How to tell if your baby is too warm

Cold gets all the worry in winter. Warm deserves some of it: a baby can’t take a layer off, and can’t tell you they need to.

The signs

The American Academy of Pediatrics lists three: sweating, flushed skin, and a chest that feels hot to the touch. Damp hair at the back of the head counts as sweating.

Where to feel

The chest or the back of the neck. Not the hands or feet, which often feel cool on a baby who is perfectly comfortable.

What to do

Take a layer off. Open the wrap, lose the hat, loosen the blanket. Then check again in a few minutes.

When it happens

Coming indoors and forgetting to unwrap them. A warm car. A heated shop after a cold street. A carrier, where your own body is an extra layer. The habit worth building: when you take your coat off, take theirs off too.

The rule of thumb

One more layer than you’re wearing, in the same place. And no hat indoors.

If your baby seems unwell, is unusually sleepy or hard to wake, or has a fever, that isn’t a layering question. Call your doctor.

Source: the AAP’s guide to safe sleep.