Keep Your Baby Cool and Comfortable

Not everybody loves summer. The season has its perks, yes, and these include beach outings and weekend trips to a cool summer hideaway. But the air is extremely hot and humid on an ordinary day. The summer heat can really drain your energy and cause you to sweat all over. Babies, in general, do not enjoy the summer season because of their low tolerance level for heat and all the discomforts that it can cause. But you can keep your baby cool and comfortable this hot season of summer with the following tips:

Diapers and diaper rash

Diaper rash is one of the instant manifestations of the summer heat on babies, and a lot of the discomforts that the little ones experience are diaper-related.

Change your baby’s diapers after every bowel movement and whenever you discover that they are wet. A fresh diaper will help him feel cool and refreshed all day long.
Consider using disposable diapers during the summer season. Not only do they eliminate the need for laundering. They also cut down on skin rash, irritations and odor because they are designed to keep wetness away from the baby’s skin. Disposable diapers are taped on, so they also eliminate irritations caused by diaper pins.
Use diaper pins with plastic heads and make sure you pin them safely away from baby’s skin. If they are in direct contact with your baby’s skin, they may cause marks that may in turn lead to irritation.
If your baby already has diaper rash, let him go without diapers as often as practical. This will help the rash heal faster.

However, if you must let him wear diapers, use two to three thicknesses of cloth diapers. Avoid letting him wear plastic waterproof pants, which retain heat and moisture and will definitely aggravate diaper rash.

To treat diaper rash, apply petroleum jelly or a mild protective ointment after cleaning. But pat the skin dry before application. To speed up healing, use a cool compress soaked in a solution of one teaspoon salt dissolved in one pint of water. Another way to speed up healing is to direct an ordinary light bulb, situated a few feet away, toward the exposed area.
Apply zinc oxide to the diaper rash only when the inflammation is gone. If you do so when the affected area is not yet healed, you may cause new inflammation on the area.

Crying and discomfort

Baby Crying is a baby’s way to communicate what he feels. Usually, he cries because he is hungry, he is wet or soiled, or he feels a certain discomfort. What are the causes of his discomfort? One of them is heat.

A baby cries when he feels too hot. So when your baby cries, check the back of his neck and see if it is sweaty. If it is, remove his blanket. If he does not have a blanket on and yet feels too warm all over, remove a layer of clothing.
If he continues to cry after you have done everything to comfort him, check his temperature. He may have a fever.