Onesies & air conditioning

[kapow]

We've been dressing Ian in a onesie and swaddling him tightly in our first week at home. He's getting his arms out of the swaddle though, which is fine (the swaddle has to eventually go away). We keep the A/C at 74 and his room is the warmest in the house, although there is definite air flow. By the time I get him up to feed, his arms and hands are a bit cool (NOT icy) and the rest of him is fine. Should I put him in a long-sleeve shirt/onesie anyway? He doesn't mind sleeves.

TIA!

[KMommie]

Oh, DD would get her arms out of the swaddle too! No matter how tightly we would swaddle, she'd always find a way to get one or both of her arms out and above her head! I would try using the long-sleeve shirt/onesie and see how Ian feels with it on. I think that you need to be extra careful the first couple of weeks, because babies have difficulty regulating their own temperature. If Ian stays comfortable in the long sleeve and doesn't get sweaty, then I would continue to dress him that way, if he seems too warm, I'd go back to the short sleeve. One thing nice about putting on the long-sleeve, if it has those flaps for his hands, is it will protect Ian's face if he starts to accidentally scratch with his arms out of the swaddle. We tried the mittens on DD and they kept falling off. Once you're done with swaddling, I'd suggest you try the Halo Sleep Sack. DD would always kick her blanket off, and wake up crying because she was cold. The Sleep Sack stays put. :) HTH

[kapow]

Thanks so much! I appreciate the advice. I wish I had swiped several of the long-sleeve t-shirts from the hospital. We're trimming his nails each day (DH has become quite the manicurist) so no scratches yet. I think I'll try a gown underneath the swaddle - long sleeves, flaps for fingers, plus no snaps so I can get in and out quickly :)

[flagger]

We have only dressed DD in a onesie from the beginning for sleeping and have had no "cold cry"ing complaints. The pedi reminded us that her extremeties will always be a little cooler for the first few weeks and as long as her trunk is normal body temp everything should be fine.

We have several footed long sleeved NB sleepers that will go unused.

[Marisa6826]

I remember reading that the optimal temp for babes is 65-70 degrees, so I think Ian is just fine. I specifically remember it because Sophie was a winter baby, she slept in our room (which is the coldest in the apartment in the winter) and she had no problem.

If he's a little sweaty behind his ears and the back of his neck, he's too warm.

Sophie didn't like having her little arms in the swaddle either. I would just do it up under her armpits and leave her arms out. It worked for both of us!

-m

[ScrapNancy]

We live in FL and have a two month old. She lives practically 24/7 in onesies in our air conditioning and has since the first few weeks. She would kick off her blankets at night and then start crying (she's very active and noisy in her sleep - takes after Daddy!) so we too got a Halo sleep sack. We ordered off of Target.com (if I remember right) and got a knit one instead of the fleece, which is the perfect summer weight for our weather. It was a web-only item, you can't get it in the stores. It's worked great and now she's sleeping through the night!

Nancy
SAHM to Bridget, born 5-9-03