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By Emma Castle
Not too hot but not too cold is what we aim for with our babies – but how do you maintain a correct body temperature when you’re moving between hot cars, air conditioning, the breezy outdoors and the stifling indoors?
Is it okay to keep the bedroom window open? Should you leave the air conditioning on all night? How can you tell if your baby is overheating?
Here are tips on how to keep your baby ‘just right’ this summer.
Anything over 26°C is starting to get a bit too hot for a baby to be outside for long periods of time. Why? Because babies have a hard time regulating their body temperature. They’re more likely to get heat stroke than older children, and they also get dehydrated faster, which is why it’s critical to manage their exposure to high temperatures.
If you do need to go out, try do it in the early morning or very late in the day.
When it’s super hot, the last thing you want is skin-to-skin contact with another human. One way of keeping the temperature down when you’re feeding is to both lie down so it’s only your breast in contact with your bub. Another option is to drape a cool, wet cloth over your supporting arm to cool you both down.
If you’re wearing a t-shirt and shorts, dress your baby in the same sort of thing. Use your own body as a gauge for what’s comfortable to wear. Stick to natural fibres like cotton, and if you’re going to be outside, go for long sleeves and pants in a very lightweight fabric to protect against the sun.
All that extra padding in baby capsules makes them very hot to sit in. Dress your baby very lightly when travelling long distances in summer, and be sure to use a car window shade so your baby is never in direct sun. Also be mindful of the car air conditioning – make sure the vents aren’t blasting right at them.
Some parents cover their baby’s pram with a wrap in an effort to keep them shaded, but this can actually make the pram dangerously hot and should be avoided. Check on your baby often when they’re in the pram.
Babies need to drink about 50 per cent more than usual when it’s hot, and babies under six months shouldn’t drink water, so be prepared for your bub to want to breastfeed or bottle-feed more often.
If you’re worried about dehydration, keep an eye on their nappies: if you’re getting the usual amount of wet nappies in a day, that’s a good indication that your bub is suitably hydrated.
You’re fine to use fans and air conditioning – the main thing to consider is ventilation. Don’t point a fan directly at a baby, and make sure the air-conditioning is set at around 24°C.
Because of the plastic in some disposable nappies, babies often get heat rash on their bottoms in hot weather. They can also get it behind their knees, under their arms, and under their chubby little chins.
You can use barrier cream on a heat rash, just like you would with nappy rash. Tepid baths will also help to calm the skin down (avoid cold baths, as the sudden temperature change will cause the blood vessels to direct the heat to your baby’s core, meaning that the skin will cool down but your bub will still be hot on the inside).
Your baby can technically go swimming safely any time from birth, provided the water is around 32°C. It doesn’t matter whether it’s in the ocean, a river, a lake or a pool, as long as the water isn’t too cold. Mums should wait six weeks after birth to go swimming, in order to avoid infection.
If you are ever concerned about your baby’s health, or you think they maybe dehydrated, take them to your GP or call healthdirect Australia to speak to a registered nurse on 1800 022 222.
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