How can I tell if my baby is warm enough?

beemaya83 · October 2015

How can tell if my baby warm enough at night during bed time? Baby is 15 weeks, since day 1, I've put him to bed in a Onsie and swaddle. Now that the weather has changed, I'm not sure if he is warm enough. Last night after a diaper change, his legs felt a bit cold, so I dressed him with comfy pants. His head felt a bit moist. I couldn't tell if it was sweat. He sleeps in his crib in our bedroom. I personally think it's fine at night for me and DH, But babies are different. I guess I'm super paranoid of overdressing him and scared of SIDS if he overheats. HELP!

KaLikeAWind · October 2015

Girl, I wonder this every night myself. Especially since DH and I like to have the window open and let in cool air while we sleep. Right now I am still using a halo sleep swaddle sack that's fleece, so its pretty warm. All the same, he is dressed in long sleeved and long footed pjs before I wrap him.up in there. We also have baseboard heaters and his pnp is right by one, so I have that on just a tad. I personally would like it a tad colder when I sleep, but since he is still in our room I'll just deal.

How I figure if I want to adjust my temps - if his feet are cold (not cool. Cold) despite the footed pjs and swaddle sack, I turn up the heat. If he seems sweaty on his body then I try to have it be a bit cooler. However - let's remember that they don't sleep with covers of any kind. So I think it would be hard for them to overheat in a normal temperature room with proper clothing. I worried about this over the summer because we don't have ac and it got fairly hot here, but he did fine despite the fact when he woke up I could actually feel his warmth. (Dressed in a onesie but wrapped in a muslin swaddle blanket)
Also remember we lose a lot of heat from our heads, so unless you put a hat on him, heat is going to escape off of his head. I think you'll just know if he's was dressed or wrapped too warmly when you go to get him in the morning / overnight.

YouAreMySunshine15 · October 2015

I question this every night as well. I used to put her in a onesie with an A&A blanket. Then I switched to footie Jammies and the blanket. Then I started putting her in fleece footie Jammies. But my new baby monitor shows the room temp...so I see now that it's like 75 degrees in there at night. I switched back to the cotton footie Jammies. I'll do an armless cotton sleep sack and footie Jammies in the crib. No onesie under the Jammies ever.

virginiaunicorn11 · October 2015

We stayed a night in an unheated house in Vermont a week or so ago, and it got COLD that night. LO was in a short cotton onesie, footed cotton PJs and a cotton Halo armless sleep sack. He loudly protested whenever I tried to put him in his PnP, so he slept with us that night. The same thing happened a month ago in an overly air conditioned hotel room.
This is to say, it is my belief/ experience that if your baby is too cold, he will let you know. I tend to err on the side of too cold vs too warm, for the reasons you stated.

henrytviii · October 2015

Feel their ears and hands. If they feel cold baby us probably cold. I second @virginiaunicorn11 they'll let you know if they are really cold and better to err on the cold side than to warm. I am going to have rearrange our room. LO's crib is by the worst window in out 125 year old house and I can already feel icy air pouring in.

Our house is cold, I sleep the kids in down sleep sacks with fuzzy pajamas. Family tradition apparently. I grew up in a house where we wore stocking caps to bed several months a year. Baby cribs were placed in the hallway over the heating vents.

beemaya83 · October 2015

Thank you so much for the responses. I turned off the AC and put baby in a long shirt Onsie, pants, and socks. Wrapped him in a swaddle me. Husband said I made no sense and should keep the room temperature as we always do since I dressed him warmer.....and after reading your suggestions, I think you are all right and he is too. We'll see how he does tonight.

kellxo · October 2015

my doctor told me to go by there stomach if it's warm then he is warm if it's cold then he is cold or the back of their neck.. she told me not to go by hands, feet or face bc alot of the times they will feel cooler even ifthey are not cold. if you go by their tummy its more of their core temp. my LO sleeps in fuzzy jammies and a sleep sack now that it is colder out. he sleeps on his own room and i keep my thermostat set to 15.

henrytviii · October 2015

kellxo said:
my doctor told me to go by there stomach if it's warm then he is warm if it's cold then he is cold or the back of their neck.. she told me not to go by hands, feet or face bc alot of the times they will feel cooler even ifthey are not cold. if you go by their tummy its more of their core temp. my LO sleeps in fuzzy jammies and a sleep sack now that it is colder out. he sleeps on his own room and i keep my thermostat set to 15.

That's funny because I was told the ears and hands. Ah! This is such an impossible question. It seems like no great way to tell and now I am sevond guessing my techniques. My kids are up a lot at night as babies and I think being cold factors in.

dalinhardt · October 2015

I was also told to go by the tummy because circulation slows in the extremities and the blood goes to keep the organs warm. We keep LOs nursery around 71-72 and dress him in a short sleeve onsie, socks and merlin suit (down filled suit). Previously we would dress him in footies with his halo swaddle sack.