To not want DH putting the heating on at night?

[strawberrycake]

After years without DH has suddenly decided we mst have the heating on low at night, claims it's for the baby (ie him).

I find the heating on at night causes me to wakes up with runny nose/ sore throat and headaches and really disturbs my sleep. I have compromised and agreed to close the window. DS is so wrapped up in his cot we could probably leave him outside and he'd be ok and it's me that actually gets up in the night generally.

Is it normal to not heat the house at night? Everyone has plenty of bedding.

[mrsoliverramsay]

My heating is always on. I hate waking up cold and ds never sleeps with a cover. He hates them so I put the heating on to keep him warm. I dont understand people who don't put heating on at night. It must be freezing in your house!

[mumdrivenmad]

I have my heating set for 18 during the day but if I am home I sometimes put it up to 19 or 20, but it is set for 15 overnight, but if my DH puts the heating up before going to bed I go mad at him, if you're asleep, you get no benefit at all, and the heating would kick in if is needed

[Onetoomanycornettos]

It's also worth point out that the American Academy of Paediatrics advises against bundling babies up with tonnes of clothes, and that they should be sleeping in 'light' clothing even in winter, so they don't risk overheating (sounds crazy to think a baby could overheat in a freezing cold room). Personally I would definitely shut the window in a room a baby was sleeping in, and put on an oil-fired radiator or CH on low, with the baby a bit less wrapped up. I don't actually think your own comfort is the priority really.

[ShanahansRevenge]

Movinggal I used t live in Adelaide and all the Mothers there told me to use one with my newborn...they told me it woul not only keep a baby warmbut also cool as it acts as an insulator.

We had no air con and in the summer the baby slept on top of a sheepskin with a sheet on top....then she wore a onsie thing. t seemed perfect.

[strawberrycake]

The advantage of downstairs neighbours from south-east asia is that they are blasting the heating on 24/7 and thus helping the pipes!

[haggisaggis]

Ours is on full time at moment too - because of pipes and also we always get power cuts i this kind of weather and at least if teh house is warm when the power goes off it will stay warm longer.

[TheCrackFox]

It was -13 here last night, of course I had the heating on. Didn't stop there being ice on the inside of the windows.

[MistletoeAndWhineWithMe]

You need to be careful of frozen pipes in this weather but I do hate the heating on at night.
We have it set to come on at about 4am during bad snaps like this.

[strawberrycake]

Can't heat the baby's room as it's our room (so much easier to reach over and stroke his head in the cot without leaving bed, back asleep in minutes)

I must admit the temp must be very low in the house, it's draughty and you feel it. As I said though all well wrapped.

[BongoWinslow]

we don't have the heating on at night - we put on extra duvets and beanies if it's super cold.

although we have 7 wo baby so we do have it on overnight now as even with it on house is 16 degrees overnight. but will turn it off when he's bigger

[wubblybubbly]

Our heating is on 24/7, 365 days of the year. If the bedroom is too warm, I just turn down the radiator.

[MeowyChristmasEveryone]

MangoTango,

What about sleeping bags?!

As for the heating thing, it's almost impossible to satisfy everyone if there is a big difference in the temps that they find comfortable.

As is always said, it's much easier to warm up by adding more clothes than it is to cool down.

[TheChewyToffeeMum]

Ours was on overnight for the 1st time ever (not counting the night I was in labour and felt freezing!).

Yesterday morning the living room was 4 degrees when we got up. The heating had eventually raised it to 18deg by 2pm. With the forecast for more sub-zero nights (we were minus 9 last night according to DH's weather station)we will be keeping it on with the thermostat turned down.

I sympathize with those getting up to babies in the middle of the night. I used to sit with a fleece blanket over my shoulders and another over my feet to keep the gap warm when feeding mine.

[Alibabaandthe40nappies]

We have got ours on low overnight at the moment. Normal overnight winter temperatures of maybe -1 up to 5/6 you don't need it, but it is -8 here at night atm.

I did feel a bit bunged up the first couple of nights, but I feel fine now.

[MovingGal]

"Were the sheepskin SIDS cases investigated in Australia and NZ or UK too?

Doesn't almost EVERYONE in Oz and NZ use sheepskins? So would those statistics not be rather skewed?"

I'm in Aus and I don't think it's all that common but maybe it's because I'm at the warmer end.

[rainbowinthesky]

Our house was built about 10 years ago so holds the heat well. Heating goes off at 10 and on at 5.30. Tis fine.

[LaWeaselMys]

Ours is on low all day and all night. Low enough that we don't get in from the cold sniffles and everyone is still wearing 2 jumpers. we just have a badly insulated house and it's just a waste to aim for actually warm.

It got really cold last night and unless your house is super-insulated I wouldn't expect it to hold the heat well overnight. And with no heating it will get pretty frosty at 3am.

[Onetoomanycornettos]

How do the people with the freezing bedrooms get any, ahem, romance all winter? Or do they restrict themselves to rather modest activities which don't at any point lift the duvet?

[rainbowinthesky]

I cannot sleep with the heating on although dh would happily. It makes me very groggy, sore throat in the mornign etc. Dont do it.

[lazylula]

I have accidently left the heating on over night 2 nights this week. We did use to leave it on low at night but last year we had a new boiler and a room stat fitted, so that is set that if the temp drops below 16 degrees it will come on to warm slightly. The heating comes on at 6 or 6.30 in the morning to give it a chance to warm the house a little before we get up at 7.
Ds2's room is very cold, but both boys sleep in vests, pj's and a fleecy sleepsuit, so even if they kick their covers off they are still fairly warm.

[StayingDavidTennantsGirl]

MangoTango - could you add more layers to what your dc are wearing at night? Another fleecy sleepsuit perhaps - something that they couldn't kick off?

Coatgate - you have described my preference almost to a 'T' - cool breeze around the ears, but snuggly warm under the duvet.

[mrspear]

My DH is the same. I wait until he is asleep and then turn it off leaving the door ajar so the room cools. When baby awakes, usually around 5, i turn it back on to warm the room. But we don't have central heating - why not you use the timer? So have it switch off when go to bed and an hour before you get up?

[TheMeow]

At the moment our heating is on all day but it gets turned off at about 9pm, this keeps the house reasonably warm until about 12am and then the heating will go on automatically if it gets below 18 degrees, then go off again once it's above 18.

I hate the heating on overnight because I always wake up with a headache if it is, especially since I sleep in between dh and ds who are like radiators all night!

[Onetoomanycornettos]

If you are worried about humidity with a gentle heat on (and I don't mean full central heating, just on low), then you can put a bowl of water in the room. Personally I prefer using an oil filled radiator at night to give a gentle and not drying heat, but then your pipes are a little at risk whilst it really is freezing.