SIDS

OK - Lately I have been reading more on SIDS and am becoming a little bit concerned. They say it can be caused be overheating - how do you know if things are too hot. We keep our thermostat at around 73-75 in the day and 70 at night. We put the boys in a onesie with a gown over it and then we swaddle - put hat and mittens on them and put them in the positioner with a recieving blanket over it. Is this too much - could they get overheated? before I go to bed I normally go in their and take their hats and mittens off, but then when they eat in the middle of the night their hands feel cold.

What do your babies sleep in?

 

My baby sleeps in a sleeper and a thermo blanket swaddled. Then I have a blanket loosely over him. With my twins I was told not to put a hat on them because it may slide over their faces and that would not be good. I think at 70 degrees, no hat would be necessary.
Do your babies feel sweaty on their backs in the morning? If so, perhaps drop a layer.

 

All my twins wear are terry cloth sleepers with feet. They hate swaddling and they kick off any blanket I would try to put over them. We keep our house at 69-70 degrees at night and they sleep great and don't seem to be cold. When they wake for a feeding, their hands might be cold- but they would never keep mittens on- so I don't even bother.

 

We are in Chicago and in the winter we did onesies with fleece sleepers and a swaddle and hats. Now that it is warmer we are doing a light cotton sleeper with a sleep sack. When it gets really warm we will do a onesie with a sleep sack. I would avoid loose blankets over them. Also, keep them away from second hand smoke...DUH!

 

I've always heard that babies should wear what you're wearing plus a layer. So if it's shorts and t-shirt weather, they should wear a onesie plus a swaddling or a blanket.

Royce sweats a lot if he gets too hot, so I just pretty much dress him like us, Alice I go with the extra layer idea.

 

I think that's probably too much. Mine wear a onesie and a swaddle blanket, that's it. My ped said after the first week or so they didn't need hats anymore. I don't think they need mittens if they are swaddled.

 

It is also "rebreathing" that is a problem. This is when something gets over their nose and or mouth and they are RE-breathing in their own air and actually get carbon monoxide poisoning. This is why NO blankets in crib until they're old enough to move them.

When babies sleep (or people also) they do tend to get warmer than if they were somewhere else AWAKE. Don't overheat them by using too many layers. A sleep sack is perfect w/ a pair of lighter pjs underneath and s/s onesie. Having your house that warm is WAY too hot w/ all of those clothes on. We keep ours at 70 max and they wear s/s onesie, light pjs and sleepsack. We never swaddled.

 

Honestly it sounds like too much to me. I think I would try it without the hat and mits and see how they do.

My boys sleep in a sleeper with a onesie underneath it. If it has been a warmer day I don't put the onesie on them.
I also have blankets in their crib (bad mama...I know).

 

We keep the house at 68-72 all the time. I have a thermostat in their room so I can check the temp in there and adjust their clothes accordingly. When they were tiny they wore cotton footy sleepers, flannel receiving blanket to swaddle and another blanket on top. After baths I'd put a hat on them, but once their hair was dry I'd take it off.

If you feel the back of their neck and its sweaty that a good indication of their overall body temp (a nurse in the NICU told me this). So at night I go in and feel their neck and take off/put on layers if needed.

 

With my dd, I definitely over dressed her at night but her hands were always cold. The visiting nurse told me that if her belly was warm to the touch than she was warm as well- hands and feet aren't a good indicator of body warmth. It sounds like you might be over dressing given how warm your house is.. I would drop a layer! Good luck!

 

I've been a SIDS worrier myself and I've researched it way too much - and I know I've read in numerous places that you should NOT cover their heads as it will cause them to overheat. I know I've also read (and our ped. told us) that we should keep the house at 68 in the winter and as long as their bellies are warm, they are fine. Their circulation system is immature and cold hands and feet do not mean that the baby is cold - according to our ped.

Our babies sleep in either lightweight sleepers with onesies (when it is warmer outside) and during the cold Midwest winters our's slept in fleece footed sleepers with onesies.

Its so hard not to worry about everything, isn't it??

 

when we left the hospital they said no hats in the house.

 

Yeah I agree that it is too much. We have always kept our house at 68 or so....a little cooler at night...even in the winter. Their nursery is very small so it warms up very quickly and stays warm. I wouldn't put a hat on them. That is usually for them to maintain their body temp which at this point they can. Also, I think the mittens are more for them not to scratch up their face. Their hands and feet are colder (and one of mine kept turning blue) due to the immaturity of the circulation system.

For us, they wore a onsie and sleeper....now they just wear a sleeper with no onsie. Our house get pretty warm in the evening. So we actually dress them pretty light.

April

 

We swaddled when they were little then we put them in baby sleeping bags with a light sleeper. My one daughter does sleep on her tummy but that is a choice I have made.

heather

 

That sounds like a lot to me. We put ours in sleepers and swaddled them at that age. Our house in the winter was kept at 68 during the day and 65 at night (which is about 67 upstairs where the bedrooms are). In the summer, our house is closer to 70 most of the time and they are older and not swaddled now. They sleep in cotton sleepers and cotton sleep sacks now.