Clothing

Question

My active son with CF sweats a lot. At present he is 1,5 years old.
I doubt how I should clothe him. Should he always wear an undershirt or can I leave this out when it is warm? I don’t want him to get a cold but I also don’t want him to be too warm or too cold. How do you catch a cold?

Answer

Thank you for this question. Many parents worry about this and there is no clear cut answer to it. One child will be more easily hot than another child. So it is important that you observe your child. If your child sweats (you can feel this best at the back or in his neck) then he either has a fever or is definitely clothed too warmly. Even if it is rather cold outside, if your child sweats, apart from just after a big exercise or when he has a fever, he is too warm. And that is very unpleasant. You do need to clothe him more lightly (for instance leaving away the undershirt during warm weather). If your child sweats a lot, he will lose extra salt. Then you will need to give him extra salt via his meals or salt supplements. It is more difficult to check if your child is too cold. But your own experience and how you feel, taking into account what you are wearing at that moment in time, will certainly help you decide on this.

There is a lot of confusion between being cold and catching a cold. A common cold is the result of an infection (usually viral). Viral infections are transmitted from person to person via hand contact or a ‘droplet’ infection (secretions left on objects by persons with a cold). You can avoid this by good hand hygiene and by keeping some distance from people who are sick. The distance of 1 meter is usually considered safe. That ‘being cold’ makes you more prone to ‘getting a cold’ has never been proven scientifically. It is however known that breathing very cold air (-15°C) can cause airway problems resembling asthma. But that is of course no longer relevant to how you should clothe your child.

My advice to you is to check that your son doesn’t sweat too much. The chance that a parent of a child with CF will clothe his child too cold is very small.

I hope that this is sufficient answer to your question.

Best regards,

Dr. E. De Wachter

30.08.2011