Babywearing during colder seasons

This post is also available in: Deutsch (German)

It’s getting colder here and the snow slowly comes down to lower regions, too. Time to put on some really warm clothes. Because, we still want to step outside, especially with our kids. But what’s the best way to bring your baby along in the cold? Babywearing in winter of course… 🙂

As soon as snow, ice and slush make it difficult for strollers to get through, babywearing parents take advantage. They don’t care. Light-footed, they carry their baby, no matter the weather. 🙂

Babywearing in winter – advantages

If you breastfeed your baby and he or she gets hungry during a walk, you can try breastfeeding while babywearing. Thus, there’s no need to search for a (warm) place to sit. Just loosen your wrap or carrier a bit and people won’t even guess you’re breastfeeding. 😉

Your baby is diaper-free? No problem at all, it’s faster back in it’s warm place after a quick stop. Because with a boy it can be very easy if you just take a small cup with you. You can hold it under the wrap or carrier and position adequatly… it’s worth a try!

Stay warm close to the body of the one who carries

While it’s difficult maintaining a cozy temperature for your baby in a stroller or sleigh when it’s really, really cold, a baby always profits from the warm body of mom, dad or whoever is carrying. Because no matter how thick the clothes or foot-bag or if you use lambskin, nothing will help for long.

But of course it requires the babywearer to use a babywearing coat or cover. Most important: still dress your baby a warm hat and keep the feet warm with an additional layer of “shoes“.

A general rule says to dress your child under the coat like you’re dressing yourself. This usually is enough because baby wrap or carrier are an additional layer already…
An ideal material, for the babywearer as well as for the baby itself, are wool, silk or other materials that are breathing as well as temperature regulating. They’re comfortable for your baby and help keeping the body warm.

If you want to take your baby (or walking toddler) out in the cold, please always cover it with a blanket or take an overall with you to dress on. For newborns I’d recommend a thin merino wool or fleece overall as additional layer under the babywearing coat. Newborns need an extra protection against the cold because they can’t regulate their temperature yet.

To keep warm always: head and feet

To protect the child of your head I’d recommend a wool elephant hood that also covers ears and neck adequatly. You can stuck the longer ends of the material under the coat. So, you don’t have to worry if your baby has a cold zone anywhere. Only eyes, nose and mouth are free and that’s important, too, of course, because for safety reasons airways must be free always.

Another advantage of the elephant hood is that it won’t fell of as easily as a normal hood while putting on the jacket. This is essential for back carries. 1. you might not notice fast enough that the hat fell off. 2. your arms might not be long or flexible enough to put it on back. This means you have to wait until someone passes by. And ask a stranger to help you putting it back on.

My recommendation for baby’s feet are also wool booties, likely with a long shaft that also prevents them from falling off without any notice. Of course it’s not tragical if your baby’s under your coat. But you don’t want them getting lost somewhere in the snow because your coat doesn’t close as tight at the bottom.

Babywearing in winter without a babywearing coat

If your child can’t walk, please keep it under your coat. If your toddler walks already and probably will want to walk some lenght on his or her own, you can carry your child above your jacket. And there’s also a recommendation on how to dress you and your child:

• Toddler: Wool/silk body, wool shirt and leggings or tights, wool or fleece overall and good winter booties.
• Carrying person: Shirt, wool pullover and fleece or wool jacket. As an additional layer to put on when your child wants to walk, you can use a duvet or softshell jacket or waistcoat.
• No-Go: Softshell or Duvet when you’re wearing your child: these materials do have an insulating effect which means they don’t let the warmth through. Your child thus won’t be able to feel your warmth and you won’t either. But exactly the thermal bridge would be important here.

Now, please have a look at my reviews of various babywearing coats, jackets and covers, babywearing inserts and overalls for your child.