How to dress baby for his night according to the temperature?

Before knowing how dress baby to get a good night’s sleep without feeling too hot or too cold, it’s a matter of adjusting the room temperature. According to the IPAD, the Institute for the Prevention of Domestic Accidents, the room must remain cool and the temperature be between 16 and 20°C for a good sleep and optimal comfort. “But for a baby we most often speak of an ideal temperature of 19 degrees” informs us Marine Lhomme, childcare nurse. If this seems a bit chilly to you, don’t worry: baby will have an easier time acclimatize to a cool temperaturewith a sleeping bag, only at a temperature that is a little too high, in the middle of summer, for example.

How to check the current temperature of the baby room? Be aware that current baby monitors are often equipped with an integrated thermometereven for certain, of a notification if the temperature is too high or too cold. But a simple classic thermometer, which you will check regularly, is quite sufficient.

Difficult to know with certainty the state of comfort of baby, since he does not speak yet. On the other hand, certain signs will guide you. “If it is not covered enough or if, on the contrary, it is too hot, your baby will let you know… crying and getting annoyed” evokes the nursery nurse. A hand placed on the neck an hour after bedtime should also tell you. “But if baby is not wet, has eaten, has no particularcolic… and he cries, we can legitimately ask ourselves the question of his comfort” she confirms.

For the childcare worker, there is a trick for knowing how to dress baby at night: find your bearings on your own state of comfort. “If we are hot, it is certain that baby will be hot too, the same for the cold. The rule often used is to rely on our feelings as adults and add a slight thickness to baby” she confirms.

In this case, we dress baby interrycloth pajamas very warm associated with a sleeping bag, never to a blanket. If the room is at 16 degrees, we add a long-sleeved bodysuit under the pajamas and the sleeping bag used must be quite thick.

If it is slightly warmer, we adapt the clothing: the bodysuit can be short sleevewe keep pajamas and a sleeping bag, but it does not need to be as thick as possible.

It is often the spring temperatures that warm the atmosphere a little. In this case, we opt for a short-sleeved bodysuit, cotton pajamas and no longer in terrycloth or velvet, and a light sleeping bag.

Clearly, it’s getting hot in this baby’s room. Forget the pajamas and leave baby in bodysuit short sleeves, lined with a light summer sleeping bag, in cotton gauze for example. The sleeping bag remains important because it represents sleep for baby, a little cocoon, to feel reassured.

In case of strong heat, or heat wave period, it is of course no need to overdress baby, or even just dress it up. Depending on the temperature of his room, let him sleep in a short-sleeved bodysuit or just in diapers above 27 degrees is how it will feel best. “On the other hand, I still recommend the very light sleeping bag” points out Marine Lhomme, because the temperature of the baby’s body will drop a little bit around 3am. He may still feel a little cold.”

For a good night’s sleep, remember to warm up the atmosphere of the room a little by heating it slightly (without exceeding 19 degrees) in winter. On the contrary, during a heat wave, you can cool the atmosphere with the help of an air conditioner, a small fan or a window ajar at night, but the crib should never be close to all of this. Finally, the ambient air should not be too dry.

It replaces the cover, without risk, and accompanies baby in his sleep. In addition, it exists in a more or less thick, more or less light version, to adapt to the different seasons. On the other hand, for the childcare worker, it is better avoid models of sleeping bags with sleeves integrated: “It often prevents babies from moving their arms and putting their hands in their mouths, which can prevent them from sleeping”. On the other hand, if the child himself of 12/18 months no longer wants a sleeping bag, you can opt for a “pilou pilou” pajama top.

Finally, last information: even if it is very cold, we do not pose no duvet, blanket and even cushion and bumper, in the bed of a baby under 18 months, even if it seems “cosy” to you, to avoid any risk of suffocation and sudden infant death syndrome during the night. Baby sleeps on the backwith an outfit adapted to the temperature and in a sleeping bag.