Hats and the Newborn

One of the things I'm constantly reminded of, is that much of what I still presume to be true about fertility, conception, pregnancy, birth, and the immediate postpartum period is just as false or exaggerated (in a fearful sort of way) as those glaring falsehoods I've already come to recognize.

For instance, this one isn't a big deal, but until a day ago, I actually believed that hats on a newborn were 'necessary'. I'm a knitter, so maybe that made it easier to forego questioning when my time came to give birth...after all, I arrived at the birth center and then, eventually, the hospital with no less than FOUR hand-knit hats. But whatever the presumption, I never once in all these years thought to question the reasoning behind 'hatting' our babies from the moment of birth.

I had always seen newborns wearing a hat of some sort...generally with an anxious guardian ensuring that the hat was never off of Baby's head for longer than the seconds it took to replace. And, when I entered into my own prenatal period, I was reminded continuously to provide a hat for my babe at his birth; it was a bulleted item on every single "What should I Pack for the ______(enter place of much looked forward to Birth)" list we ever received, and I know that it was verbally mentioned to me by both my midwife and obstetrician at various points in the pregnancy.

But here I am, nearly three years after my child's birth, and three years deep into my growing obsession into all things birth-related, and I come to find that hats are relatively pointless. In fact, under normal, healthy circumstances, they may actually be more harmful than good! (think overheating and infringing upon quality mother-child bonding time)

Research has proven that 'Hatting' a baby born under normal, healthy circumstances does little in the way of benefit. In fact, it was found that the best course of 'action' regarding a normal, healthy newborn would be to  leave it and the mother well enough alone. The baby's body would take care of itself.

Gloria Lemay recently published a blog post on this same issue bringing up some good points about how the obsession with placing a hat on Baby's head immediately following his birth interrupts the primal imprinting that takes place between the Mama and her child in those first moments after birth. Instead of leaving the two alone, much is made of finding Baby a hat, fitting it onto his head, and then, ensuring that said hat remains on his head. There are hands in and out of the mother's field of vision, and one of the first decisions of new motherhood (how and when to clothe her child)  is removed from the Mother.

Common Sense Breastfeeding also wrote an interesting post stating many of the reasons mentioned above for why it might make better sense to "Hold That Hat".