This belief in "chills" as the causal factor of viral and bacterial infections, as discussed by Rachel Myr and patricia Young, also - would you believe - used to be heard in the Tropics.  I spent my early life in the north, in the Tropics, and my mother-in-law and other older women were always on about making sure to avoid "chills" even on the hottest day.  Well, in the interests of preventing overheating, I did all the things advised against by believers in "chills" - and iIve yet to see a "chills".  I suspect these women  confused the rigor of a fever with shivering with cold.  Anyway, what better than breastfeeding to keep the viruses and bacteria at bay!
   I can add to the list of situations believed to be caused by "chills", mastitis, though I haven't heard this one for many years.
   The best advice I had about maintaining a suitable body temperature in searing heat was given me by an air-hostess, who was a former paediatric nurse, when I was flying back home to arid  north-west Queensland with my first baby, then five-and-a-half weks old and fully artificially-fed.  I was told to sponge her with cool water to keep her cool, in very hot weather.  (The water in the cold tap was about room temperature.). She gave me other tips for keeping teh baby cool in hot weather, too, and the advice not to use talcum powder as it would mix with sweat in the skinfolds and cause chaffing.  (By the way, 4 days after my return home, I had re-established a full supply of breastmilk, thanks to The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding which had arrived int he mail.  So she wass then exclusively breastfed.)  But I digress.
    In summer, both in N-W Queensland and on the coast, my babies wore just a nappy (diaper) or diaper + waist-length shirt in very thin cotton.  Little cotton frocks or one-piece suits without legs were for going out.   I'll comment on sun safety in a separate message. 
    I offer these comments from the experience of living in the Tropics, to contribute to the discussion of baby-care, cultrue and beliefs.
    Virginia
     in Brisbane, which *isn't* n the Tropics,
     but can still get very hot in summer

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