appropriate clothing/blanket for late summer baby?

[Anonymous]

We're expecting a baby at the end of August. We don't blast A/C in our house in the summer, so it's usually in the mid to upper 70s in our house.

We were given a lot of receiving blankets as gifts, some of them "thermal" cotton (waffle-weave, like on long-johns) and some of them flannel. I'm wondering if these would be too hot and if i should exchange them for thin muslin or some other material? and how long do babies use receiving blankets (I guess we could save these blankets for the winter months, when baby will be a few months old)?

We also got some newborn-size onesies as gifts that have long sleeves and legs/feet, plus some long-sleeved gowns, plus some sleep sacks (some are regular cotton, some are fleecy polyester). Would these be too much clothing for late summer, as opposed to just a short-sleeve onesie?

Also, I heard that newborns can't regulate their temperatures and you should dress them in one more layer than you're wearing. Not sure what that means ... if I'm wearing a tank top and shorts, I should put the baby in a onesie AND a receiving blanket?

I'm sure these are all really basic questions, but I don't know how easy it is to know if the baby is too hot/cold, and I need to decide which, if any, of these gifts to exchange while we still have time before baby arrives. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

It always amazes me that people don't think about sizes AT ALL when they buy baby gifts.

No, you really don't need to put your baby in long sleeves on a hot summer's day. If your house is at 78, that is plenty hot. In fact, you may want to blast your A/C because a cooler room with a fan (for air movement) has been shown to reduce the risk of SIDS.

As for blankets - I found the flannel ones perfect as burp rags. If you have a spitter, a big blanket on your shoulder protects you more than a diaper sized thing.

The waffle weave are great for swaddling because you can really stretch them out. In the summer, I would use a onesie (or just a t-shirt) with a swaddle for sleeping. If you've got your A/C cooling things a bit more, you can double-swaddle which is the only way we could keep arms in.

If your baby's hand feel cold and he/she can't sleep, then she isn't warm enough. Otherwise I wouldn't worry about being too cold in the DC summer.

[Anonymous]

You will use blankets forever. Easily through the first year. The first winter, I was always tucking blankets around DD in her carseat, in her stroller, etc. It's good to have both light and heavier blankets, so if you don't have ANY light ones, get a few. They're cheap.

DD was born in August. Most hot days we just put her in a onesie (t shirt with snap crotch). When it started getting cooler we put sweatpants on over that, or we would keep her in one-piece footie pajamas all day.

With an August baby, I would be more worried about overheating than chilling -- I wouldn't automatically put that rule-of-thumb extra layer on. You can tell when babies get too hot or cold -- they'll get fussy, their skin will feel or look hot/clammy/flushed/sweaty or cold/blueish.

And you will have time to return things after the baby is born. Expecting parents always feel like they have to have everything SET by the birth (I know I did too), but you really really don't. You're going to need things you never thought you'd need and you're going to end up going shopping anyway, so don't sweat it too much. Birth isn't a deadline.

[Anonymous]

Aden and Anais have lightweight muslin blankets/wraps if you're looking for something more summer-weight fyi. I haven't had my baby yet, but people seem to really like these.

[Anonymous]

You'll want to go with something lite, like a cotton based baby blanket. Don't go fleece, too hot. Chenille may also be too hot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Aden and Anais have lightweight muslin blankets/wraps if you're looking for something more summer-weight fyi. I haven't had my baby yet, but people seem to really like these.

I love these. Got one as a gift. Bought an additional 3 myself and am still using them a year later. They are very large, good quality and adorable looking.
For the cold days, blankets are useful for stroller, etc but I cannot recommend enough the wearable blankets (grobags are great).