Dressing Baby for Winter

Canada – land of cold winters and hot shopping malls. Once December rolls around, outings definitely become more challenging. We polled some cold-weather veterans for their “beyond snowsuits” tips on keeping babies warm outdoors, cool indoors and safe in their car seats.

Brrrr! It’s cold out there. Babies have tender skin and tiny bodies, and typically move around much less than the adults who care for them, so on a cold outdoor walk they will get chilled or frostbitten before we do. To make matters worse, they can’t tell us when they’re feeling cold. Judy Kelly, a public health nurse who leads parenting classes in Winnipeg, suggests that “several short outings in winter are preferable to one great long hike. Check the baby’s hands and feet for warmth now and then, and be aware of the wind chill factor. The baby’s ears should be covered, but if it’s windy you may need to also cover his face with a light blanket or scarf.”

A good way to be sure your baby is warm enough, says Grace Marcinkoski, owner of Baby Love Products in Camrose, Alberta, is to “have the baby in a front carrier inside your coat; that way you have a really good sense of the baby’s temperature because she’s right against you.” If you don’t have a coat big enough for two, but like using a carrier, you might invest in (or make) a special bunting that will fasten over a carrier. Be aware of walking conditions, though – if it’s icy and you slip, your baby goes with you.

When extra layers are needed, polar fleece is the fabric of choice. “It’s a girl’s best friend up here,” quips Andrea Buckley of Whitehorse, mother of Abby, born September ’98. Fleece blankets are lightweight and easy to tuck into place. “I bought a pair of heavy fleece coveralls and they are great under a snowsuit.”

Finally, let common sense prevail. “If it was 40 below, we just didn’t take her out,” says Buckley. Even rugged Northerners have their limits.

Boy, it’s hot in here! So your baby’s bundled up all cozy and warm, and falls asleep peacefully just as you arrive at the mall. You shed your own coat as soon as you step inside, but what about him? Getting a baby out of a snowsuit without waking him up is a trick worthy of Houdini.

“You do need to undress the baby a bit when you go from a cold to a hot environment,” says Kelly. “At the very least, slip the hat off and open the snowsuit up.” How can you tell if your sleeping baby is getting overheated? “She may feel very warm behind her neck, her hair may be damp from sweat or her cheeks may become quite red.”

To avoid this problem, more parents are opting for layers that can easily be added or removed, rather than one bulky outer garment. Patty McGuire’s daughter, Mason, was born at the beginning of a “rather cold winter here in Edmonton.” (Aren’t they all?) She relied on a “wonderful fleece bunting bag” that zipped right over the car seat. Once in a warm car or building, the bag could be unzipped and opened right up, and the McGuires quickly learned the value of this feature: “When we first started taking her out we didn’t unzip the bag,” remembers McGuire, “and, boy oh boy, was she ever a hot little number – just a little sweat ball!”

Safe in the car. McGuire’s cover had an added, important advantage: It allowed them to secure Mason safely in her car seat.

The trouble with bulky, slippery snowsuits and old-style bunting bags is that they interfere with the proper fit of the straps. “Babies don’t have much in the way of shoulders anyway,” explains Marcinkoski, “so the harness straps need to be snug. If they are on the outside of a snowsuit, they can slide right off in a collision.”

“The harness should be adjusted over lightweight clothing,” confirms Kelly, “with extra layers over top as needed.”

Well and good, but in really cold weather a blanket draped over the top just isn’t adequate. To help with this problem, a variety of homemade and commercial car seat-compatible blankets and buntings have appeared on the scene.

One such invention is a gathered cover that fits over the car-seat frame, with a peekaboo flap that folds down. “These are good for spring and fall, or for milder winter climates,” says Marcinkoski. When deep winter sets in, most parents want something that wraps right around the baby. Patty McGuire’s bunting bag has strategically placed openings that the car-seat straps thread through, providing a warm backrest. Her lightly dressed baby can then be buckled in securely, and the bag zipped around her. An extra blanket can be piled on if needed.

Over time, these specially designed blankets and bags tend to slide down the car-seat straps and if left that way, could result in an improper fit on the baby. So parents who use them need to make sure they are threaded tightly against the back of the car seat. But as McGuire points out, that’s no big deal.

“The bag was a lifesaver,” she says. “With babies, your life can get so complicated just walking out the door and out to the mall. One less thing to worry about when it’s -35 really helps!”

By Holly Bennett

Originally published on Today’s Parent