A summer baby: the layette, and the two common mistakes

A baby arriving between June and August simplifies a lot: no snowsuit, no pramsuit, and fast drying that turns the layette over more quickly. The total quantities do not move.

Two mistakes come up consistently all the same, and they pull in opposite directions.

First mistake: overdressing

A newborn in summer needs fewer layers than people imagine. Indoors a bodysuit alone is very often enough, and adding a sleepsuit over the top "just in case" is the most common reflex of the first days.

The useful check is the back of the neck, not the feet. Cool feet on a newborn are normal and mean nothing. A damp neck means they are too warm.

Second mistake: dropping the hat and the sleep sack

A hat is still useful in July, for the very first days and for the trip home. Two is enough whatever the season. It comes off for sleep, like anything else that could slide over the face.

The sleep sack does not disappear in summer either, it simply gets thinner. Sacks sold as "summer" generally sit between TOG 0.5 and TOG 1, and above 24 degrees a TOG 0.5 is enough. A thin sleep sack is still the right answer, because the alternative is not a sheet: it is nothing in the cot at all, and a sleep sack is what replaces the sheet.

Plan for the next season, not this one

A baby born in July will be six months old in January. Summer outfits in six-month size will never be worn, and that is the most common mistake with summer newborn gifts.

If you are buying or asking for sizes beyond 3 month, think in calendar months rather than sizes. Six months after a July birth is the middle of winter.