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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To leave blow heaters on overnight in my dc's bedrooms?

121 replies

Barbielovesken · 14/12/2011 15:31

Is this a fire hazard/ dangerous? would it be unreasonable to do so?. Im aware this isnt really an aibu but Im quite worried and need advice and know here gets the most traffic.

Our damn boiler broke last night (oil) the house was freezing we have back up in a solid fuel stove that heats the radiators but it would appear that the circulation pump is also on the blink and the rads arent been heated. The kitchen and sitting room are quite cosy downstairs (where the stove is) when it got going but it is sooo cold upstairs.

We cant get a plumber today - we've tried. Our usual one is 3 hours away working for a few days but can get to ours tomorrow to sort it.

Im worried about tonight - we've 3 dcs (6yrs, 22 months and 6 months). Im in work today and they are in CMs right now but I dont know what to do later. Ill light up a big fire downstairs but last night dd2's room was 12 degrees Shock(hers has the monitor in it) I think it'll be even colder tonight as the heating upstairs been gone longer, if that makes sense - I think it was retaining some heat from the morning before it broke. Also its been snowing again here today. I had them all in fleece zip up pjs, extra quilts and dressing gowns etc..(dd2 in a 2.5 tog gro bag).

I kept checking them all last night and they slept peacefully but dd2's little hands and face were so cold to touch.

I have a few blow heaters/ can borrow some off my mum too so was thinking of leaving one on all night in each room. Is that irresponsible or ok to do?

Other than that, I could move all dc and things to my mums and we all stay there tonight? she has room and its warm - itll just be a huge hassle. (work and school and cm drop off in the morn)

OP posts:
DoesNotGiveAFig · 14/12/2011 15:32

DON'T use the heaters overnight. Dangerous!

GypsyMoth · 14/12/2011 15:34

Fgs no!!!!

Cold won't harm them with loads of blankets etc

DelGirlsRingAreYouListening · 14/12/2011 15:35

can you all sleep downstairs?

Grumpla · 14/12/2011 15:36

Sorry but I wouldn't risk it. Add a few more layers (I used to wear a hoody and hat in bed in my unheated childhood bedroom!) or buy a radiator-style heater with an emergency cut-out. Or stay with your mum?

Blow heaters are just too dangerous especially for kids bedrooms.

mousysantamouse · 14/12/2011 15:37

don't do that, can you do a "camping" adventure downstairs instead? or all sleep in one bedroom?

Original poster
Barbielovesken · 14/12/2011 15:39

Blush oh ok. Thought that might have been a bit of a silly idea alright...

OP posts:
LauraIngallsWilder · 14/12/2011 15:39

Nooooooo It is not a good idea!
And 12 degrees isn't that cold.
Your current circs are no different to what many MNetters households are like every winter. Also no different to my mums house when she was a girl.

Just wrap up warm - cuddle up in the daytimes, play running about games. Sleep all in the same room/ all together in the warm room.

Poledra · 14/12/2011 15:40

I woulodn't use them overnight. We had no heating upstairs when I was a child (and precious little downstairs!) and we just wrapped up to go to bed. Do you have hot water bottles or wheat bags you can put in the kids' beds to warm them up before they get in? And give the children a warm bath before bed?

I can remember scraping the ice off the inside of my bedroom window when I were a lass Grin

Original poster
Barbielovesken · 14/12/2011 15:40

Thought of a camping adventure - dd1 would love it but ds and dd2 are very much creatures of habit - like to be in bed, on their own by 7pm and I know they would start getting upset and wanting to go to bed.

Maybe Ill just go to my mums..

12 degrees is way too cold, isnt it?

OP posts:
valiumredhead · 14/12/2011 15:40

No there is no need and it's a fire risk. 12 degrees is not freezing when you are wrapped up in snuggly jamas and have thick blankets. Warm the beds up with hot water bottles before they get into bed. Think back to the days before CH - we all had cold bedrooms!

AnnieLobeseder · 14/12/2011 15:41

Our heating is off at night time - blankets do just fine. I wouldn't leave electric heaters on, no way! Just run them for a bit in the evening and switch them off as the DC go to bed.

xxhunnyxx · 14/12/2011 15:41

What about one of the all in 1 fleecey body suits? Like the ones you put babies in but now they even do them for adults. I'd maybe just use the heater before she goes to bed to get the room preheated n then wrap her up lots.

minouminou · 14/12/2011 15:42

I second DoesNot.....
How about a hot water bottle for the six-year-old and an extra blanket for the two younger kids. If they were sleeping peacefully then they were OK - big fire downstairs, open all the doors to let the heat circulate throughout the evening until you go to bed, then take all your usual fire precautions (shutting doors etc etc).
I used to wake up with ice on the inside of my bedroom window - rural N. Wales, no gas, no central heating.......and I made it to adulthood. I don't think 12C is Ice Station Zebra material!

How about mittens on the hands of the younger two as well?

Please, though, no blow heaters overnight.

Rudawakening · 14/12/2011 15:42

Don't do it.

My grandma's friend died in a house fire due to falling asleep on a chair in the living room with a blow heater on. The blanket covered the heater and set on fire. Not worth the risk.

GrimmaTheNome · 14/12/2011 15:42

Our boiler (and/or pumps) are on the blink too - British Gas on their 5th attempt (every time they get it working but it fails again). We heated up a couple of rooms with fan heaters, then bedded down with PJs etc (I had a hoody on)... room was down to 13 by morning but perfectly snug in bed. (I had a dachshund in with me too - excellent hot water bottle!) I had the room warm again with the fan heater before DD emerged.

Hat and mitts on the little 'uns maybe?

MabelLucyAttwell · 14/12/2011 15:43

This takes some of us back to our childhoods, doesn't it? Just make sure that they are wearing warm, fleecy clothes and loose, woolly socks, cover them with duvet or tucked in blankets. As one post has suggested, a hoody will be a good idea. Before central heating came into being, we wore nightcaps so the hoodie will be the nightcap of today.

If you have any sleeping bags, zip the children into those and lay them on their bed with duvets/blankets on top. Make sure that the curtains are closed.

Could they share beds so they have body warmth?

brighthair · 14/12/2011 15:43

Use the heaters before they go to bed, switch them off just as you put them to bed
12c really not that cold - if it gets bad all in one bed. We had to do that when we had a power cut for a week
Lots of layers but pull bedding back so it airs and doesn't get damp

Driftwood999 · 14/12/2011 15:43

Switch the heaters off before you go to bed and turn them on as soon as you can before getting dcs up in the morning. Warm drinks and layered clothing all round, honestly, you will be fine and sound very organised! Do you have hot water from an emersion tank? Don't bother stripping the children for a bath, just wash the bits that matter whilst they are semi dressed.

LaurieFairyCake · 14/12/2011 15:43

12 degrees is not too cold. Ours is about that deliberately and I am the woosiest and coldest Scot I know (I've got the living room at 22). I have 2 duvets and an electric blanket and occasional take a heated wheat bag but it's still fine to have the cold on my face in bed.

LauraIngallsWilder · 14/12/2011 15:44

I meant to add that our house is regularly 12degrees and below (even with central heating available) because I'm stingy about putting it on.

They/you will be fine
I have made blanket ponchos for me and my two, they are fab :)

Original poster
Barbielovesken · 14/12/2011 15:44

Sorry laura X posts. Day times are fine as they are in childminders cosy house - ill collect them on the way home. DH is gone to work but rang and said he lit a big fire for us before he left so downstairs should be fine for them (plus we have an electric fire too in sitting room).

Just hate putting them into bed when its sooo cold up there. Poledra are bath is upstairs in main bathroom and it is bloody freezing - I wouldnt bath them in it.

As I said I put all 3 in one piece fleece pjs last night, put a dressing gown on dd1 and ds, wrapped them up in a fleece blanket, then their quilts and then another "throw" blanket on top.

Maybe Ill put dd2 in our bed tonight. She seemed to be the most cold.

OP posts:
mathanxiety · 14/12/2011 15:45

I used to do it in my old house as it was really, really freezing and one of the bedrooms had no heat source whatsoever. The heaters had built in thermostats and I was ultra cautious about having them nowhere near bedding, etc. Never had a fire, but I worried about it.

12 degrees is pretty cold imo. The heating in that house of mine was set at 15 or so and I wore heavy jumpers all day when I was at home.

Kova · 14/12/2011 15:45

Warm the rooms up before they go to bed and their beds with a hairdryer / hottie.

They'll be fine.

valiumredhead · 14/12/2011 15:49

We don't have heating on our bedrooms out of choice - I don't like it and CH at night sets off ds's asthma.

Feel the back of the neck to check their temperature - hands and feet don't count!

GrimmaTheNome · 14/12/2011 15:49

This takes some of us back to our childhoods, doesn't it?
yes indeed! How many of our DC nowadays expect chilblains as a normal part of winter?

My DD had to have a bath last night - been in school play and had hair full of gunk - fan heated bathroom before she went in, filled bath with cold + lots of kettlefulls. Its doable.