Are Baby Hooded Towels Really Necessary?

Do new babies really need their own baby hooded towels or are adult towels okay to use?  Having a special towel for baby is a good idea. Here's why.

Undoubtedly, parent's take enormous pride and joy in caring for their young and providing the best for them. However, as a new mom, the number of products branded as 'must-haves' can be absolutely overwhelming. What do you really need to care for your child, and what is the best for them? Answering these questions will help you offer the best to your young ones as they grow. Towels are a must have in every household, but do babies really need their own designated hooded towels? Let's investigate further to unearth what your baby truly needs.


What are baby hooded towels?

Let's start from the beginning. What exactly is a baby hooded bath towel, and are they essential for kids? Essentially, baby hooded towels are small customized bath towels that come with an attached hood. The hooded bit is integral as it keeps your baby's head warm and dry after they come into contact with water and cold air.

Mostly, these baby hooded bath towels are used after bathing your child. Preferably, you'll first wash your child in warm water to keep them most comfortable. Unfortunately, when you remove them from the warm bath water, they are instantly exposed to the harsh cold air.

Hooded bath towels ensure your infant stays warm and snug immediately post bath. As mentioned, these customized baby towels are mostly used when you're bathing your child. However, they can be used in all scenarios that involve getting the child wet, like after swimming or playing at the beach.

With a baby hooded towel, you don't have to worry about your child getting cold before and while you dress them. Many moms mention they also love the ease of nursing a baby right after bath, when they can just swaddle them in their hooded towel. Additionally, many baby towels are made especially for babies with ultra soft, non-irritating, gentle fabric. Our favorite choice for a baby towel is bamboo, because it's buttery soft, hypoallergenic, and the more absorbent than cotton. If you look at the image below you can see how much smoother the bamboo fabric is versus the cotton.


What are the benefits of using a hooded towel?

As a new mother, one question you might have is, why can't a baby just use a regular towel? Generally, a baby can use regular towels. However, as mentioned above, an infant's skin is soft, sensitive, and vulnerable to numerous elements. As a result, you may end up irritating your child's skin when using regular towels, especially if you are washing them with the rest of the laundry in normal detergent.

 Here are a few more reasons why purchasing hooded bath towels for your new baby might make your life easier. 


1.   Hooded towels are made with a babies size in mind.

Towels made especially for babies are sized and designed with them in mind. The towel is shaped like a diamond with the hood at the top of the diamond and the feet at the bottom. This is the ideal shape for allowing you to fully wrap and swaddle your baby after bath. Too much fabric with adult towels can be cumbersome and make the, already awkward, situation of handling a wet baby, even worse. The right towel is sized for a baby, and gets extra points if it is also big enough to fit them as young toddlers. We have found that 30in. x 30in. is a great starter towel size.


2. The right hooded towel is hypoallergenic and ultra soft to protect sensitive skin.

As stated earlier, one of the main reasons babies need their own hooded towel is their sensitive skin. However, there's no overstating this fact. As a new parent, you'll have a lot on your hands and more things to worry about than you should. It's only fitting to relieve yourself from some of these worries whenever you can.

As we previously mentioned, we favor bamboo when it comes to a material for baby towels because of its luxurious softness compared to other textiles, such as cotton or microfiber. Bamboo is also one of the most hypoallergenic, which means that it's not irritating to sensitive skin. To imagine the texture of bamboo, think of it's feel as somewhere in between cotton and silk, without being slippery.  

One final thing we love about bamboo hooded towels is that they are better for the environment. Since these towels are made from bamboo, which is biodegradable, you don't have to worry about them filling the landfills for eternity when you're done with them.


3.   The hood helps lock in heat.

Another important reason, babies truly benefit from a hooded towel is because of the hood itself. Babies can't regulate their body temperature as well as adults, and in fact lose heat nearly 4 times more rapidly then adults.

When you use a hooded bath towel, you don't have to worry about keeping your baby's head and neck warm. The hood is ideally suited to cover the infant's head, meaning it will remain dry and warm throughout the dressing process. Since the hair is the last part on the body to dry, this helps sustain warmth on the babies coldest area.

As previously mentioned, many parents will nurse the child when done with bathing. Fortunately, hooded towels have the perfect cocoon shape to keep your child snuggly and warm as you nurse them.


4.   Hooded towels are easier to clean.

Another primary concern you'll face with regular-sized towels is the cleaning process. These adult towels can take up precious space and reduce the number of clothes you can clean in one go. And if there's anything you should prepare for, it's going through a lot of your baby's clothes and having to regularly do the laundry.

Because of the compact size of hooded bath towels, you can easily clean them with the rest of the baby's clothes. For new parents, you should ideally have a couple of these towels, so you don't have to worry about when you're going to clean them. With multiple towels, you can comfortably do laundry when you'd initially planned it and now when you're just out of clean towels. Here are a few options on the best-hooded bath towels for your baby.

How many bath towels are enough?

What is the magic number when talking of hooded bath towels.? Well, there's no one answer to suit all situations. The ideal number of hooded towels differs from one household to another. You can determine this number by factoring in how many baths your infant has over a given period. Moreover, if your child is prone to post-bath accidents, you might need more towels.

With that said, the average number of hooded bath towels needed per child is between two to four. Fortunately, since these towels are affordable and should last for a few years, so having a few on hand will prove worth the money spent.

So, do babies really need their own hooded towels? The simple answer to this question is a resounding yes! We've included a link to a few of the top-rated hooded towels that you can buy on Amazon below. We hope this helps you in your journey to provide the best essentials for your baby.

All recommendations are things we love! No compensation was given in exchange for the recommendations. This post does contain affiliate links, which means we may receive a small commission from certain purchases to help support our research and effort, bu there is no additional cost to you.