#SNOOZE SHADE PRAM SKIN#
#SNOOZE SHADE PRAM PORTABLE#

So, on a hot day, I recommend pushing the hood back at least halfway and let air move through the SnoozeShade fabric rather than get trapped in the hood.Īir permeability is intrinsically linked to breathability. These hoods are made from very thick impermeable and often waterproof fabric. One other factor is that many strollers now have very long and deep hoods.

I also would not want my baby's face to be accidentally covered with this type of solid fabric. Science dictates that hot air will rise - unless it can't. As a parent I would be worried as the air will not be able to move if a car seat or stroller is completely covered with this type of fabric. One concerning trend I have seen is the use of fluffy minky like fabrics. Many fabric-based products claim to be breathable but if you were to actually hold it up to your face and try to breathe through it you would struggle to do so comfortably. This is a word used frequently in relation to sportswear and the ability of a fabric to let sweat escape.

Instead it is the ability of a fabric to allow moisture vapour to pass through it. To ensure that it had the qualities I wanted, I had it tested by a laboratory who proved that it was 'highly air-permeable'.īreathability does not, as you might think, relate to air flow. Natural fabrics swell when it's humid and will retain heat, humidity and trap hot air which can mean heat builds up.Ī synthetic fibre cannot retain moisture or heat so its fibres won't swell and so I chose to use a polyester woven mesh. My very first mocked up SnoozeShade was made from black cotton which I later learned would have been completely wrong. One of the other things I was concerned about was using the right fabric. And a shade which protects from all angles is best of all.' Ī dark shade is definitely better than a light shade which still lets some of the light through.

#SNOOZE SHADE PRAM SKIN#

The best thing to help baby control their temperature and to keep their skin protected is to keep them in the shade. In direct sunlight(*) a typical baby is exposed to almost 100 watts of heat input and their delicate skin is exposed to intense UV. 'It might seem that a white shade would be cooler, but in fact the colour of the shade makes almost no difference! When it’s sunny, the best way to keep baby cool is keep him or her out of direct sunlight. Not having been very good at physics at school, I contacted the UK's leading thermo-physicist (who has an MBE for his work) and he told me: Paler fabrics either provide significantly less UV protection, have to be treated with chemicals or must be a solid thick fabric (which would impact air-permeability) in order to block a sufficient amount of UV. A darker colour naturally blocks more UV than a pale colour. I learned that colour is an important part of blocking UV rays. I thought that it made sense for a blackout blind to be dark - but I was worried about it attracting heat and making things hotter!

#SNOOZE SHADE PRAM PORTABLE#

There didn’t seem to be anything that blocked out enough light, was portable and conveniently small enough to keep on hand for when it was needed. Sun shades were too bulky and baby could still see out so couldn’t switch off. Mosquito, cat and insect nets let in too much light. I started to hunt around to find a suitable product somewhere. I used blackout blinds in her nursery which helped her relax and get ready for sleep even on a sunny day and I realised what I needed was a blackout blind for her pram. To this day, I don’t really know when I decided to do something about this common parental problem. Maneuvering up and down kerbs could be an experience as the things we’d positioned slid off or blew away (I lost count of the number of times I rolled over my coat as it fell off in the road) – resulting in a wide-awake and grumpy baby. We fed the babies and at naptime we tried to help them sleep by hanging muslins, blankets and cardigans over the front of the pram – with varying degrees of success. Most of my friends did the same thing when we met up. I noticed other parents with blankets draped over their prams.

Snooze shade pram