How to dress baby boy due in November?

[helaina]

Are cotton pajamas warm enough for dressing a newborn in late November? Should I be purchasing clothing made of sweater material? Fleece? Should his "going home" outfit be warmer since he'll be going outside, but his other clothes be lighter since I plan on keeping him indoors? I'm going to buy one of those fleece covers for his infant seat. I live in the DC area and I'd say our winter temps are around 35-40 degrees. We'll keep the house warm but it might still be drafty since we have a heat pump and electric heat. What temperature should I keep the house at?

Thank you in advance,
Helaina

[miki]

For the winter we got a space heater for DD's room so it could be warmer than the rest of the house when she slept. I used cotton footies on her because synthetics made her eczema worse. HTH.

[jk3]

My DS only slept well if he was on the warm side. We dressed him in fleece pjs from Lands End, Carters and LL Bean.

Jenn
DS 6/03

http://lilypie.com/baby2/030603/2/5/1/-5/.png

[Joshuasmommy]

My son lived in Carters terry sleepers. I wish that is all I had for him, they were soft and seemed comfy and so easy for diaper changes which there were a ton of. At night he liked to be swaddled so I would put socks on underneath his sleeper since his little feet seemed to be cold and then just swaddle him and that seemed to keep him warm enough. I didn't have an actual winter coat or snowsuit, just a warm carseat cover which was wonderful and easy!

[dules]

For safety, you need to be sure the baby is not too warm. Overheating is believed to be a cause of SIDS. My pediatrician said keeping the house at 68-70 was more than enough (we had an old drafty Victorian that cost an arm and a leg to heat!).

Generally your baby should wear one more layer than you in the house to be comfortable (I guess because they are not moving around?). So if you are in a long sleeve T and jeans, dress the baby in a sleep and play with a sweater, or fleecy sweatsuit, etc.

My DD was born 11/28 and we live in NJ. She wore Carters sleep and plays, terry sleepers, a few blanket sleepers on cold nights, and Baby Gap layette one pieces and sweats. We had a Hanna Zipper and a Lands End one piece that we LOVED.

At night she wore sleepers with a onesie and socks. I added the socks because I'd find her feet chilly even in the sleeper - your baby might be more "warm blooded" so check his hands and feet, and the back of his neck, to get a sense if he's warm enough or too warm.

We swaddled in light receiving blankets. There are a few swaddling blankets on the market with Velcro to make it easier, but we didn't have any. I did have a few that were light, stretchy thermal material (really cheap from Buy Buy Baby or Target) that I loved and that made it easy to swaddle.

Hope that helps, and congratulations!

Best,

Mary

P.S. This is OT for this board, but I'd highly recommend a wipes warmer for a winter baby in a drafty house. Nothing wakes a sleepy baby at 3AM better than a cold wipe on the bottom (but that poopy diaper needs to be changed, lol).

[trentsmom]

I live in NoVA, and DS was born in late November. He lived in sleepers for the first couple of months. I liked them because I didn't have to worry about keeping socks on his feet and his belly was always covered. I had him wear a onesie or snap t-shirt underneath for extra warmth.

His "going home" outfit was just a sleeper and a t-shirt and a couple of blankets over him. We live less than 5 minutes from the hospital, so I didn't have to worry about him being chilled.

For sleeping, I swaddled for a short while, but he didn't like it. (He wanted his arms straight out to the sides when he slept.) So I used a Halo sleepsack. I had 2 of them in case he had an accident on one in the middle of the night.

I kept the house at 70 degrees. We have oil heat, and it seems warmer to me than other types of heat. At night, the heat was turned down to 65. I guess the best temp for you depends on if your family is hot-blooded or not. All three of us tend to be hot, so we like having a cooler home - the AC is set on 70 right now. Oh, I did use a space heater in the bathroom to make it nice and toasty for his baths.

HTH!

[squimp]

Everyone else has addressed most of your questions. But I wanted to add that you will probably not need fleece for regular clothes - it can be hot and not very breathable. DH and I also realized that we prefer cotton clothes, PJs especially, so why wouldn't our baby. We just did lots of layering.

Having the infant seat cover is great, and will keep you from having to bundle up baby before every trip out. Oh and get a few cute hats! We got tons of compliments on the Zutano caps.