Scam Review

Myth: the younger the child, the more you should wrap them up in layers

It was early April, wonderful sun shine and a nice warm day. Spring had finally arrived and we were all really pleased to take advantage of this wonderful day after a cold and wet winter. It was warm enough to wear a t-shirt only, I could leave my jacket at home for the first time in the year. My toddler was happy too, he loves to wear short-sleeved shirts –he is a real summer child!

We drove to my parents-in-law to help them with the gardening. Once we arrived at their house, we saw something unbelievable: There was a mother with her daughter (just over 3 years old) and the daughter was packed up in thick layers, as if we were in the middle of the winter! She wore a woolen hat and a winter jacket whilst we had over 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit) on the outdoor thermometer in the shade.

Then I recalled the words from our pediatrician when we visited him the first time: “Don’t think a baby needs to wear warmer clothes than you do! Dress her/him as you do yourself. Babies are not really able to control their own body temperature therefore you need to function as his/her thermometer. When you wear a short sleeved shirt yourself, then it is not necessary at all to dress your baby in a winter jacket.”

We followed his advice, but have seen lots and lots of babies completely wrongly dressed over the past 3 years. But this little girl with a woolen hat and winter jacket with 20 degrees Celsius on the thermometer was just too much!

I don’t know why parents belief that their babies and toddlers freeze much faster than we do, but this is just a dangerous delusion! I started to make a research of other delusions and I found an amazing number. Some of them are fun, some very interesting and others dangerous too!

So I had no choice! This had to be shared with all (expecting) parents! This was the start of this book.

To every loving mother and father,

To all expecting mothers,

To all women who want to become pregnant:

Please read this book! We are talking here about the health of your baby, we are talking about your health and there are so many delusions around pregnancy, feeding, clothing, … YOU NEED TO KNOW THE FACTS to avoid silly and unnecessary mistakes!

Sincerely yours,

Fabian T. Wondratschek