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Pregnancy

Tips on cooling bedroom down please.

52 replies

Rosebud29 · 23/07/2014 00:49

Hi

I'm 37+4.

I'm really worried about the heat in the upstairs of our house. I've just plugged in my Gro Egg (night light that shows temperature) and it's 25 degrees! 25!! That's with every window wide open at all times and all doors too. Obviously I'm not sleeping in this heat, I just lie there every night sweating till about 4am, but I'm much more worried about the baby when he/she arrives, it's far too hot for a baby.
So, any ideas please? Will a fan help or will it just move warm air about?
Thank you.

OP posts:
Mango92 · 23/07/2014 01:04

We keep our room fan f
running all day and it seems to help a bit.
Open a window on the other side of the house and wedge the doors open to allow air flow right through.

Cavort · 23/07/2014 01:41

I had my DD during last July's heat wave and had the same concerns as you. We tried everything bar installing air con and couldn't get the room below 27 degrees. I just put DD in her basket wearing a nappy and a short sleeve vest and she was fine. You will be up every few hours with a newborn so you can keep checking their temp and add/remove clothing as needed.

goodbyeyellowbrickroad · 23/07/2014 01:49

Keep curtains and blinds shut during the day. A fan should help and if you put a bowl of cold water in front of it the air will cool down even more. Just don't have a fan pointed directly at the baby.

TheToadLessTravelled · 23/07/2014 05:54

Fan running over a big bowl of ice helps. Also a cool wet flannel on your chest and forehead helps

Jellylove · 23/07/2014 06:15

I have an air cooler, has chilled water , my DD room was 27 last night, kept window open, cooler on, short sleeved pj top, with her nappy, and a sheet if she wanted it.

dinkystinky · 23/07/2014 06:22

I had ds3 last july - it was 30 degrees in our bedroom at night when we got him home and he's now 1 - and it was 29 degrees last night. Keep curtains drawn in the day, as outside cools and in early mornings open all windows to get cross breeze, tower fan in front of open window will help circulate fresh air and you can put a bowl of ice and water in front of it, baby in nappy and muslin swaddle only

happyzapper · 23/07/2014 06:26

Invest in a fan or something of the like have lots on all day . All my family have a cool spray from boots that yku spray on yourself pets objects material ect

MadonnaKebab · 23/07/2014 06:38

For you:Keep windows/ doors closed in that part of the house all day, with the curtains closed in your bedroom. Think of it as keeping the heat out, and only open windows up at night when it's significantly cooler outside than in
At night, soak a large sarong or small sheet in cold water, wring it out and lie naked under it with a fan pointed at you. It works like evaporative air conditioning and you should get some sleep. You may need to re-soak it a couple of times during the night.

Once the baby is born, again the main thing is keeping the heat of the day out of its room, and then getting fresh air in only once it's cooler outside
Baby can sleep in just a nappy with a fan nearby but not pointed at them although I did need to do the wet sheet thing one night(I stayed awake & monitored the temp)

Survivor of a 40+degree summer late pregnancy

whereisshe · 23/07/2014 06:46

Keep the windows and blinds / curtains on the south side of the house closed during the heat of the day, then as the sun starts to set open the windows to create a cross-breeze throughout the house. Keep the blinds / curtains mostly shut until it's dark, but open them a bit so the air can flow. You can use a fan to make the air flow faster.

Also when it was stinky hot at night when I was growing up (Australia) I used to get a single sheet, wet it, wring it out until it was almost dry, then lie under it with a fan blowing on me. It cools you down enough to drop off to sleep.

Avoid anything non-breathable on the bed as well - natural fibres (or breathable manmade) only for mattress protector, sheets, nightclothes...

Lozmatoz · 23/07/2014 07:51

Curtains and windows shut in the day time, then open windows at night. There was an expert in Radio 2 saying this the other day. Have you got a loft hatch? If so open it and warm air will go up. You can buy cool pillows I hear, not sure what they're called sorry. Maybe have a spray with water to spray over yourself? You'll cool down as it evaporates. A few cool wet flannels instead. Get a fan!

You can also buy sprays (from boots, super drug etc) that cool the air immediately near you. Although not that good in my experience.

neversleepagain · 23/07/2014 11:23

My sister has a 9 week old (1 week actual as 8 weeks prem). They live in the centre of Athens where the temps are over 40 degrees in the day. He sleeps in a nappy (bedroom 30 degrees most days). They use a fan but no directly on the baby.

ohthegoats · 23/07/2014 12:19

I have been going to bed with two icepacks (those injury ones - £2.50 each from Amazon) as I would hot water bottles in the winter. They are wrapped up in teatowels and stay really cool until morning. I put my feet on one, and my hands on another.

madamweasel · 23/07/2014 18:12

Can you move a mattress downstairs? Our hallway has tiles and is much cooler than the bedrooms, perhaps consider sleeping in a different room till the weather cools a bit.

Lelivre · 23/07/2014 18:12

Spray bottle with water kept in the fridge and periodically spray into the air. Wash hair and go to bed with it still wet.

seasavage · 23/07/2014 18:16

Sleep under a mozzy net in the garden?

ABigKidDidItAndRanAway · 23/07/2014 19:33

A friend of mine made one of these. It really works apparently you can find loads of online tutorials and also you can use a polystyrene cooler so it is easier to cut. You don't need to use a proper cooler

unlucky83 · 23/07/2014 20:04

yy to keeping the curtains closed on the windows the sun is shining in but get decent thermal linings on them too (good for keeping you warm in winter too) when the sun moves open the windows for while before you open the curtains (it will be like a radiator behind them!)
My living room is south west facing - gets full sun for most of the day/evening and has large windows - used to get unbearable - decent closed curtains mean it is now useable.
When it cools down - open upstairs windows at the cooler side of the house (North /East) and doors windows downstairs to get blow through (but prop doors etc open - so they don't slam on anyone!)

Someone mentioned ice blocks etc - I fill my hot water bottle with cold water - works a treat...(I love my hot water bottle!)

gingeroots · 23/07/2014 20:26

Just love that link .Excellent idea !

ToniWol · 23/07/2014 20:44

As an alternative to the ice pack idea for yourself - I've been putting my wheat bag in the freezer (sealed in a plastic bag so it doesn't get wet) and then resting my feet on it when I go to bed - is lovely and cool.

timtam23 · 23/07/2014 21:45

Similar to MadonnaKebab - I used to live in a hot part of Australia, in a little old house with no air conditioning. I also worked night shifts so had to try to sleep in very high temperatures indoors in summer - it was 40+ degrees in the house. One of my colleagues told me to put the fan on pointing at my bed, wet a big bath towel, wring it out & sleep under the towel. It sounds bizarre but it worked brilliantly, I fell asleep really easily and there was the bonus of the towel being dry by the time I woke up!

Putting a bowl of ice in front of a fan would also work pretty well, as others have mentioned.

gamerchick · 23/07/2014 21:49

In my last house which the kids bedroom got the full force of the sun all day. I clagged tinfoil to the glass to reflect it and kept the curtains drawn. It worked pretty good even if the neighbours thought I was nuts Grin

Pillows in the freezer during the day for you and apparently sheets kept in the fridge I was reading earlier.

Peaceloveandbiscuits · 23/07/2014 21:54

Freeze some of those blue freezer blocks, wrap them in a pillowcase and use them as a reverse hot water bottle at night :) a wrung out wet flannel on your skin also works wonders.

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Toomanyhouseguests · 23/07/2014 22:24

When the sun goes down, and it cools a bit, place your fan upstairs in the an open window facing out. Meanwhile, open a door/window downstairs. The hot air has all risen upstairs. You need to push it out. This will have the effect of sucking cooler outside air into the house. You should feel a big improvement in about 20 minutes.

Of course, this only works if the temperature is reasonable outside. You are basically exchanging the air in the house for fresh air outside the house. If it's 25 degrees in your house now, it must be something like 18 degrees outside now. Much better! So go exchange that air!

thestamp · 24/07/2014 02:32

curtains/blinds/shutters shut, windows open (provided the wind/breeze isn't one of those hot breezes you get in some climates) during the day. As the sun sets, open the curtains and let the air through.

wet flannel for you. Even a wet sheet on your whole body. best thing if you're using flannels is put them on places where you tend to be ticklish - neck, underarms, etc - that's where your blood is closest to the surface in the largest volumes, so you cool your blood quickest by concentrating on those spots.

in a heat emergency, it's ok to wipe baby down too. just monitor the child carefully. another idea is to get into a cool bath with baby every 2-3 hours overnight, just gives baby an opportunity to cool down a bit.

baby need not wear anything but a nappy at times like these. i took my DS out in his pram in just a nappy many times, just as sun was setting, for a walk while we waited for the house to cool down for the night. just take a muslin or two and if you start to feel a slight chill, you can chuck it over baby.

titabeth · 24/07/2014 10:09

Hi there, I'd be careful with the ice in front of a fan, make sure fan is well away. Water and electricity don't mix.

The little air conditioner the American guy made on u tube seems good, I think I might try that one myself.

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