goldilocks and the one baby

It's a constant challenge to try and keep Camden at a perfect temperature. With Fall upon us in Seattle, the days are in the 60s and the nights have been dropping to the 30s. Pre-baby, we would have kept the heat off until a little later in the year and just bundled up in sweaters (central heating costs money!) but post-baby the heat has been set to 71 degrees in the day and 60 at night for the last 2 weeks.

But even with that, Cam sometimes seems too hot or too cold and all we want is for him to be just right. In the day, we dress him in onesies with a long sleeved top over it (or just a long sleeved onesie) and socks to keep his feet warm. The thought is to help him understand day from night by only putting him in snuggly sleepers at night, you know, when it's sleepy time. He's carried for part of the day or in blankets to keep warm anyway. Plus, what's the point of having all these onesies if we don't use them?

At night, he's in a sleeper and swaddled. But lately, that doesn't seem to be enough. I hear him in his bassinet with a quivering kind of breathing like he's shivering. Sometimes I even see him shiver and am sure he's cold. This usually happens when I'm changing his diaper or clothes. It's actually kinda cute! He puts his hands in fists in front of his chest, elbows down, and kind of shakes his hands and arms back and forth. Poor guy. Last night, I could hear him fuss and couldn't sleep cause I thought he was cold. "I should have double swaddled him," I thought. But he was fussy after his 1:30am feeding (as per usual) and getting him in one swaddle before he cried bloody murder was hard enough. So, I got up and went into the baby room where we have a space heater. We bought one a week ago to put in there for midnight feedings. I unplugged it, carried it to our bedroom, set it up and voila! Warmer room and hopefully happier baby.

At other times though, Camden seems too hot. When my parents were here, my dad loved to hold the baby and cover him in multiple blankets. The Hawaii folk that they are, they thought it was extra cold in Seattle and therefore the baby must be freezing. But double blankets plus body heat = one hot, seemingly even sweaty baby. He'd be all red and warm and I started googling whether or not you can overheat a baby. Apparently, it'd be quite difficult unless you've been baking in the blazing sun for awhile, but possible. I stand by my neurotic web search as still valid.

I swear, I feel like Goldilocks trying to regulate the perfect baby temperature. All I need is some porridge.