Five most important things when dressing your baby in the pram during the winter

Many new parents find it difficult to know how much to dress their newborn baby during the winter months.Often you are afraid that the baby will freeze.Then it can be good to remember that it is much more common to dress your baby too much than too little.Below are more of our best tips on how to think when heading out into the cold with your little nugget.

The 5 most important

• To get an idea of ​​whether your baby is warm enough, you can feel with a finger on the neck.If the baby is dressed too warmly, it feels hot and sweaty, then it is time to lighten the clothes.
• Dress your baby according to the layer on layer principle so the body is kept dry and warm and you can easily regulate the temperature. It is not the clothes themselves that provide the most heat, but stagnant air between the layers.The innermost layer, which is closest to the body, should feel nice and comfortable.Cotton fits perfectly here and is also the best for sensitive baby skin.The middle layer, for example a wool or fleece overall (you can find ours in merino wool here) should keep the body warm, breathe and function as a moisture transporter.The outer layer retains heat and protects against moisture and wind.Here, the travel bag is often sufficient for a 0-6 month old baby.If the pram has a cot cover, you can also choose to make the bed with a blanket/blanket.Then think about insulating from below, for example with a lamb's wool blanket.And the feet? We recommend thin socks on the inside and then a pair of knitted woolen booties on the outside - preferably with string around to keep them in place.Here our own booties are a perfect alternative, knitted in silky soft Peruvian baby alpaca.
• Open up the outermost layer when you enter a shop or cafe. Newborn babies have more difficulty regulating their body temperature than adults and it is therefore important to adapt clothing to the temperature and where you are.If you have a (wool)fleeceoverall as a middle layer, it is practical if it has double zippers in the front because then it is easier to let air in.
• Clothe your baby in wool or other breathable materials so excess heat can be vented out.In the heat that the body emits there is moisture.If the heat is not vented out, the child's skin becomes moist and sweaty and this moisture will eventually cool the body down.Wool warms comfortably while keeping the skin dry.There are several types of wool whose fibers are long and soft and do not feel at all prickly against sensitive baby skin, including alpaca that we use for our knitted collection and merino wool our baby overalls are made of.It acts as a protection against the changing temperature of the surroundings and is also an ethically good choice.You can read more about that on our page about alpaca.
• If you feel like you don't really know how many layers may be needed, it's great to have blankets on hand.Then you can easily take away and add as you feel, depending on the weather and how the baby feels.Here, one of our organic cotton blankets or knitted wool blankets fits perfectly.

And then 5 bonus tips

• Keep in mind that a baby who is in a bassinet, i.e. about 0-6 months old, is not that physically active.This means that she needs to be dressed more warmly than larger babies.It is good to adapt the clothing according to how hot or cold it is, but also according to age, mobility and how active the baby is outdoors.
• A great rule of thumb when using a pram: the heat you get from moving, the baby gets from lying protected in the pram.
• Wear a pair of soft gloves and make sure your hands are tucked into the bag or fold over any cuffs on the mid-layer overalls.The blood circulation in babies' hands and feet is not fully developed, which means that they get cold hands and feet much faster than adults.
• Avoid washing or lubricating the baby just before going out.Moisture cools the baby's skin and removes its natural protective fat layer.If you smear the skin on your face with an ointment that contains water and it's really cold outside, it can even cause frostbite in the worst case.If the child's skin is dry, you can lubricate it when you come in instead.
• Do you have a baby who wants to sit in a carrier regardless of the weather? Obtain wind, rain and/or winter protection.These are available for most types of baby carriers (e.g. Babybjörn & Ergobaby) and are perfect to have ready when you are out for a walk.

So - when your baby is in a pram:

• Invest in a good travel bag (or plaid plus blankets if you prefer).Materials are a matter of taste and there are several good tests that go through the pros and cons.Most travel bags that fit the seat part are often too big for the lying part - keep that in mind when shopping.
• Depending on where you live (i.e. how cold it is), Bodysuit and leggings or a jumpsuit closest to the body, then a thinner overall made of fleece or wool fleece as a middle layer and a hat made of wool and thin socks with knitted booties outside.Feel free to complete with a cuddly blanket which you can remove or add depending on the weather.

And finally - wool or (polyester) fleece?

• Normal fleece, i.e. that which is made of polyester, fulfills the same function as wool fleece but does not regulate heat as effectively because it does not breathe and therefore does not transport sweat and moisture away as well.Wool fleece and wool in general insulate heat well and are naturally water repellent.Because it breathes, sweat/moisture is carried away from the skin instead of cooling there.
• Ordinary fleece is not as kind to the environment.It is made from oil (yup!) or at best from recycled PET bottles, which can sound sustainable and good.However, there is an environmental problem with such fleece: microplastics are released into the environment every time the fleece garment is washed, and between 10 and 30 percent slip through the treatment plants and end up in the oceans.In addition, the demand for fleece has become so great that the used PET bottles are not enough for both new bottles and fabric.This means that fossil fuels must then be used to manufacture new PET bottles and the overall environmental benefit will not be that great.

Wool trumps polyester fleece, therefore, for reasons of both durability and functionality.

Now all you have to do is go out and walk! ❄️