Room Temperature and Babies

Catrina Skepper: Once again, it’s time to go through mail bag and answer your medical questions. Today Su Laurent, a Consultant Paediatrician from Barnet Hospital is with me. Welcome again Su. Su Laurent: Hi Catrina. Catrina Skepper: Obviously at this of the year, when it gets cold, parents are worried I think a lot about the temperature of the room, temperature that they keep their baby, the environment of the room. What do you suggest, if you have the heating on at night? Could you be in danger of overheating your baby? Su Laurent: Yes, and if -- I don’t recommend keeping heating on at night I think unless it is an exceptionally cold night and you are feeling very cold yourself, then don’t, just make sure baby is wrapped in a couple of layers. In fact, these baby Grobags are rather good. Catrina Skepper: Fantastic. Su Laurent: I really recommend them because kids can’t escape from them and they also can’t get smothered by them. And they’re usually -- if you read the number of tucks, you can get a winter one and a summer of one. I think they are the best thing. The temperature should be about the temperature that feels comfortable for you. Catrina Skepper: Because, I am somebody who always feels cold, so I tend to kind of put more layers on, but at the same time when I’m going to my child’s room, I sort of think, gosh it feels – I always have the window open. But should you be worried about drawls and things because of -- Su Laurent: I mean, I think if you got a normal healthy term baby, that is absolutely fine to keep the temperature how it feels comfortable for you, obviously not drafty but just a right sort of ambient temperature that you feel comfortable in. Some people buy a little baby momentos to keep in their room if they are not sure. Catrina Skepper: But then you are firmly anxiously because you will check it once you got -- Su Laurent: You are right. And I’d never had a baby the momenta. So if you put a baby who’s a bit from premature, then you – it’ll be advised by the neonatal unit where the baby was, at what temperature to keep it in and you’ll notice the babies in the neonatal unit are kept rather warmer. Catrina Skepper: Yeah, I remember very well, mine screaming apparently when he was removed from the light in the neonatal unit, he wanted to be kept warm, which is I think an individual thing, so you have go by a baby sweating as a very unnatural thing, they don’t sweat. Su Laurent: They don’t usually sweat, not young babies. Catrina Skepper: Through the head. Su Laurent: Exactly. And actually an interesting point I got is it in New Zealand with a -- there are a lot of cot death in New Zealand, lot of research into cot death. And if you look at North Island and South Island, they found that in South Island, there were a lot more cot death than the North Island. Then they looked again and saw that people kept the nursery much hotter in South Island, because it’s a cold Island and people feel it is cold outside, they was overconfident. Catrina Skepper: Concentrating? Su Laurent: So the babies that were kept in a too hot environment were the ones who are more likely to die of cot death, and that’s a very tale that we’ve learned from New Zealand. Catrina Skepper: Very important. Also in terms of bedding, what if you -- obviously if you use a sleeping bag or the baby grobag, that’s one thing but swaddling babies is a very fashionable thing to do, it’s also very comforting, we are talking about obviously very young babies now. And in the layers of swaddling, should you always kept it cotton or do you have blanket if it’s colder then -- Su Laurent: Yes, it’s very easy to overwrap a baby and to sort -- to take a blanket for example, folded over a few times and put it on the baby or wrap him round and round and round, and in fact, you can quickly overheat a baby that way. So although swaddling can be helpful just to calm a baby down, in fact mostly we don’t recommend swaddling them for them to go to sleep nowadays. Catrina Skepper: Oh, really? Su Laurent: And the same way, we don’t recommend two days and I’m sure you’ll know that as well. And even that little baby, they bump us to get around edge of the cot, then I’d recommend either nowadays. It really is important to make sure your baby is lying on their back and they are not overwrapped. Catrina Skepper: Is it to do with the air circulation that they don’t want to be sweat and cold protected in it? Su Laurent: That’s hardly. It is also -- if your baby is on their tummy and they sort of work their way up, they can’t baby is have been found of who’ve dive from cot have been found little up against the cot bumper, sort of unable to get out if you like, unable to get the face away. Catrina Skepper: I understand. And as far as going out because you quiet often see sort of mothers pushing newborn babies and there is a sort of layers and layers and layer, and as it seems tiny faces in the bonnet when we respect, we tend to be overanxious also about what cold air they’re going to breath in, isn’t bad for babies to breathe in cold air? Su Laurent: No, it’s absolutely fine, it’s absolutely fine to breathe in cold air. When you were a baby, your head is a very major source of heat loss, so in fact putting a hat on a baby when you’re taking him out into cold is very helpful and also little gloves as well. And actually when you go out, yes we came up because they are going to be awake and you’re still going to be feel they’re not too hot and just feel make sure they are not too hot, if they are, they will get fretful, you’ll see them just uncomfortable and then just look and see how you overwrap them. But don’t worry about overwrapping them too much when they are outside and awakened and with it is, when they are sleep in bed, you don’t want to overheat. Catrina Skepper: I am going to get some of questions that we had this week because they tend to sort of cover the topics that we know we’ve covered before, but they are the things that make people genuinely anxious. Sleeping seems to be something that the people -- we need to talk about. Is it safe and your opinion to sleep with a newborn baby next to you in bet? Su Laurent: It is a very interesting topic and the advice used to always be, yes, sleeping together is absolutely fine unless you are an alcoholic or a heavy smoker. But in fact, that advice is now being changed. The advice is now, sleeping with your baby if they are over six months is fine but actually a newborn baby, you should have them in a little cot or a basket right next to your bed so that you can bring them into bed and breastfeed them or feed them how you want to and then put them back again afterwards because again there is some evidence that it increases the risk of cot death possibly because of course we often have do those ourselves. So If we have a baby in bed with us, it’s possible for the baby to sort of land up getting underneath to do. Catrina Skepper: Yeah, so really it’s to do with being smarter than not have enough anything well again. Su Laurent: And be overheating well again, yes. Catrina Skepper: I remember always breastfeeding is being so tired, especially when the baby is just born, if you had labor for virtually a whole night or may be some more and the temptation is to breastfeed and if you’re trying get comfortable feeding may be on your side or whatever and you fall asleep while you’re breastfeeding. Su Laurent: Exactly. Catrina Skepper: as the baby do too. Su Laurent: you do and it’s lovely Catrina Skepper: My god, she knows, it’s a mystifying feeling but if it’s actually not that safe? Su Laurent: Well, I say I did, all my babies slept with me. For the first three months, they were in bed with me and it was fantastic and that’s what I did. I think if you are doing that, you just have to be aware of the possible risks because obviously research is going on all the time about ways to preventing cot death, and this is one of the things which seem to slightly increase the risk. Catrina Skepper: Okay. Now the crying thing that we just mentioned, are there any way of telling why a baby is crying? It’s a simple question, but -- Su Laurent: Well it’s a very good one, isn’t it? I mean babies usually -- newborn babies cry for a reason. I thought I’d be able to tell when I was new mom, particularly with all my experience, is that a hungry cry or is that a wet cry or is that whatever cry, and actually I think it’s very difficult. I think that it’s always a good idea with a newborn baby, particularly if you are feeding them on demand, to try the breast first because that’s the very likely reason they’re going to be crying to begin with. And once they settle, if you fed them well and you really emptied your breasts and the baby is still crying and unhappy, it may just be that they want a little cuddle and then putting down for a little rest. Catrina Skepper: But if you’ve just fed the baby, say half an hour before. Su Laurent: Yes. Catrina Skepper: And they’re crying again, how frustrating that can be? Su Laurent: Yes, it can be very frustrating. And then somebody will say, if you pick that baby up, they must be hungry and it’s very, very difficult, and working out what your babies needs are over the first few weeks, I think it’s very tricky. Sometimes, we overhandle babies, and the very common reason for babies to keep on crying, keep on be evadable is that we sort of joggle them around and you’ll see people, desperate new moms, joggle, joggle, joggle, like this and actually what they want is, just a bit of calm and sometimes, they are overtired and if you just pop in down to sleep and you leave them somewhere quiet and dark, and you go away, you need to like they’ll carry on for little bit, you just leave them, you’ll do yourself and the baby a huge favor. Catrina Skepper: Favor. What’s I found that sometimes they have periods of crying when they are very young. It could be that by 4’o clock, I mean people call it, you know, colic or whatever you want. Su Laurent: Yes. Catrina Skepper: But they have these inexplicable periods of real crying and it’s not hunger and they are not wet. Su Laurent: Yes. Catrina Skepper: So what is it? Su Laurent: Who knows? I mean into that category, we’ll just come -- Catrina Skepper: You know, exercising the lungs, your grandmother likes to tell you. Su Laurent: They always say that. Who knows what that’s all about, I mean obviously there are some babies who clearly seem to be in pain and mothers will say that, they are drawing up their legs, they got a really painful looking cry, and some of those babies do have colic and it’s where the bowel is going into spatum. Catrina Skepper: And why does they do that? What’s the reason? Su Laurent: Who knows why it is, I mean there is lots and lots of theories, it’s something that babies is grow out of whatever you do. Sometimes a Cranial Osteopath can be very helpful in that situation. There are all sorts colic remedies, frankly I think none of them really work. The old remedies, which contained alcohol were fantastic, alcohol is the most amazing treatment for colic, sadly -- Catrina Skepper: We save it in bottles. Su Laurent: Sadly we can’t recommend that nowadays and I certainly don’t recommend it. But the old grape water, the reason it work so well because it contained alcohol. Catrina Skepper: Okay, so -- Su Laurent: A glass of wine if you are breastfeeding, good idea. Catrina Skepper: To the mother breastfeeding, this is something that you know, I think so many mother still encounter -- If the breastfeeding is going well from day one and they are enjoying the experience and the baby is getting enough milk, that seems so very well, but you really worry even when your child – your baby is breastfeeding, is they are getting enough nutrition? And sometimes, you sort of think, oh there’s not milk in my breast, it’s just empty the breast, how do you know when enough is enough? Su Laurent: How do you know, well this is always is a very, very common question and I’m glad you’ve asked this one. First of all, overall you know about the baby gaining weight appropriately. So beyond that age, the baby is supposed to gain an ounce a day except on Sundays, so six ounces per week. Catrina Skepper: Get rid of the rest. Su Laurent: I don’t know where it come from but six ounces a week is sort of the average amount. So if your baby is gaining roughly an ounce in a day, you know that overall you’re feeding your baby adequate, and that’s just for the first few weeks, As they get older, the rate of weight gain is not stopped, so if you didn’t, you’ll land up with a monster in your home. That’s just for the first few weeks, that’s the first thing. Secondly is the after feed, in first week, you should sort of feel the baby suckling and swallowing and feel the baby -- actually your breast is emptying. And then there should be some satisfaction after feed, and that’s really how you tell. There’s been different ways of breastfeeding, you can do both sides in one sitting or you can do one side and then the other side, but by the time your baby established breastfeeding, by about six weeks you will say, you should not be spending more than 20 minutes per feed and I see many parents who are spending -- Catrina Skepper: I used to release it an hour. Su Laurent: And so most of that is what we call non-nutritive suckling, is the other word baby having a lovely time sucking, but you might just have done in the in the mouth is, have a breast in their mouth, as long as you are enjoying it, that’s fine. Catrina Skepper: That’s fine but really 20 minutes should – they should have ample nutrition. Su Laurent: I have done it very well establishes the ample nutrition in 20 minutes. Catrina Skepper: Su, we got so much more to talk about but for today, that’s going to be it, thank you very much. Su Laurent: Okay, thank you. Catrina Skepper: See you next time, bye. Su Laurent: Bye.