Breastsleeping in winter
Winter is coming. If you have established breastfeeding during the warmer months, you might just be starting to feel a chill in the air when your baby stirs at night. So how can you and your infant stay warm during the long night hours?
The number one solution is obviously breastsleeping. Laying beside your baby in bed, feeding without either of you needing to move from your snug cocoon, your body warmth regulates your baby’s temperature. Following safe sleep recommendations, you can breastfeed your baby without too much disturbance of your bedding or clothing.
Tips for safer co-sleeping:
Place your baby on their back to sleep (never on their tummy or side). This helps to protect their airways.
Keep baby’s head and face uncovered by keeping pillows and adult bedding away from your baby. Use a safe sleeping bag with no hood with baby’s arms out – don’t wrap or swaddle baby when bed-sharing or co-sleeping.
Make sure the mattress is firm and flat. Don’t use a waterbed, or anything soft underneath – for example, a lamb’s wool underlay or pillows. This can increase the risk of overheating and suffocation.
Tie up long hair and remove anything else that could be a strangling risk, including all jewellery, teething necklaces and dummy chains
Move the bed away from the wall, so baby can’t get trapped between the bed and wall.
Make sure your baby can’t fall out of bed. Consider sleeping on your mattress on the floor if it’s possible your baby might roll off the bed
Create a clear space for your baby and place your baby on their back to the side of one parent away from the edge, never in the middle of two adults or next to other children or pets as this can increase the risk of overheating and suffocation.
Dressing for the night shift.
What you wear to bed can make a big difference to staying warm when feeding. While your breast will likely be exposed for most of the night, careful layering of clothing can keep your chest and shoulders covered.
Tiffany at Cosleepy.com has put together a great list of suggestions and resources for putting together your breastsleeping wardrobe.
Room temperature
In Australia, babies are more at risk of overheating than becoming too cold while they sleep at night. When sharing their sleep space with their mother, her body temperature plus light layers of clothing will keep a aby comfortably warm. It is worth remembering that extremities like hands, feet, nose and ears often feel cool and are not good indicators of a baby’s core temperature. The chest, back and belly should be warm to touch. Hats, hoods, mittens and any garment or sleep device which limit or restrict hand/arm movement are not considered safe for sleeping babies. There is no need to heat your bedroom beyond your usual temperature. Electric blankets and other heating devices should not be used in any bed a baby sleeps in.
Bedding - blankets v bags: the jury is out
“There is a consensus view in the UK, not strongly evidence based, that an ambient room temperature of 16-20ºC, combined with light bedding or a lightweight well fitting sleeping bag, offers a comfortable and safe environment for sleeping babies but further research is necessary to establish this with confidence.” (Lullaby Trust Evidence Base).
In Australia, Red Nose offer guidance on bedding for babies sleeping in their own bed but none specific to bed-sharing infants.
Dress baby for sleep using layers as you would dress or use layers yourself: to be comfortable, neither too hot nor too cold - add/remove lightweight blankets to ensure baby’s tummy or back feels comfortably warm to the touch
In the absence of specific guidelines, parents should apply the general guidelines, adjust for their local conditions and adapt their personal sleep wear so bedding can be primarily focused on the baby’s needs rather than the adults.
