Advice for layering in cold climates?

J

jane2468

New member
Hi everyone! My husband uses the Baby Björn Original and I use both the original Ergobaby and the BB Tai to carry our 7 kilo little guy.

We live in a city and we baby wear every day in all weather (no car). Our city can get to -5 C (in the 20s in Fahrenheit) but is generally around 0 C.

My understanding is that the ergo and mai tai style carriers are used without winter outerwear for the baby and that you are supposed to share body heat. But the baby's legs and feet are cold while the rest seems toasty (I always put a hat on him).

What's a good solution? Either a unisex baby wearing coat, which is a bit hard considering our different sizes. I have seen a bunch online about [Make My Belly Fit](www.makemybellyfit.com) and another similar thing [Belly Coat](www.bellycoat.com) which looks like we could exchange between our jackets.

Is there other options out there? Something I missed? What do you guys do?

I also found these wool joggers from h&m. Any other good suggestions for layering clothes for baby? I am not a fan of fleece (I don't like the feeling and it's not breathable). I tried some outdoors shops, but they don't seem to do baby clothes.

Looking for some words of wisdom from some experienced baby wearers! Thanks.
 
@jane2468 We live in Ontario, Canada, so layering and babywearing are a necessity here for sure! Have you heard of Babylegs? They're leg warmers that are baby/child sized. When my kids were small I would dress them in a few light layers and add leg warmers under their clothes as well to keep their legs warm, then some wool boots on their feet (I like padraigs but almost any wool slipper will be toasty). Then the jacket or sweater would go over both of us. Using adult-size warm tube socks with the toe cut out is a good budget friendly leg warmer option too!
 
@jane2468 What about a pram suit? My mum knitted me one from a pattern from the 50s but I'm sure you'd be able to get one online (or knit yourself!). A pram suit is basically a cardigan and thick leggings with feet that pull up to almost the babies armpits. Just the leggings part would be perfect for this, I would imagine.
 
@jane2468 Be careful with a snowsuit though.
A) it's bulky and compromises the ergonomic position of the baby.

B) it keeps the baby warm by a layer of air inside. When carrying the baby you push out the air and the baby gets cold very quickly.

If you do a search here you'll find tons of posts with very great advices.
Usually they say: as long as the baby can't walk you'd share a coat, when the baby can walk you can wear him/her over your coat. A suit of fleece or thick wool is best but as others said if the baby falls asleep you don't want to stay outside in cold weather, so if you want to go inside and don't want to wake the baby it's best dressing him in light layers and share a coat or jacket. That way you can go inside and undress yourself and the baby won't overheat.
Instead of buying a babywearing jacket, you could ask around if someone has a winter jacket that's a couple of sizes bigger than you'd normally wear, it should fit around both of you.

Wool is great material. Babylegs and wool socks are awesome. (if you're in Europe try didymos.de or the brand Engel, disana, cosilana, serendipity, joha, Hess Natur, mikk-line, care, celavi, when using German Amazon, try to search for "wollwalk")
Wrapyouinlove has made a guide for winter babywearing (others gave made similar ones, too but can't remember the names).

If you're crafty you could make your own babywearing cover instead of buying a coat.

And remember to buy some spikes for your boots. Just as a precaution should it be slippery outside. 😊

Edit: formatting and links
 
@pashapotte Thank you for the brand recommendations! Yes I am an American expat in Europe and I am totally not familiar with the brands here. That's super helpful!
 
@jane2468 You're welcome.

If you're near the German border try to find a DM. They've got wool clothes and they're not that expensive. Quality is ok. Don't know if they've got the thick woolsuits though.
 
@jane2468 I make sure they have warner pants, socks and slippers on, then I usually wrap a blanket around, tucking it into the carrier over the legs and scooping it up between me and the legs. I also just wear my husband's jacket over top of us.
 
@jane2468 This worked for me when it was about 20F in NY last week:
  • baby in regular clothes plus a light fleece zip up (I don't like to dress him too warmly in the carrier because he'll frequently fall asleep and I don't want him to be too warm once we're back inside)
  • layer a bebamour over the outside of the carrier (I got the bebamour on amazon)
  • baby and I then both got inside a b&me coat (I ordered this directly from b&me. It's not fashionable by any means, but it gets the job done)
  • I then put on my regular coat (it obviously did not zip shut at this point)
  • hats/gloves for everyone
 
@jane2468 I put baby in a snow suit on colder days.Or I would layer sock,leggings,leg warmers,etc,then put my coat over the top and have my hands in the pockets sort of holding it over his legs and around towards the front of the carrier
 
@jane2468 I'm also in a cold climate and have an Ergobaby 360. I've been experimenting with a few things. For temps around 0 C I have been dressing the baby in a wool or fleece layer over her clothes, wool socks, hat, and gloves, and then a fleece blanket between her and the carrier. I wear a parka unzipped (I would love to have something like Make My Belly Fit, but it doesn't work with my zipper). For temps below 0 C (or warmer if it's windy), I put her in her snowsuit and then just wear that in the Ergo, even though it's kind of bulky. It still works. I still wear my parka unzipped and it has been warm enough at least so far this year.
 
@nursedi71 Do you have a favorite place to get wool baby socks or other wool layers? I can't seem to find a good source for baby wool! The h&m find was pure luck.
 
@jane2468 I happened to have lucked into a lot of crafty in-laws who have hand-knitted the wool things for us. I have some fleece from H&M. One idea would be to perhaps check a sports/outdoors store for wool layers.
 
@jane2468 I have a couple things I do. Put baby in snow suit and then put her on me, or tuck a sweatshirt into the carrier (sleeves through arm straps so the body of the sweat shirt covers baby). I'll do the former if I'm going to be out for an extended period of time, the latter for short walks (like to get the mail or from the car to a store).
 
@jane2468 If you are going from point A to point B, then.taking baby out, or just going for a walk, I used to put my girl in a fleece all-in-one. You could probably find a similar thing in cotton fleece. If you don't want to take the baby off once you get to where you ate going, I think a carrier cover is a great solution. Ergo and lillibaby (I think) make one too.
 
@jane2468 The Roocoat is one option. It fits over both you and the baby, and keeps baby warm with your own body heat. Not so aesthetically pleasing, perhaps, but you and your husband might both be able to fit.
 
@jane2468 I had this problem too! Got a good hat and fleece booties. I usually end up strapping him in, then putting my baggy sweatshirt and coat on over it. The sweatshirt zips over the whole thing and then I leave the coat open and hold it around him if there's a gust of wind.
 
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