5 top tips for taking a baby out on a windy day

Regular readers will know we live by the sea, and while being by the seaside makes parenting easier in summer one of the downsides of living by the sea is the wind.

Along with uneven pavements and dog poo one of the annoying things I only noticed when I became a parent is the wind, and more specifically, what it would do to my warm, cosy, soft-skinned baby.

I use the rain cover on our pushchair as a wind break more often than I use it for actual rain, so with that in mind as we head into our very first autumn with baby number three today I’m bringing you 5 top tips for taking a baby out on a windy day.

1. If you’re cold, your baby will be colder. Babies lose about 50% of their heat from their heads according Ed Glasser, the clinical associate professor of paediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver, which he explains on the parenting website Fit Pregnancy and Baby. A general rule of thumb to keep your baby at the right temperature is to dress them in one layer more than you.

2. Turn your pushchair seat in the opposite direction to the wind. If you’ve got a buggy with both rear and forward-facing seating positions you can turn it forward and back during your outing depending on which way the wind is blowing. That way you can avoid it blowing directly into your baby’s face.

3. Invest in a footmuff. Enhancing your buggy or pram with some Cosytoes ensures their feet are nice and snug and – if they’ll let you do it – you can tuck their hands inside too.

4. Use the rain cover on your pushchair as a wind break. If it’s especially gusty or blustery putting the rain cover on your pushchair will protect them from the worst of the wind and stop them from getting blasted.

5. Keep a pack of tissues to hand. The only thing worse than a child with a snotty nose is a child with a sore snotty nose because their skin has become irritated in the wind. I also put lip balm on my baby’s lips before we go out to keep chapped lips at bay.

Do you have any windy day hacks? If so I’d love to hear what they are!

This is a collaborative post.