The first days with the baby are days of knowing him, of examining him, of knowing what his body is like, his ways, of looking for what seems normal to us and what seems strange or unknown to us. To be clear, a few months ago we offered you an entry in which we explained how the normal appearance of babies was at birth, because many times it attracts our attention or we are scared of things that are perfectly normal.
Something I didn't talk about in that post and that some parents ask me is what is related to the color of hands and feet, as some babies have a little bluish. In addition, there is the issue of temperature, and it seems that for more clothes you put on the baby, they always have cold hands and feet. Below we explain why.
Hair immaturity
The bluish or violet color of the hands and feet in the first few days responds to a immaturity of the capillaries. Something like if they were not yet able to bring enough blood to the surface of their most distal parts (hands and feet) and so they do not yet have the pinkish color we expect.
After a few days, when everything works better, when more circulation reaches the most superficial areas, both hands and feet will look the usual color.
In Babies and more The first days with the baby: its appearance at birthCold hands and feet?
On the issue of the temperature of the hands and feet we have already spoken on other occasions. It is normal and is a bit for the same. As the circulation in the areas farthest from the thorax is not as effective and as, in fact, they do not use their hands and feet at all yet, the temperature is colder than the rest of the body.
This makes the grandmothers nervous and think that you are wearing the unbrushed child, asking you to put another layer on them or putting a blanket directly on them, when they probably do not need it. In this regard we already told you one day that if you see yourself in that situation, do not wear another sweater, but rather fatter socks.
Do not you believe the temperature? Then look at the photo that I put below, which I already showed you more than a year ago and you will see it clearly. Made with a thermal camera, it is clear that a baby's hands and feet have a much lower temperature than the rest of the body.
On the other hand, the hottest ones are the armpit and the neck and that is why the mothers are always told that, to know if their baby is cold or hot, touch him behind the neck, by the neck, entering a little towards the back. That is where we will know if it is cold, hot or even sweating (it is advised to print the photo in color, poster size, to give to grandmothers and prevent blankets from helping the baby to do photosynthesis or worse).
Photos | Flickr, Jorge Martin de Termografiarte
In Babies and more | How to properly shelter babies and children, Baby discovers their hands, Babies who sweat
