

Muslin is a bit light for winter IMO. I use flannelette for winter, I love it. It's warm but breathes. I think fleece is a bit too warm.

Try to get the big wraps if you can, 1mX1m, they will last you longer. I have a whole heap of newborn wraps that DS was out of by 6 weeks........and he was only 5lb1oz at birth!

Yes, dressing winter babies is so much fun!

When Charlie was born it was freezing, & I hadn't thought about it. Luckily my MIL got onto it for me & got me some flannelette wraps they are really good. I also hadn't thought to buy any flannelette sheets & it was so cold & hard when I put him down to sleep, I put a towel down until the sheets arrived in the mail..LOL.
It was freezing over night, Charlie was in wondersuit, wrapped (although he would get out), mittens, sheet & a bunny rug!

I love the velcro wraps (swaddlebees make the best ones I've found) and would put Pip in that, with a sheet / waffle weave blankie then a thicker polar fleece blankie. When taking him out & about, I'd have him in a thick polar fleece wondersuit where the cuffs roll back to cover the hands. With a built-in hood.

If you can make it down to Kathmandu, they have sales on polar fleece wondersuits ATM. Great for out & about in prams & baby carriers.

fleece is too hot for babies and overheats them so you should avoid this.

Flanalette and waffle wraps are the best. The bigger the better too, and you will need a couple for when they get pooed weed and chucked on.
DS was born on 3rd of august and he is a very warm baby. He wore socks nappy singlet with wondersuit style outfit on top. We used the built in mittens on the suit, we then wraped him in a flani or waffle wrap and put him in a bed with flani sheets and about 4-6 blankets. it sounds excessive but our house isn't very well insulated and it easy gets down to 1-2 degrees in the early hours of the morning.

I would check what the temp is in the bubs room a week or so before birth to see how cold it gets in the early hours of the morning, as that is the coldest part of the day.

Babies don't need and shouldn't wear anything on their head after the first day post birth unless you are advised to by your midwife/ob or paed as it prevents them from regulating their body temp.

I found that my house stayed pretty constant temperature wise so the 65,000 wraps and blankets I had for her all went to waste. For the first 4 weeks I wrapped her in muslin and then tucked her into her cradle under a sheet and a beautifully warm wool blanket. If it was very cold I wrapped her in flannel instead. At 4 weeks I put her into grobags and wrapped her arms with either muslin or flannel.

I agree with Lulu. I only used muslin for wrapping too. I did however put a polar fleece blanket down underneath the sheet on the cot, and tacked on over the top if it was really cold. My muslins were huge too (1.5 x 1.2m) so they wrapped around a fair bit.

I've had two winter babies here in Canada, but I believe it's a little colder here than in Australia in the winter! Anyways, I loved soft stretchy cotton wraps for my babies - very cozy, and yet not too warm. You can always add a light blanket over top if it's particularly chilly. And little hats are a good idea - most of their heat is lost from their heads. You can also look into "grobags" which are little bunting bags for babies to sleep in. They are recommended instead lots of blankets to reduce the risk of SIDS. Google it, and you should find plenty of info and where to buy one, if you like.
All the best!

I had some warm sleeping bags with arms that DS slept in - he wasn't a fan of being wrapped. Also as we co slept I didn't have to worry that he wasn't covered.

I am a fan of the stretchy cotton wraps too.......useful as wraps or as cosy blankets. Pumkpin Patch do large 1m x 1m ones, or you can just buy the fabric from Spotlight by the metre and hem it yourself.

Charlie was a winter baby, and at night I would have him in a singlet, a Bonds suit, wrapped in stetchy cotton wrap, with another stetchy cotton wrap over the top.

Also remember yourself in the middle of the night getting up to a baby in winter! Have your slippers ready as well as something to put over your shoulders........I even had a mohiar rug to drape over my knees......so I was all warm & toasty for those night feeds........Charlie and I would fall back asleep together in the chair.....so cozy.......

Ooo lucy that's a realy good tip on keeping yourself cosy too. I had a heater in his room I would turn on when he woke up, I also had a dona cover draped over the chair. lol that's another good reason to use mittens, chilly little fingers on boobies in the middle of night.

Again don't want to sound like a broken record, but although a baby might seems to loose heat out of their head because it's generally the only thing exposed it must be bare or they can't regulate their heat. Overheating is a risk factor associated with sids and the hats can fall down over their faces etc etc etc.
Hats should only be used when outside.

I agree as above, you should never sleep bubs in a hat/beanie. I was also told to steer clear of Polar Fleece as that's a SIDS no, no too.

Well, you shouldn't unless it's recommended (and I know it generally isn't).......lets not scare people ;)

Just layer bubs up. My DS was a Melbourne winter baby and he wore a singlet and a long cotton newborn nightie that was elasticated at the bottom around the feet (great for midnight nappy changes, no fiddling with press studs) and was swaddled in a flannelette wrap and then had a double layer of cellular blanket tucked in over the top of him so he would feel nice and secure. No polar fleece, it doesn't breathe, save that for walks in the pram. Cotton, cotton, cotton, layer, layer, layer.

He was however getting out of his swaddle by the time he was 6 weeks old so go for the biggest cotton or flannelette wraps you can get or those cotton swaddles that velcro up. My DS was one of those babies that insisted on having his arms free so instead of buying more swaddling gear I put him in a sleeping bag and kept up the tight tucking in with the cellular blanket.