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