An infant garment preserves body heat and facilitates access to a localized region of the body surface of a patient. The garment has a slit on the front that allows the region of the patient's body surface to be monitored and, if necessary, treated without requiring removal of the garment. The garment also has sleeves with cuffs that can be reversibly folded to cover or uncover the hand-openings in the distal ends of the sleeves.
1. A thermo-regulating garment that provides access to an umbilical region of an infant wearing the garment, the garment comprising:
a torso cover having a front and a back, the torso cover defining a head opening, two arm openings, and a bottom opening, and the front having a bottom edge;
a pair of foldable sleeves having a proximal end and a distal end, the proximal end being attached to the torso cover at the arm openings and the distal end defining a hand opening;
a flap intermediate the front and the back of the torso cover and opposite the head opening, the flap being attachable to the bottom edge of the torso cover to at least partially cover the bottom opening; and
a patient-assessment opening in the front of the torso cover defining a slit centrally located in the front of the torso cover having a first slit edge and a second slit edge that do not overlap, the first and second slit edges diverging before converging at an end point located prior to the neck opening as the first and second slit edges extend in the longitudinal direction away from the bottom edge towards the head opening, and the slit having a vertical length between 1 and 8 inches from the bottom edge to the end point;
wherein the patient-assessment opening provides access to the umbilical region of the infant wearing the thermo-regulating garment when the flap is fully attached to the bottom edge of the front of the torso cover.
2. The garment of claim 1 , wherein the flap is attachable to the bottom edge of the front of the torso cover by at least one fastening member selected from the group consisting of a snap, a zipper, a button-and-eye fastener, and a hook-and-loop fastener.
3. The garment of claim 2 , wherein the flap forms a pair of leg openings in the bottom opening when attached to the bottom edge of the front of the torso cover.
4. The garment of claim 3 , wherein the flap and the front and back of the torso cover are shaped such that the leg openings are substantially circular when the flap is attached to the bottom edge of the front of the torso cover.
5. The garment of claim 2 , wherein the flap attaches to the bottom edge of the front of the torso cover, and wherein the at least one fastening member are snaps.
6. The garment of claim 2 , wherein the flap defines a pair of leg openings.
7. The garment of claim 2 , wherein the flap is integral to the back of the torso cover.
8. The garment of claim 7 , wherein the torso cover and the flap are constructed from a substantially tubular fabric material.
9. The garment of claim 2 , wherein the flap and the bottom edge of the front of the torso cover have a fastening member for selectively attaching the flap to the bottom edge of the front of the torso cover.
10. The garment of claim 2 , wherein the slit is also capable of remaining substantially open to provide access to the umbilical region of the patient wearing the thermo-regulating garment when the flap is partially attached to the front of the torso cover.
11. The garment of claim 1 , wherein the slit exposes the umbilical region and provides access to at least a portion of a chest region of the patient.
12. The garment of claim 11 , wherein the material is an elastic cotton knit.
13. The garment of claim 1 , wherein each sleeve further defines an anterior side and a posterior side, the distal end of each sleeve having a cuff located on the posterior side, the cuff on each sleeve capable of being selectively folded and unfolded over the respective hand opening.
14. The garment of claim 1 , wherein each sleeve further defines an anterior side and a posterior side, the distal end of each sleeve having a cuff located on the anterior side, the cuff on each sleeve being capable of being selectively folded and unfolded over the respective hand opening.
15. The garment of claim 1 , wherein the torso cover, the sleeves, and the flap are made from a same material.
16. The garment of claim 1 , wherein the torso cover is constructed from a substantially tubular fabric material.
17. The garment of claim 1 , wherein the distal end of the pair of foldable sleeves forms a cuff, the cuff on the pair of foldable sleeves is reversibly foldable over the hand opening.