AIBU to leave bedroom windows open at night?

[user1462558040]

Hello, signed up on the app - I have no idea how to change my username! It just gave me a default one...

DD's bedroom is like a sauna, it's awful, she frequently wakes up feeling sick, which I don't doubt for a second it's all the heat. Her bedroom is at the front of the house. She has a floor fan, which is very powerful, but she has it going on Number 3 all night! All it's doing is causing that hot air to move around more. I opened her window one night, including all ours and we weren't murdered in our sleep.

DD loves a lot of these crime shows and was annoyed about the Windows being open, claiming she's going to be killed.

So I'm curious whether you leave your windows open?

[AveEldon]

Is it ground floor? Can you climb in or out when it's open?

[MumOnTheRunCatchingUp]

Yes I certainly do!!!

Everyone I know does

[leelu66]

YANBU. My GP recommends it. He and his wife have left a window open every day of their adult lives and swear by it. They are both very healthy and still working despite being over 70 years old.

Even though we all live under a flightpath.

[wigglesrock]

I do - definitely for our bedroom and one of my dds. Her room is warm and she's like a hot water bottle - she sleeps much better.

[FamousSeamus]

All our bedroom windows are open every night, all year round. I certainly couldn't sleep otherwise - when I lived in the Alps and it was minus 17, I still had it open.

I don't know anyone who sleeps in a completely closed room unless it's a ground floor bedroom with a window that could potentially be entered.

[sonlypuppyfat]

Me and DH battle about the bedroom window, I'd have it open all year. I think it's healthy to have a cold bedroom and a warm bed

[MorticiaLiverish]

I don;t have mine open. Partly because I live in a terraced house and the noise of cars driving up and down or people talking as they walk past keeps me awake but mainly because I'm scared of things flying in through the window in the night!

[ToucheShay]

Our upstairs windows are open all year round, especially the bathroom to avoid condensation. DD's are open when they are out as they have them closed so spiders don't get in.

[MangoMoon]

I have the small window open in every bedroom & the bathroom all year round.
I only shut them if it's really, really windy or cold.

I cannot sleep in a room with no fresh air

• YA definitely NBU!!

[Sleeplessinmybedroom]

We sleep with windows open but we have to shut the cat downstairs or he will try and jump out. I worry more about Ds's window being open because if anyone climbed through ours they'd encounter Dp first. I still open it though.

[MadisonAvenue]

If it's very cold then we have our bedroom window shut but otherwise it's open, even if it's just a tiny bit in Winter. We live in a new build which is very well insulated so we overheat otherwise.

Our joined on neighbours have every single window closed, even on the hottest Summer day. I couldn't bear that.

[Leopard12]

you could leave it on the catch so no one can get in but it won't let as much air in as when open wider, I'd say it depends on the area and accessibility to the window from outside.

[Ed1tY0urPr0f1le]

I have mine open when it's hot but I do remember, as a teen, being anxious about someone breaking in - was in the 80's so fewer crime shows but I do remember a nasty murder on the news where someone snuck into a house and killed a young girl. My parents used to leave the bathroom window open so that air could circulate round the upstairs but it was above the flat roof of an extension and used to really worrry me. I would sneak out and shut it after they went to bed and get told off when they discovered it. So I sympathise with your DD's fears.

Would some sort of lock (like in hotels) so the window can only open a small amount persuade her?

[coffeetasteslikeshit]

We have ours open.

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

I saw an article on the local news recently, which said that modern houses can be too airtight - and if there are fumes from plastics (especially new things), dyes etc, these can build up in the house and make you feel ill. Perhaps if you explain this to your dd, she will understand why it's a good idea to have a window open at night.

The news item went on to say that written advice should be sent to all homeowners, to tell them how to ventilate their houses - and I did boggle somewhat at the concept that grown adults might need to be told to open a window! NB - this is a general point, not aimed at anyone on this thread.

[BibbtyBobbityFeckOff]

I keep my windows open all year otherwise it feels stale and stuffy.

Do you keep her curtains closed in the heat of the day? Then open the window when cooler to let the air circulate. Also if you hang a damp towel over the window it can help to cool a room.

If she is concerned about someone coming in could you fix a latch do it only opens so far?

[HostaFireandIce]

I sympathise with you and your DD. I always sleep with the bedroom window open, unless I'm alone in the house, in which case I make sure every single window in the house is shut tightly and that I know how to quickly locate something very heavy which I could use to brain an intruder. I'm always too warm in the latter situation though.

[Harveypuss]

Yes, I have mine open all year round. I sleep much better with some fresh air coming in. I read somewhere that the best way to sleep is wrapped up warm in bed but with cool air circulating around it.

[maras2]

In over 40 years of marriage we've never closed our bedroom windows.Recently though the students next door decided to become 'noisy smokers' so the frequent trips to the garden for a ciggy became a ciggy and a chat which then became ciggy,chat,drink,giggle etc.After asking them very nicely to STFU,it ceased for a night but then started again with extra 'comedy'shushes . Early morning I informed them very nicely that I had 3 numbers on speed dial,Landlord,University and Police and enquired as to which would be appropriate.They looked rather sheepish and said that they would be more considerate in future and guess what? Not a noise after 11pm for the last 6 weeks. < have I missed the point >?

[LBOCS2]

Our windows are wide open in the summer and a crack open in the winter - even though we live on quite a main road. I can't sleep otherwise.

[Heyheyheygoodbye]

I wake up with a headache if I sleep with the window closed. Open all year round here.

[MyNewBearTotoro]

I usually mine shut mostly because of noise but also partly because I feel anxious having a window open at night, although if it is very hot I will have it open.

I wouldn't leave the windows in young DC's rooms open although perhaps when they are older I would be happy about it. In our house there is a way to lock our windows without fully shutting them, they remain a cm or so ajar which lets air circulate a little. In summer I will have the windows in DC's rooms like this overnight and have windows open as much as possible during the day to try and stop them getting too stuffy.

[corythatwas]

Ours are open. I quite like lying in bed listening to people walking past: grew up in a small isolated spot so quite like the feeling of being part of a city.

[MyNewBearTotoro]

I am surprised at people who have Windows open all year round. Doesn't that mean the bedroom is freezing in winter? How do you ever manage to get out of your warm bed and into the freezing room early in the morning? In winter I struggle to get out of bed into the colder air even with the heating set to come on a half hour before I'm usually up!

Also, if bedroom/ upstairs windows open year round doesn't it mean you always have a draught blowing down from upstairs when the heating is on downstairs?