Choosing your baby’s everyday outfit goes beyond fashion. A bib keeps your baby clean during mealtime, and onesies keep them comfy throughout the day. So what are baby socks for? Here are three practical reasons to get newborn baby socks and how to choose the best ones.
3 Reasons To Get Your Baby Newborn Socks
Like any article on baby clothing, newborn socks are designed to be practical. Forget about the polyester lines or polka dots, no matter how cute they are. Putting a sock on your baby’s feet is more than just aesthetics—it’s necessary, and there are three reasons why.
Socks Keep Your Baby’s Feet Warm
Ever gotten cold feet? It’s the worst. Now imagine you’re an infant with no idea about hot and cold and very few means of addressing your body’s temperature changes—you can get in trouble quickly.
Even for parents who watch their children constantly, keeping their temperature in check can be tricky. According to the Children’s Health Department of Stanford Medicine, a baby’s temperature can drop four times faster than an adult’s. Without proper clothing, you’ll leave your child at the mercy of the elements.
Baby socks are an excellent way to combat fluctuating temperatures. A baby’s socks are great at regulating their temperature: if it’s too cold, they help maintain warmth; if it’s too warm, they help prevent your baby from getting burnt or overheating.
They Keep Your Baby Comfortable
Movement is an underrated factor in determining your baby’s comfort level. Since they spend most of their time exploring, they’ll be exposed to different surfaces—soft, rough, slippery—and socks help them stay comfortable as they discover more about the world.
Socks help prevent skin irritation and soreness, which could come from walking on uneven surfaces or moving too much alone.
They Protect Your Baby
Even before they start walking, they’ll begin crawling in their bed or on the floor, clinging to different surfaces, and eventually trying to stand up and failing semi-miserably (because we all love a baby’s soft tumble, and they probably do, too.)
Socks are the barrier that keeps your baby’s feet from absorbing the contact from falls or hits in full. The best baby socks help minimize the damage of learning how to use their kinetic functions. Sometimes, baby socks even come with rubber grips under the foot or heel to help your baby balance.
What’s the Best Material for Newborn Socks?
Getting newborn baby socks for your little one is necessary, but what makes the best baby socks? The material that goes into making baby socks is a huge determinant of their quality and will define how well it suits your baby’s needs.
Here are some of the best materials for baby socks and the materials to avoid putting on your baby’s feet.
Cotton
Cotton is one of the most prevalent fabrics in clothing. It’s cheap and comfortable—perfect for your little ones. Cotton makes lightweight, breathable socks that can also last your baby a while.
Cotton catches on to moisture quickly and can become uncomfortable when wet. Just make sure you’re changing cotton socks often. And be careful when washing them, too! Cotton socks tend to shrink when exposed to too much heat in the dryer.
Silk
Silk fares well not just in baby clothes but in all types of clothes overall. Silk has been sought-after all over the world, even since ancient times. This is perhaps due to its great insulating qualities, keeping your baby warm during cold seasons and cool in the heat.
The trade-off, however, is that it’s expensive. Silk is one of the priciest materials in the market. In addition to the costliness, silk is extremely delicate and stains easily—truly a luxury more than a necessity.
But if you have the money for it, why not? Silk remains one of the best materials for baby socks and might remain that way for a long time.
Wool
Next to cotton, wool is the most common material for socks in the market. Wool is breathable, water-resistant, and can retain heat well, making it great for cold days. The fabric also absorbs moisture the best, keeping your baby’s feet dry at all times.
However, double-check the wool socks you’re buying. Since they’re so common, low-quality options can be found at the same stores as high-quality ones, so ensure you’re getting the best quality for your baby. Low-quality wool socks can be thick and itchy, making them hot and uncomfortable for your baby.
Cashmere
Cashmere is often mistaken for wool since the two materials are very similar not only in look but also function. Cashmere has great heat retention and can keep your baby’s feet comfortable with its thickness. The main difference between them is that wool comes from sheep, and cashmere comes from goats.
However, cashmere is very delicate and requires handwashing. The demand for cashmere also makes it more expensive than wool.
Bamboo
Among all the given materials, bamboo socks come with the most pros over cons. Bamboo fabric is an excellent thermal regulator, keeping it light and cool. You can also worry less about sock size since it holds elastic qualities.
Bamboo also comes with certain health benefits. Bamboo contains natural antimicrobial properties, which prevent bacteria from growing inside the socks. Plus, its hypoallergenic qualities keep it from triggering any nasty allergies.
With all the benefits, shopping for bamboo socks would seem expensive. But that’s not the case. Bamboo is relatively easy to grow, requiring little maintenance. It also grows efficiently since it needs only a little land to thrive, making it cheaper to produce than most fabrics— every environmentalist’s dream.
So what’s the catch? Well, it pills now and then, when used long enough. But is that so bad?
Materials To Avoid
You’ll notice that the mentioned fabrics have one thing in common: they’re organic. They’re all either taken from animals or natural resources. Baby skin is sensitive ground, and it requires nothing less than organic materials, which is why it’s advised to stray from synthetic fabrics like the following:
- Polyester
- Nylon
- Acrylic
Such fabrics may do well for adults, but you can’t take a chance with your little one. With them, the best options are the only options.
Get These Socks for Newborns: Ashtonbee’s Non-Slipping Ballet Style Socks
If you’re looking for the best socks for your newborn, then you’ve come to the right place. Check out these cotton socks for newborns from Ashtonbee. Our cotton socks are comfy and stylish, with six different color options per pack. They’re also machine-washable, allowing you to save on socks in the long run.
You can get our socks and other products here or through our Amazon store. Buy now!
