May 26th, 2009 by Bjoern

Today everybody seems to agree, that baby’s clothing should be as comfortable as possible. It’s important that the clothes aren’t too tight, too warm or not warm enough, else your child won’t be satisfied.

That are the two things we are going to have in mind all the time when we discuss clothes for baby’s. Comfort and heat.

Material
The clothing material should be light and absorb moisture good. Added to that it should be able to keep the baby warm, but not too warm. The main purpose of a baby’s clothes is to keep it warm.

Different parts of the world has different clothing habits. Some like to wrap the baby in cotton, held in place by means of a roller bandage. This makes the infants look like mummies.

Other parents dress their babies in starched clothes with bright ribbon bows around its neck and on its arms. Yet other have practically nothing on, and are layed in little baskets tied to some trees, swung by the wind.

At the beginning it is wise to remember that an infant grows very fast. It takes only a few weeks to outgrow one size. Therefore, provide for the necessities only. If you realize that you need more clothes when the baby is here, you can always add that what you need.

Binder
The main purpose of a binder is to protect the abdomen from getting cold. It is normalle worn from four to six weeks. It is very important that the binder isn’t too tight. This often cause great discomfort in infants. The belly has to have room for its normal expansion at meal time.

Shirt
The next thing for the baby is a shirt. This shirt can be from different materials, some prefer lightweight silk and wool shirts, some prefer cotton shirts. Buy the shirts a bit too big. That way you can use this shirt a little bit longer.

Stockings
During the winter months your baby should carry thick stockings. In the summer months thinner stockings are apropriate. On extremely hot days you can put a thin cotton hose on your baby.

To ensure that the stockings stay in place on your baby, fasten the stockings to the diaper with safety pins. Secon-year children can use hose supporters attached to the waist.

Booties
In the colder months the infant or small child should wear booties on top of the stockings. You should have enough of these so that the child may have clean booties every day.

Suggested reading:
The Baby’s first Clothes - Part II
The Baby’s first Clothes - Part III
Baby Clothes and Safety Considerations

Baby clothes, baby clothes material, Baby clothing, baby clothing material, binder, booties

May 26th, 2009 by Bjoern

Underskirts
The underskirt may very well be made out of cotton. It is used all around the year. For the hot summer months, cotton is to prefer since it has excellent capabilities of sucking the moist up from the baby’s skin. Wool and cotton are the best materials for underskirts.

Skirts
Skirts are not necessary for small children. It might look good, but only adds weight on the baby.

Nightgown
The nightgown should be made of cotton. They should be absorbent and easy to wash. You should have several nightgowns (some recommend as many as seven). It’s also recommended to use a fresh nightgown each night during the first four or five weeks of the baby’s life.

Night drawers
When the child is getting older, typically two or three years, he will use night drawers with feet. The night drawers are usually made of cashmere or light woolen materials which are easily laundered.

They can be weared over the baby’s thin slips and when it’s cool it may be used over the nightdress. It’s important to make sure there are no way of producing friction between the night drawer and the baby’s skin as this will be a cause of irritation.

Slips
When considering slips, it’s also important to make sure that nothing can scratch or irritate the baby’s skin. This is often a cause of eczema.

Sleeping bag
A sleeping bag is of inestimable value. It provides extra and secure covering for the baby. In the first weeks a light flannel material is to prefer, but later you can simply fold a blanket in such a manner that the child cannot uncover himself.

It’s quite normal that new parents start out buying too small clothes. Too short sleeves and too small around. This is a very common ground for crying babies. If the clothes are too small, your child won’t feel comfortable. He will probably have problems sleeping when the clothes are too tight.

Another typical problem is heavy and raw seams. They irritate the baby’s skin.
It is also common that newer parents buy heavy materials where lighter ones would serve better.

An unclean garment should never be put back on the child. Sour-smelling clothes should be changed at once as the might make the baby sick.

Suggested reading:
The Baby’s first Clothes - Part I
The Baby’s first Clothes - Part III
Baby Clothes and Safety Considerations

Baby clothes, baby night drawers, baby nightgown, baby skirts, baby sleeping bag, baby slips, baby underskirts, unclean clothes

May 26th, 2009 by Bjoern

Shoes
The first shoes are normally put on when the baby crawls. They have a soft sole and the purpose of the shoe is to make sure the baby doesn’t get cold feet from draft.

When the child is about one year old - when it can stand and practise walking - the shoe should have a hard sole. The shoes should be high enough to support the ankles of the child.

There are a lot of considerations to make when buying baby clothes, but basically it’s quite easy. Parents have done it since ages and it almost always went good.

Just remember that clothes are supposed to keep the baby warm and in the summer it’s also functioning as a protection against the sun.

When the child is small - infant - it’s preferable to use clothes with long sleeves. The body should be covered with clothes while the baby can’t regulate the temperature so good yet.

When the child is growing the clothing can be shorter and shorter. Always use loose clothes. That way the baby can move freely and he is going to feel more comfortable.

An exception is sleeping wear. Many parents choose to wind their babys up quite tight. That is ok when they are going to sleep. That way there is no risk of the baby getting a blanket over his head, which eventually could cause suffocation.

Use white clothes. That way you can always see how dirty the clothes are. The baby should not have to stay in dirty clothes. That is not good for his health.

With that said, I wish you a lot of fun with your small ones. Enjoy the time!

Suggested reading:
The Baby’s first Clothes - Part I
The Baby’s first Clothes - Part II
Baby Clothes and Safety Considerations

Baby clothes, baby shoes, baby Sleeping wear, First clothes, white clothes

May 25th, 2009 by Bjoern

If you have just got your first child or are just about to receive your first child, you are probably asking yourself what you have to consider about your babys clothing. Basically there are two important factors to consider — comfort and safety.

Selecting these small clothes are a lot of fun but, it’s very easy to do much more than needed. A baby grows very fast. That means, it doesn’t make sense buying a lot of clothes in one specific size. They will outgrow it faster than you want to.

In the winter it’s mostly clear what they have to wear, since it is cold outside. In the summer it can be much trickier.

It is easy to believe that while it’s hot outside, your baby doesn’t have to wear so much. In this case it is very important to remember that an infant needs protection against the heat and against the sun.

An infant, childs less than six months old, should be put in the shadows. Always. At this age you can’t use sunscreens safely. Always cover their skin with caps and other clothes. Sunburn in young age relates to skin cancer in adulthood.

A big problems with infants is, that they won’t tell you if something is wrong. When the baby was too long in the sun and the skin gets red, the chances are you will see it much too late.

* Material - Cotton is a good choice to use closest to your babys skin. It lets the moisture from the skin through, it breaths.

* Coverage - The more coverage the better. Direct exposure to the sun is not healthy for your infant. You have to protect them. Cover the skin with clothes.

* Overheating - When it’s warm outside and you have covered your infant with clothes, you have to watch out so that your child doesn’t overheat.

* Layers - A rule of thumb is that an infant needs one more layer of clothes than you need.

* Shoes - Infants don’t need shoes. When your child learns to stand up, it makes sense using shoes. Before that it’s completely wasted.

* Sunscreen - Use a high level sunscreen for your child. The skin is very sensitive and has to be protected. Remember that sunscreen can’t be used safely on children younger than six months.

* Hats - Always use a hat. It doesn’t matter if it is winter or summer. In the winter your child need it to preserve the heat, in the summer it needs it to stay cool.

* Strings - Try to avoid hats and other clothes with strings attached to them. It’s too easy that your child gets the string around it’s neck.

Follow these recommendations when you plan your next shopping tour. Have fun with your child!

Suggested reading:
The Baby’s first Clothes - Part I
The Baby’s first Clothes - Part II
The Baby’s first Clothes - Part III

Baby clothes, baby hats, baby safety, baby shoes, infants

May 25th, 2009 by Bjoern

Are you unsure what to consider, buying sleeping wear for your baby? In this article I will summarize the most important things to think about when buying.
Buying baby clothes is very stimulating. There are a lot of nice clothes to choose from and in the department for baby clothes you often hear “aah” from other parents as they discover clothes they find lovely.

The most common criterion for selecting baby clothes is appearance. Color and design are important aspects. Here it would be in place to think about some other features as well. Safety, comfort - for parents and for children, isolation, material and more.

The main purpose of sleeping wear is to keep your baby warm when sleeping. Another important function of sleeping wear is fire security. Some parents prefer using sleeping bags and the like which are impregnated and made of fire safe materials. Other parents don’t like to use these materials while they have too much chemicals in them. You have to choose for yourself.

Overheating:
Although the main objective of sleeping wear is to keep the body warm, it’s important to ensure that your baby doesn’t get too warm. Overheating is a serious problem with infants. Actually, investigations show that only a few degrees too hot dramatically increases the risk of sudden infant death. Therefore, it is very important that you make sure your infant isn’t overheating.

Size:
Normally when buying baby clothes, it’s recommended to buy bigger clothes than you presently need. An infant grows very fast and therefore bigger clothes can be used a longer time.
With sleeping wear it’s different. When the sleeping wear is too big, the baby can’t heat all air in the sleeping wear up. Another problem is that loose sleeping clothes are considered dangerous in case of fire. To reduce the risk of getting burned in case of a fire, the clothes should fit tight on the body.

Hand covers:
Infants often have sharp finger nails. To prevent the infant from scratching itself, buy sleeping wear with hand covers. Another benefit of hand covers is that they make sure the baby’s hands are kept warm.

Material:
Often parents buy fleece material for their children because it can keep the heat well. This is true but it could be in place to think about cotton as well. Cotton can keep warmth as well and is better to use directly on the skin. Cotton also soak up all moisture from the childs skin.

It’s recommended to have a few sets of sleeping wear, since you have to wash it often. 3-4 sets would be useful.

There are a lot of different brands for baby clothes. You can find basically all of them on the internet. Another option would be to buy second hand clothes. On the internet there exist a lot of market places for second hand clothes too. Ebay would be one of them.

Studies show that older parents, parents that are getting a child when they are 30-40 years old, prefer buying brand name clothing for their children. The reason for this is that these parents already have come a long way in their carreer building and therefore also have more money to spend on their child. Younger parents tend to buy more second hand clothes.

It doesn’t really matter what you choose. Just remember that an infant or small child will outgrow their clothes in a very short time. Never forget to consider the safety aspects when buying baby clothes and most important - never let your child overheat!

Suggested reading:
The Baby’s first Clothes - Part I
The Baby’s first Clothes - Part II
The Baby’s first Clothes - Part III

Baby clothes, baby hand covers, fire, hand covers, material, safety, second hand, Sleeping wear