MIL not sleeping over our house being too cold

There’s barely any point having heating if you only use it to 16. That is is not warm at all heading into the winter months. Mine is 18.5 to 19 for a comfortable temperature.

So set it at 20 if you're cold. I agree that overheating a baby is more dangerous than being a bit cold, but you've gone too far the other way!

16-20 by the lullaby trust is what youre basing it on but you're picking the lowest temperature in that scale because I think youre anxious about the baby over heating 18 would be fine and more comfortable but still safe.

16 degrees in baby’s room when he’s sleeping is fine, having the house at 16 when you’re up and about and the baby isn’t in a gro bag is very cold and uncomfortable.

I’d buy one of those plug in baby glo eggs. They light up and are blue if the room is too cold for baby, yellow is within the right range and red if it’s too hot.
providing you are following guidance regarding sleepwear for baby (which it sounds like you are) I think you’d be surprised at low the temperature is at night. I’m sure ours was 16.5 or 17. During the day we set ours at 19 or 20. Sounds like MIL is thinking about what she finds cold rather than what is ok for baby.
incidentally our bedroom used to be the coldest room in the house. It had 3 outside walls which was why.

In the US, the recommended safe range is 20-24 degrees. And hospitals were roasting, with all the babies swaddled in two double-folded blankets by the nurses.

We found that with the reduced activity with sitting with the baby it definitely felt chilly at the lower end of the safe range.

30! Do you not roast!

16c that’s 🥶 🥶 🥶 We have ours at a minimum of 18c but normally 21-22c and we’re in a well insulated new build. No wonder she doesn’t want to stay over, I wouldn’t want to either.

Your house sounds uncomfortably cold OP. Miserable is the correct word. Cold, empty, miserable.

Nothing better than having cosy toes. I hope one day you experience the joy.

16 Deg is far too cold with baby. She is right to be concerned, you are unreasonable.
It's ridiculously low temperature.
Ours is on 20 and some evenings give it boost to 21.

16 degrees is ridiculous. Why live like that?!

We have ours at 17.5 the majority of the time at night ours will drop to 15 which gets a bit chilly. I think with a young baby 18 would be ideal.

16 is way too cold i have a 6 mo and our heating is at 22 I'm with your mil here sorry.

OP has done her research and is doing the right thing for her baby. MiL should take the time to listen and understand. To say she is losing sleep worrying about her grandchild when her grandchild is being very well cared for is ridiculous.
I am much more worried about the people who are choosing temperatures that are known to be far too hot for a baby and increase the risk of SID.

Jesus @lilseb youre getting roasted (😜) here!
Our house usually sits around 17, we don’t usually turn the heating on until it hits 16 and even then we just put a jumper on first.
Once the heating is on it is rarely past heat to 19*, if ever 🤔

Is your bedroom above a garage? I ask because ours is and it is so much noticeably colder than my 2 kids bedrooms.

We have an electric heater on in our room to boost the temp a bit over the winter.

Maybe keep the house at 17* but I honestly don’t see the problem with it for this time of year x

16 is too low for a constant temp. A comfortable & energy efficient temp is recommended at between 18-21 during the day & 16-20 at night

Our house is around 19/20°C, 16 would be too cold for me. Sometimes I can see on a cold night that our bedroom drops to 15/16 and it feels cold.

16C is so cold. I think 18C should be the minimum especially with a baby. We keep our house at 20C-22C.

I wouldn’t even want to let my house get to 16C in the summer with the AC on when it’s 30C outside. In the winter when it’s cold out, I would never be able to warm up if the house was 16C.

Ours is set at 23, 16 is way too cold for me but if you can’t afford it then you have to live to what you can afford. However if you are having to use extra heaters surely that isn’t cost effective?

Builder husband here we have built our home and all stats are set at 18 degrees bar the living room which is set 10 degrees. builders recommend 18 degrees not only for comfort but to help keep a house I good condition too..too cold a house causes damage. I am sorry am with your mil. Once cold seeps into your bones it's very hard to heat up. 16 degrees too cold

I'd just make the point that loads of people saying they would be uncomfortable at that temperature means baby could be too, even if not crying.

Blimey a first on MN - most people siding with the interfering MIL. i also agree 16 degrees is cold. We have a large stone house and only DH and I here most of the time.

The large kitchen sitting room is always warm as there is a Rayburn on all the time which heats the water. It's usually around 20 degrees.

We have installed underfloor electric in the bathrooms to heat them. (fab). There's a stove in the lounge which we light at night and we also use heated fur blankets. We dechill the bedroom with an electric blanket and electric heater for 30 mins before bedtime.
The main heating is oil which costs a fortune to run. We only really put it on when we've visitors ( as it's important they are comfortable) or once a week in the depth of winter to warm through the unused rooms. If there's a really cold snap we also have the heating on.

16C is quite cool for internal temperatures in Autumn/Winter.

I put mine at 19C most of the time, which feels just about okay with a t-shirt and jumper.

This entire thread, but for a few normal people, it's berating OP for being such a terrible mother trying to cryofreeze her own baby by not living in the rainforest biome of the bloody Eden project 😂.

If OP is comfortable then what is the issue? If you're comfortable at 25°c then that's fine too - I would find it unbearable but wouldn't judge you cos you're a whole different person to me.

For my family getting above 18 is uncomfortable in the house. Even though the 16yo will go & lay in the extreme heat of the conservatory when it's summer he finds the artificially heated house deeply uncomfortable & makes him bunged up.

Personally - I cannot bear being too warm cos it's harder to cool down than it is to stick some thick socks on. but this is my family & what feels normal for us in our part of the country.

I wouldn't mind sleeping in 16c, but it is too cold to be comfortable during the day. Especially with a baby in the house.