Ditching the Hat and Mittens - Why Your Baby Doesn’t Need Them!

Have you ever held a baby to your nose and inhaled all that sweet, sweet newborn nectar? The tops of their heads always smell like fresh powder and warmth somehow. It’s a miracle all in itself - or is it? 

Babies’ heads are biologically engineered to release a perfectly concocted perfume of feel-good hormones that promote bonding. This, in addition to the skin to skin contact rush of oxytocin, is how parents and babies begin bonding from birth.

What happens if you can’t smell those all important smells? For centuries, hospitals and birthing centers have practiced “hatting” babies as soon as they are born for fear of them getting too cold as they enter their new lives outside of the womb. However, recent studies show that a full term baby is able to regulate their temperature, and so caps, blankets, booties, mittens - all of the things that you typically think of newborns being swathed in may not be as needed as we thought!

Not only that, but your body temperature helps to regulate your baby’s body temperature. Babies may actually overheat indoors when wearing a hat - more of a reason to kick it to the curb! The same goes for mittens - healthy newborns having cool or bluish hands and feet is normal, and they are able to regulate their temperature completely on their own in a moderate climate. (Besides, babies need their hands to self-soothe, which is difficult with mittens. If you’re worried about your baby scratching their face, filing their nails is a quick fix. Try this Electric Baby Nail File, recommended by our doulas here at Beautiful Births & Beyond!)

Another good reason to hang up the hat and get a good whiff of that oxytocin is it can help a birthing parent pass their placenta faster. Babies are usually plopped right on their parent’s chest after they’re born to initiate that skin to skin as soon as possible, which causes a rush of oxytocin and makes passing the placenta much easier! 

Fierce women and baby advocate Carla Hartley coined the term “no hatting, patting, or chatting!” right after the baby is born, as those first crucial moments of bonding are important for parents and babies alike. 

So when you give your baby’s head a sniff and feel that rush of feel-good hit you, squeeze their little hands and know that they - and you - have everything under control.