How to dress and skin care for your newborn's first winter?

The change of weather, especially the onset of winter, can be a concerning time for mothers with small babies. Thanks to the diverse geography of our country, we as moms have to often prep ourselves for the upcoming change in season. My daughter was born in peak winters and my primary concern was that how will I cope up with a newborn baby's, in the extreme cold, with absolutely no past experience whatsoever. Helpful Read: How to Prepare family for the winter?  

My worries were put to rest with the help of some great advice and tips that I followed for my daughter’s first winter as well. 

How Should Dress Newborn's First Winter?

• Dress Baby in Layers:- Winter clothing is the most effective and comfortable  if it is done is layers . It also helps a mom greatly to add or remove layers depending upon change in the outside and inside temperature especially while going out with your baby. 
• Under/Overdressing Newborn baby:- an extremely important point to note while dressing your baby in winters is to know how much is or is not enough for your baby . I follow a simple thumb-rule of always dressing my baby in one extra layer than what I am wearing. Anything above or below is not going to be comfortable for her. 
• Coverage:- The most important thing to take care of in winters is to have your baby always well covered from extreme temperature changes for e.g. moving from a warm room to a cold outdoors which might result in making your baby sick. To avoid this, always keep your baby’s head or feet covered with a layer of warm clothing. Babies like mine hate wearing a cap and can be very fussy, thus I make sure her feet are always covered with woolen or cotton socks depending upon the cold. It is not necessary to cover both head and feet always. This particular rule has always been a savior for moms like me.

 
How Should Skin Care in Newborn's First Winter?  

Babys’ skin becomes ultra sensitive in winters. There can be chances of drying and cracking up, which can be easily avoided by following a simple and basic skin care routine:-

• Keeping baby’s skin moist at all times:- one has to make sure that your baby’s skin , especially the exposed parts like hands and face are always moist . A simple daily olive oil massage is sufficient to prevent any dryness. However, if you find any cracks or symptoms of dryness, just apply some olive oil or petroleum jelly to that part. If you want to avoid petroleum jelly, you can also use home made ghee/butter or cream (malai)
• Seasonal Rashes:- often our babies land up having a nasty rash below their nostrils thanks to the runny nose and constant rubbing . You can avoid this rash by applying some petroleum jelly or ghee and decrease the redness which can otherwise be highly irritating for the baby
• Chapped Lips:- This is also a very common problem with babies and often poses a difficult question in front of all moms on what to apply on lips because you don’t want the child to consume any foreign cream etc. a simple solution to chapped lips is applying ghee which is otherwise edible and poses no threat whatsoever to you baby. Also, make sure the water intake of your baby is not decreasing in winters to avoid such cases of dryness. 
• Hot Water baths:- Another major area to take care in winters is how much hot water is your baby being exposed to. Too much and too many hot water baths can cause extreme dryness, rashes and even burns. Always be extra cautious of the water temperature and test is thoroughly before introducing our baby to a hot water bath. A great trick of testing the temperature of the water is by dipping your elbow in water. If tolerable, it will be tolerable for your baby too.

Helpful Read: Tips to Choose Baby Skin Care Products 

How to Cope-up with Cold

Apart from clothing and skin-care, there are also a couple of things that need to be taken care of to cope up with cold 

• Cold and Flu:- Babies are bound to catch cold and flu in the seasonal changes but always keep a sharp eye on what is the severity of the cough and cold. Extreme cough and persistent fever needs medical intervention 
• Room Temperature: in winters we often resort to using heaters. though there is no harm in using them, but one should make sure that the room temperature never exceeds a comfortable 22-25 degrees and of course is within safe reach from children to avoid burning incidents 
• Food:- if your baby is on semi solid or solids, just avoid food items that are too cold, straight from the refrigerator for e.g. fruits. Also, cold items such as yogurt, juices etc should be given in moderation. 

Make sure you make most of the upcoming winter season with sunbathing along with your baby as it is a direct source of vitamin D,  plus who doesn’t like to laze around in winter sun with a fresh cup of coffee!! 

All the very Best