Is it safe to cover my baby's pram in hot weather?

The verdict

No. This is one of the most widespread habits in British and Australian parenting, and three separate national bodies specifically name it as a thing not to do.

The NHS states it plainly: if you go out when it is hot, attach a parasol or sunshade to your baby's pushchair to keep them out of direct sunlight - and do not cover your baby's pushchair or pram with a blanket because it could lead to overheating.

The Lullaby Trust extends the same instruction to the material most people actually use, advising against covering prams, buggies and travel systems with blankets, cloths or any cover that stops the air flowing, because they risk the baby getting too hot and mean you cannot see if they are having difficulties or monitor their temperature as easily.

Red Nose Australia is the most explicit about muslin specifically: even lightweight materials, like muslin, can significantly reduce airflow and trap heat around your baby.

This page is about heat and airflow. Sun protection, sunscreen and UV exposure are a different question and are covered on our page about sunscreen and sun exposure.

What a cover actually does

The intuition is that a cloth blocks the sun, so the space underneath must be cooler. What it also does is stop air moving through the pram.

Red Nose describes the result in terms most people find persuasive: research shows that placing a cover over a pram can quickly raise the temperature inside, much like the effect of leaving a car in the sun. A pram hood plus a draped cloth creates a small enclosed volume with a fabric roof absorbing solar energy and re-radiating it inward, with no route for hot air to escape.

We have deliberately not put a number on the temperature rise. The figures circulating online come from a single widely reported study and are quoted inconsistently, and neither the NHS nor the Lullaby Trust states one, so we are not going to.

Why a baby cannot cope with it

Red Nose sets out why the same conditions affect an infant differently: infants' bodies heat up three to five times faster than adults due to their size and limited ability to regulate temperature, and they do not sweat as much, which makes it harder for them to cool down.

A baby also cannot do any of the things an adult would. They cannot remove the cover, move into shade, ask for a drink, or tell you they are too hot.

The second problem: you cannot see them

The Lullaby Trust makes a point that is easy to skip past and is arguably the more important one. A cover means you cannot see if your baby is having difficulties or monitor their temperature as easily.

Red Nose says the same: covering a pram makes it harder to monitor your baby for signs of heat stress.

Even if the thermal effect were negligible, putting an opaque barrier between you and a sleeping infant removes your ability to notice a change in colour, breathing or position. That is a poor trade for shade you can get another way.

Signs of heat stress

Red Nose lists what to watch for: unusual fussiness, listlessness or irritability; pale, clammy skin that becomes hot and flushed; and excessive sweating initially, followed by reduced sweating as the baby overheats. Reduced sweating in a hot baby is a late and serious sign, not a reassuring one.

The Lullaby Trust gives the practical check: feel your baby's chest or the back of their neck, and if they feel clammy or sweaty, they are getting too hot, so remove a layer. Hands and feet are unreliable - babies often have cool extremities while their core is too warm.

What to do instead

Use a clip-on sunshade or parasol. This is the Lullaby Trust's stated top tip, and its reasoning is exactly the point of this page: it will keep your baby shaded while allowing air to circulate, and give you a clear view of your baby. The NHS gives the same instruction.

Stay out of the sun at the worst times. The NHS advises keeping babies under six months out of direct sunlight altogether, and keeping older babies out of the sun as much as possible, particularly between 11am and 3pm when the sun is strongest. Red Nose similarly advises avoiding going out during the hottest part of the day.

Use natural shade in preference to fabric. Red Nose recommends using natural shade like trees or umbrellas rather than fabric covers, ensuring there is good airflow around the pram, and checking on your baby regularly.

Dress your baby lightly. The NHS advises against dressing a baby in too many layers and recommends lightweight clothing, plus a wide-brimmed sunhat and loose clothing.

Keep fluids up. NHS advice is that a fully breastfed baby needs no water before solids but may want to feed more often in hot weather, and that a bottle-fed baby can have a little cooled boiled water in addition to their usual feeds.

Prams, pushchairs and heat: the wider points

Never leave a baby in a parked car, at any temperature and for any length of time. The NHS states this as a rule about small enclosed spaces generally, because they get hot very quickly.

The same airflow logic applies in the car. Raising Children advises against putting a hood or bonnet over a capsule to protect a baby from the sun, because it reduces air circulation - the identical mechanism to the pram.

And check what the pram itself is doing. Dark fabric absorbs heat, a plastic rain cover left on is a greenhouse, and buckles and metal parts get hot enough to burn. Raising Children advises checking the temperature of car seats, harnesses and belts before a child gets in, and the same is worth doing on a pram harness left in the sun.

Where guidance differs

All three of the bodies that address this agree, which is unusual and useful.

The NHS names the specific behaviour - do not cover a pushchair or pram with a blanket - and pairs it with the alternative, a parasol or sunshade attached to the pushchair. UKHSA's hot weather advice sits alongside it for general heat guidance.

The Lullaby Trust broadens the prohibition to any cover that stops air flowing, adds travel systems and buggies explicitly, and gives the visibility argument.

Red Nose Australia is the most detailed, naming muslin, describing the pram-as-parked-car effect, listing signs of heat stress, and noting that while prams and strollers must meet mandatory Australian safety standards, accessories like covers are not regulated in the same way and are not required to undergo safety testing despite being sold for sun or rain protection.

That last point is the one to take away if you take one: the cover you bought for this purpose was never tested for it.