How many clothes?

Gataloca

Gataloca

Registered User
As the weather is getting cold, I was just wondering how many clothes should my baby wear? How do I know it is enough?

I have read that we can check by feeling the baby back neck, and that if it feels warm, then the baby is warm. But I am concerned because I always get comments about how little clothes my baby is wearing, specially compared with the way Chinese people dress their children. I don't want my baby to caugh a cold, but I don't want him to get overheated due to his eczema.
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I tend to put my kids in thin layers - at the moment my six month old is in a short sleeve cotton onesie with a long sleeve t-shirt on top and trousers plus socks. I much prefer natural fibres to synthetics. If i take him out I add a wool cardigan and a blanket and a hat if it's cold. Later in the winter I'll put mittens on too. Hats are great for keeping body warmth but not overheating your baby's eczema. At night he's in a short sleeve onesie plus a cotton babygro and a sleeping bag. I've got a heater on low in his bedroom and I keep the temperature at 20 degrees. I wouldn't worry too much about the comments - it's your baby, you're the mum, you know best!
 
after having taught hundreds of kids over the years, i can honestly say that the locals tend to WAYYYYYYYYYYYYY overdress their kids! i have had some kids come to class who can barely walk due to the 10 (no exaggeration) layers that they have on! it is utterly ridiculous! they over dress the kids, then they stick a facecloth in their back to keep away the sweat!

the best advice i can give is this: do not judge your child's temperature by touching the hands...use their body, either back of the neck or tummy, as a guage. i still do that with my 3 & 5 year olds. if baby's hands are cold, maybe just put some little mittens on him...
 
We went to Disney land yesterday and my baby was wearing one thermal, one t shirt, sweater and a jacket. I made him wear tights, socks and shoes plus hat and mittens.
My daughter was dressed the same way, she had an overcoat instead of jacket.
SOME PEOPLE FEEL MORE COLD THAN OTHERS, people who come from colder countries like Europe and Canada don't feel as cold as people who are born here. And anyhow better be little hot than sick. A baby cannot say he is cold, but if he is hot then he will definitely be red and sweating. My kids catch a cold in a jiffy, waiting for a taxi for 5 mins in the chilly wind makes them come down with a cold.
 
actually, children who are over-dressed are as likely if not MORE likely to get sick.

and even though i'm originally from canada, i've been here for coming up to half of my life. i actually think that hk is colder in many respects. at least in canada we have insulation and central heating.
 
I just picked my daughter up from school, she was wearing her school uniform (tracksuit pants and a polo shirt) with a long sleeved T shirt underneath - no jacket. She was warm enough like that. The other kids being picked up couldn't even put their arms down by their sides!! They had on probably 3-4 layers, and then a big snow jacket over the top! With beanies and scarves too ;)

My daughter probably could have done with a jacket - particularly if we were going to be STAYING outside at all... but she was warm enough for catching the bus home.

Also you don't catch colds by getting too cold. You catch colds if your immune system isn't great.
 
my daughter always wears an undershirt in these cold days, a vest kid of thing underneath her sweater / sweatshirt. today she would corduroy pants instead of the usual jeans and boots with a vest and a sweater. she wore a sleeveless vest jacket on top of her sweater - my MIL thought she was under dressed, but in fact she was fine (if you feel her body, it was warm).

you can get sick by over dressing i think too - layers is the best way to go - it doesn't help that in HK the temp indoors and outdoors is like the different places! too hot can't be healthy - too cold is no good...in fact, your body really has to have a chance to adjust to the weather (not cold turkey, but gradually)
 
http://www.babycenter.com/0_top-col...cts-on-keeping-your-child-h_1448773.bc?page=1

"Also you don't catch colds by getting too cold. You catch colds if your immune system isn't great."

Only a cold virus can give you a cold. So being cold, in itself, can't make you sick. But being cold and wet can cause a dormant virus (one that's already in your system) to flare up, triggering symptoms.
In a 2005 study at Cardiff University's Common Cold Center in Wales, 90 volunteers immersed their feet in ice water for 20 minutes. Over the next five days, the chilled group had twice as many colds as a control group of 90 volunteers whose feet had not been not chilled.
The researchers suggest that being chilled causes the blood vessels in the nose to constrict, shutting off the warm blood that supplies infection-fighting white blood cells. Many people are carrying around cold germs, they explain, but getting chilled can make it harder to fight off the effects.
 
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Hey - a general rule that I use is to dress your baby in one extra layer than what you are wearing.
 
Gataloca said:
As the weather is getting cold, I was just wondering how many clothes should my baby wear? How do I know it is enough?

I have read that we can check by feeling the baby back neck, and that if it feels warm, then the baby is warm. But I am concerned because I always get comments about how little clothes my baby is wearing, specially compared with the way Chinese people dress their children. I don't want my baby to caugh a cold, but I don't want him to get overheated due to his eczema.
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Click to expand...

Oh, local Chinese people will ALWAYS comment on how under-dressed your child is. The truth is that they actually tend to overdress their own children. My son's doctor is very well-known and respected and one of the first things he warned us against when my son was a newborn (which was in the wintertime in HK) is overdressing him.

Babies have a layer of fat for a reason so they actually are more insulated than we adults are. For the past few days when it's been cold we've dressed our son in layers. He wears a t-shirt, long-sleeved shirt and either a thick sweater or a jacket. We make sure he has a hat on his head and warm socks on his feet and when he goes out he wears a coat, shoes and gloves. If your child is sweating in their clothing, they are probably over-dressed. If you dress your child in layers then it's easier to adjust for temperature changes.

And don't let the comments of the HK grannies bother you. Whenever they tell me that either I or my child is underdressed, I remember that they have no idea what "real cold" is (in my home place right now it is well below zero and has been for weeks--as well as icy, windy and snowy).
 
carang said:
actually, children who are over-dressed are as likely if not MORE likely to get sick.

and even though i'm originally from canada, i've been here for coming up to half of my life. i actually think that hk is colder in many respects. at least in canada we have insulation and central heating.
Click to expand...

Exactly. I never have to wear my winter gear inside my house back in the States even though I'm from the Northwest and it is FREEZING outside there right now. When I go inside I could walk around in a t-shirt and shorts because the homes are properly insulated and the heating systems work.
 
geomum said:
http://www.babycenter.com/0_top-col...cts-on-keeping-your-child-h_1448773.bc?page=1

"Also you don't catch colds by getting too cold. You catch colds if your immune system isn't great."

Only a cold virus can give you a cold. So being cold, in itself, can't make you sick. But being cold and wet can cause a dormant virus (one that's already in your system) to flare up, triggering symptoms.
In a 2005 study at Cardiff University's Common Cold Center in Wales, 90 volunteers immersed their feet in ice water for 20 minutes. Over the next five days, the chilled group had twice as many colds as a control group of 90 volunteers whose feet had not been not chilled.
The researchers suggest that being chilled causes the blood vessels in the nose to constrict, shutting off the warm blood that supplies infection-fighting white blood cells. Many people are carrying around cold germs, they explain, but getting chilled can make it harder to fight off the effects.
Click to expand...


True that getting chilled can make it more likely that you catch a cold. I experienced this last year at the coldest time of the year when on a windy night I didn't dress warmly enough and caught a really bad cold. But it also has something to do with your immune system. If one's immune system is truly in tip-top shape (and mine wasn't) even getting a bit cold is not going to automatically lead to sickness.

There is also a big difference in sticking one's feet in cold water for 20 minutes and not dressing in 10 layers when you go out into the mildly cold Hong Kong outdoors.

Comes down to parents knowing themselves and their own kids. It's just silly, though, that HK people feel that it is necessary to play "warm clothes police" with others' children. My husband is Hong Kong Chinese and he and his family truly believe that if a person sneezes it means that they are cold. But, there are many reasons why people sneeze--for example, inhaling dust or other allergens. It's very interesting that his family members see no other explanation for such phenomenon and they really think that as a foreigner, I must be crazy.
 
Yes, the sneezing myth. At the hospital the nurses explained us that babies don't have hair inside their nose to filter allergens, therefore they are more prone to sneeze. Same for babies cold feet... They don't walk or move them as much as we do, so it is normal for their feet to be cold. It doesn't mean they are cold.
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Oh... yes, the sneezing comment. All too familiar.

I will also agree that locals in general overdress their children. I am living in Beijing now, and all babies here are wrapped up like big fat dumplings. I wouldn't be surprised if their development were affected.... how can they move?! I dress my daughter accordingly for the day's weather, not for the season. I feel that once it's winter, everyone brings out the big coats, mittens, hats and starts layering them on.

Not only do babies have more fat to keep them warm, they also have very speedy metabolism ...

As for the immune system, a strong one helps us fight off the viruses/germs that come our way!
 
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