I came across this article which I must definitely share with you guys as I'm very interested to know your thoughts on this. For your convenience, I have copied the excerpts from the article here:
Researchers in Sweden suggest that by covering up a pram – even with a thin cloth like a muslin wrap – actually creates a furnace-like heat within the pram, reducing the air circulation.
Young children are more sensitive to heat than older children or adults as their body temperature can rise three-to-five times faster. This puts them at greater risk of heatstroke and other health risks such as SIDS as their body temperature reaches dangerous levels much sooner. And those prams can get pretty hot. “It gets extremely hot down in the pram, something like a thermos. There is also bad circulation of the air and it is hard to see the baby with a cover over the pram,” Svante Norgren, paediatrician at the Astrid Lindgren Children’s hospital in Stockholm, says in an interview with Swedish newspaper, the Svenska Dagbladet.
Following on from the suggestions from Dr Norgen, the newspaper conducted some experiments of their own to see just how hot it could get inside the stroller. They left a stroller out in the Swedish sun between 11.30am and 1pm on a warm day.
Without a cover the pram the temperature reached 22ºC. A thin cover was placed over for the next 30 minutes, by which time the heat has risen to 34ºC. After an hour it had reached 37ºC. Remember, that is Swedish summer heat – around 30ºC tops – here in parts of Australia we see temperatures much higher than that. So what is the advice here?
NSW Health suggests: “An enclosed pram can get very hot; try to ensure that the air circulates around your baby by removing the back panel (if possible) or placing them in more open strollers.” Aerated covers made of mesh material also circulate air better. And regularly check your baby’s temperature manually. If he or she is sweating or feels hot to touch, it’s time to get out of the sun.
Hot weather affects your baby or child because their bodies cannot adjust to changes in temperature as well as adults. Babies and children sweat less, reducing their bodies’ ability to cool down, and they generate more heat during exercise than adults. They are at risk of overheating and developing a heat-related illness. Heat can also make existing illnesses worse.
40ºC is the temperature at which serious kidney or brain injuries may occur – it is also the body temperature at which fatalities can occur meaning that heading this advice is so, so important.
While we think that offering bubs some shade is helping them in the heat, we may be endangering them. The risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) is dramatically increased when a young baby is exposed to intense heat. SIDS Australia says, “Thermal stress (overheating) has been implicated in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) for many years and avoiding overheating has been one of the strategies to reduce the risk of SIDS.” As for covering the pram? Dr Norgen says, “It would quickly become uncomfortable and potentially dangerous for the child … if a child gets too hot then the child may think that it is back in the womb, which is why breathing may stop,”.
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