Hats on newborn babies

Peartree

I knitted loads of little hats for the local maternity hospital. They put babies in hats as soon as they are born lease days.

I did that too. They had traffic light coloured bobbles on so the nurses could identify the vulnerable babies.

Lucca

winterwhite

I'm puzzled by that too but it's not new. Mine didn't wear them either and I think for going out in winter they had sort of all-in-one outdoor garments with close fitting hoods - v difficult to ram their legs into when tiny.

Why would you want ram their legs in their hoods ??

Ha ha!

When I was working the advice was to remove babies hats when coming indoors, or into a warm environment such as a car, to prevent overheating.
There are NHS guidelines on prevention of SIDS.
This didn’t apply to premature babies.

maybe it helps the babies to feel more secure, having recently emerged from the warmth and closeness of the womb.
akin to swaddling maybe ?

None of my older GCs wore hats when newborn but my youngest one did.

Hate those stretchy headbands! Ridiculous things. Although they are soft I feel it must be a constant pressure on a baby 's head!
As for babies not wearing a hat outside, don't get me going !! They need a hat in the winter to preserve heat and a sun hat in hot weather.

One of my GC was born in Asia they had a hat and what looked like boxing gloves on until they left the hospital. I presume the mittens were to stop them scratching themselves but hats in the tropics? It wasn't DD's fault the clothes were supplied by the hospital.

Those headbands are so dangerous, at least one baby has died because the band has slipped down when the baby has been sleeping.

Yes, the hats and headbands are mostly used for decorative purposes which is awful for a newborn. I have almost cried seeing some babies muffled up in hot weather (and pressed up to dad in a sling during a heatwave!) and then other babies outside in sub-zero temperatures with no hat and legs dangling. Some people really have no clue.

Being judgemental here, I too hate the stretchy headbands with a twee rosebud decoration. Every time I see them I worry about them being put down to sleep with it on and it slipping down round their neck. Anxious mother - moi?

Ah - I see Grannypiper has covered this.

GD3 born 5 weeks ago at full term wore a hat for the first week. Loads of hair!
Also no bath for the first week or so - so that all the micronutrients from the waxy skin covering could be absorbed into her skin apparently.
My Chn were deprived of all these advantages!

Oh yes those awful headbands.
Dare I say you can get a pretty accurate idea of the class of the mother of the babies sporting one.

Absolutely not politically correct to say so of course but true nevertheless.

None of my children would tolerate anything on their heads. I tried and tried when going out in the middle of winter but they weren't having it. Even when very tiny. Thankfully they all made it to adulthood.

I hate the fashion of putting baby girls into ridiculous headbands from birth, some of them with a huge flower on top I think they are very dangerous as well.
Also pram hoods trimmed with fur, stupid in the summer.

pinkprincess

I hate the fashion of putting baby girls into ridiculous headbands from birth, some of them with a huge flower on top I think they are very dangerous as well.
Also pram hoods trimmed with fur, stupid in the summer.

?

I often wonder about headbands as personally I can't stand them round my head - I get a headache!
All DGC wear hats on cold days - it is a few degrees colder in Scotland. I can't remember much about DC though DS was a January baby and it was snowing a lot so I expect he did have a hat. Had a big Silver Cross pram so they were all quite protected. Walked for miles with the pram in those days as no car.

pinkprincess

I hate the fashion of putting baby girls into ridiculous headbands from birth, some of them with a huge flower on top I think they are very dangerous as well.
Also pram hoods trimmed with fur, stupid in the summer.

And winter - rain and snow! Why does a pram need to keep warm anyway? It surely doesn’t have feelings?

The furry prams here, which are usually white faux leather, generally contain a baby dressed in frills & furbelows and hats - yes hats! - adorned with swansdown, lace and ribbons. The blankets are also those funny old satiny things, also bedecked with ribbons and lace and edged with frills. I always wonder where they buy them because I haven’t seen one in a baby shop for decades.

They don’t have prams anymore here, only lowline pushers for getting in and out of the car. A shame really because my babies used to love gazing out at the sky and the trees. Sometimes I would attach a branch for them to watch or bat their arms at.

People in the UK have gone back to a carrycot-on-wheels type of pram now. I remarked to my dd about it and she said it’s because they recommend that small babies don’t stay in their car seats beyond a car journey, they should lie flat when taken out. There’s a small risk of them dying in a car seat.

Years ago babies wore quite close fitting knitted bonnets, baby boys had little helmet shaped bonnets with flaps going over their ears. My mum used to say if babies wore a bonnet when out in their pram they wouldn’t get sticky out ears it seems to have worked for me

SueDonim

People in the UK have gone back to a carrycot-on-wheels type of pram now. I remarked to my dd about it and she said it’s because they recommend that small babies don’t stay in their car seats beyond a car journey, they should lie flat when taken out. There’s a small risk of them dying in a car seat.

Yes, I remember when this happened to a baby near here and my friend said her DD had been warned about it soon after when she was buying a car seat.

New style carry cots can be fastened correctly into the cars with restraining straps.

I think it helps children slightly older than tiny babies to wear a hat if their parent(s) do too. Never had any trouble with mine because I wouldn't ask them to wear a hat if I didn't. Most adults nowadays go hatless nearly all the time.

Most adults have hair (not all)
Many babies do not (mine did)

There are some reasons ot to put hats on healthy full term babies, in circumstances you'd not put a wooly hat on yourself, ba ies can overheat and it blocks the scent of the baby and actually being able to smell the lovely newborn scent is important for triggering the mothering hormones, www.bellybelly.com.au/baby/no-hats-on-newborn-babies/