The importance of keeping warm is something I was not always aware of. Doctors, Nurses, Books, all seemed to say the same thing, dress the baby, the child, as you are dressed. As in, if I am comfortable in shorts at 80 degrees, my baby should be to. I did not really believe this though because just from observing people I know that not all people feel the same way in the same environment. I run hot and rather be cold, my husband runs cold and rather be hot just as an example.
The waldorf world educates us in the importance of keeping children warm. Something good to read on this topic is: http://www.waldorflibrary.org/Journal_Articles/sjohnsonwarmth.pdf
While I do not follow all things waldorf this is one area I try to be mindful of because I know I am always looking for ways to be cool and that is not what is helpful to my growing children. I can tell you first hand that they do not tend to pay attention to their own bodies as far as warm and cold go. This was very clear to me the other day when it was a nice afternoon and we all piled into the van with a mission to go help a friend paint her home. So much to remember and some how the children forgot their jackets. The van is 5 feet from the door so I do not always insist that they get jackets on while going to the warm van. Jackets are not safe in car seats because of compression. We normally buckle them in and place their coats over them. Hats of course are always ok! When it was time to go home, I could not find the children’s coats and they admitted they had forgotten them at home. I felt foolish even though we had wool blankets in the van and it was very warm in it. The car was 20 feet from our friends door, what a dash we made with them! Forgetting coats is very very rare for us, more often it would be hats or mittens. We are getting better though, specially with our oldest child loving to make hats. The above adorable baby has a hat on that her oldest sister made. Behind baby is the sugar glider home, and the small cage that they stay in for travel and when the larger cage is being cleaned. Yes, I know, our glider home is not big enough…. working on that too! 🙂
Keep Warm! It is more important than simply trying to keep illness away, it is about letting childrens bodies focus on the important things rather than simply trying to keep warm. Stay Safe!
