Can you overheat a baby

However excess heat can escape through the head and under the arms, so avoid hats and heavy weight garments with sleeves, such as sleeping bags and heavy sleepsuits. You'll need to ensure that your baby is dressed in the right layers of clothing, her bedding is appropriate and that her room is a suitable temperature. Bedrooms should ideally be between degrees for comfortable sleep. A baby who is too hot may be crying, red and sweaty and increasingly distressed. Babies who are too hot will find it hard to settle and sleep.

You may also see a heat rash. Remove any synthetic bedding or clothing immediately and avoid using them in future never use polar fleece or synthetic clothing or bedding with babies. Babies or children can become too hot and overheat from a range of factors.

All of these can easily be avoided by parents being aware of the risk of what they are doing and understanding that the greater risk comes from the combination of risk factors. For example, a baby would not overheat from having 5 cotton blankets on their cot in a cool bedroom but could easily overheat if they had 5 blankets and a polar fleece sleepsuit and the room was heated to 24 degrees! Only sleep your baby in light layers of natural fibre clothing - merino, cotton, viscose from bamboo.

Keep the room temperature between degrees if possible. If the room is warmer than 20 degrees, start reducing the amount of clothing and bedding used. Always consider the total number of layers including the swaddle! You likely won't need a swaddle AND blankets unless it is very cold. Monitor the room temperature with a gro egg, these make it very simple to see the colour coded light - red or orange is too hot, yellow just right, blue too cold.

We urge you to always choose natural fibres for your baby's clothing and bedding. In particular, we highly recommend choosing merino as it is the only fabric that can help to regulate your baby's temperature.

Yes polar fleece is warm and fluffy, and most people choose it because it is cheap. But it is made from plastic, it is like wrapping or dressing your baby in plastic. Just follow a few safety tips:.

Once babies can roll over, they should no longer be swaddled because it can increase the risk of suffocation. To keep baby warm, you can still choose sleep sacks designed for older babies, which allow their arms to remain free.

Sleep sacks are useful for swaddling baby and can be put on over sleepers. Swaddle blankets can also be used to wrap baby, though for many parents, sleep sacks are easier to manage. Socks and hats are not recommended for bedtime because they can make your little one too hot. When putting your baby down for a nap or bedtime, make sure no additional blankets, toys or pillows are in the crib because they can increase the risk of SIDS. If your little one is burning up because of a fever, you can dress him in lighter, more airy fabrics.

When babies are too warm, they may have flushed cheeks and look like they're sweating. An overheated baby may also breathe rapidly. If baby is too cold, he may seem less active and have overly cold hands and feet. Babies who are overheated can be irritable and restless, and can even develop a fever. In extreme cases, overheating can also cause heat stroke. If your baby feels overheated, start to remove layers gradually and offer cool, but not cold, water. If his condition does not improve rapidly, call your pediatrician.

When babies are too cold, they can become less responsive. If your baby seems cool to the touch as well as lethargic or unresponsive, you should talk to your pediatrician or health care provider immediately. If such a baby were given no help in getting warm, baby could slip into the next stage of chilling which is called the neonatal cold syndrome.

Vital body functions run very slowly and baby is lethargic, floppy and difficult to arouse. This baby needs urgent medical attention and will need to be warmed slowly. A baby who is overly warm may have damp hair, a sweaty back and chest, red ears, a rapid pulse and sometimes fever. A layer of clothing should be removed and baby may need to be taken to a cooler environment or gently fanned. A baby that is excessively overdressed for the current temperature of the environment is at risk for heatstroke which includes the following signs: A sudden rise in body temperature over degrees F, hot dry skin, flushed or pale skin tone, rapid pulse, vomiting, rapid breathing, sluggishness, non-responsiveness, signs of dehydration.

Oral fluids should be encouraged and baby should be sponged with tepid water. It is an important responsibility of the parents and caregiver to dress their baby appropriately according to the current temperature of their environment. Parents should not overdress or underdress baby. As a general guide the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends dressing baby in no more than one layer more than an adult would use to be comfortable in the same environment. Most medical experts recommend a sleep environment of degrees F.

During sleep it can also increase their risk of sudden infant death syndrome SIDS and other concerns, like heat rash. Use your senses when evaluating whether your baby is overheating. Touch their skin and look for redness in their face as well as signs of discomfort or distress. Keep in mind that some signs of overheating overlap with symptoms of fever or dehydration in your baby. Since young infants may not sweat much in general, your little one may be overheated from their environment without appearing to sweat.

A standard temperature reading for babies is around Unlike adults, babies have trouble regulating their body temperature. So, a reading of Keep in mind that overheating and a fever are two different things, though both cause an increase in body temperature. This temperature range is appropriate in both winter and summer. When dressing your baby, consider how you might dress yourself to be comfortable while sleeping.

Too many layers, even in the winter, can lead to baby overheating in their sleep. Your house thermostat may not give an accurate reading for the room your child sleeps in, so you might consider using a baby monitor that measures room temperature.