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Original poster

How did you keep babies warm years ago?

345 replies

GarlicCrackers · 27/08/2022 00:01

Posting here for traffic and visibility.

Also maybe a slight AIBU for being totally ignorant and naive!!

I am due my second child in Feb, due to recent events with my dearest wanker of a half - I am now single and my first thought was, well I better reduce the energy bill if I want to financially survive.

I am 33 so have never lived without central heating and modern amenities.

Sat down, looked at electrics, you know vampire devices, plugs that get left on. Moved on to heating. I like being cool, I dislike the heat so I think well hot water bottle at night and wear my oodie during the day. Heating off at night and we will all be fine. Will have the dogs upstairs and we can all share heat.

and then I remember….I’m pregnant, I’m due a baby in cold cold February. Babies can’t regulate heat they are tiny.

How did we keep babies warm before CH? I have grobags and blankets. Can they have hot water bottles? I can’t afford heating on all night but dear god will I get into energy debt if that’s my only choice

I know this sounds stupid, I just realised I have no idea. I see people talk about how no heating = constant chest infections etc

OP posts:
Oldcottoneye · 27/08/2022 05:10

Learningtofeminist · 27/08/2022 04:42

P.S. my oldest had all his naps outside as he wouldn’t sleep indoors during the day - some of those naps were taken in Norway in February. Absolutely standard in Scandinavia for babies to nap outside in temperatures down to -10° and below - and yet miraculously they don’t seem to have an epidemic of hypothermia baby deaths 🤷‍♀️

did it have its head covered?

Oldcottoneye · 27/08/2022 05:12

I'm not worried about the temperatures outside.
I'm worried the mothers won't fucking know what to do when their room thermometer drops below 10 degrees

Oldcottoneye · 27/08/2022 05:16

Learningtofeminist · 27/08/2022 04:36

There is really no need to heat the house at night, assuming all the inhabitants are fit and healthy. I am around your age, with two small children. Our house (at my insistence) doesn’t even have radiators in the bedrooms; the house I and my 4 siblings grew up in was cold enough upstairs that we could see our breath in winter and when I looked after a schoolfriend’s mice during a Christmas holiday they tried to hibernate 😁(I put them somewhere warmer when I realised; they were fine). It’s actually bad for you to sleep in temperatures above 17°C - and sleeping in temperatures below that needn’t do you any harm at all, even if you’re a baby.

Merino grow bags are eye-wateringly expensive, but keep an eye out for them on ebay, local Facebook groups etc. And they’re still cheaper than heating. Light woollen baby blankets are your friend too (follow safe sleep rules obviously). Hot water bottle in the baby’s cot sounds like a very bad idea to me, but I suppose you could use one to warm the cot up a little before putting the baby to bed as long as you make sure the baby’s never left with the bottle in its cot. Woollen thermals for babies and children are unfortunately almost impossible to get second hand and again, quite expensive - but cheaper than running the heating above 19°C during the day too.

It’s no wonder we’re struggling so much to cut down on humanity’s carbon footprint…

btw I know you from a photo you posted many years ago of your baby outside wrapped up in a snow suit thing and bizarrely I was all for it that time. I was on your side and your dd is about 2 years younger than mine and I still recall that photo as your baby looks like mine! I still am on the side of fresh air. I'm more worried about guidelines not being realistic for the experiences of mothers here and hence all sorts of madness going on.

Oldcottoneye · 27/08/2022 05:18

and to this day, with the exception of my own baby, your baby was the most beautiful that I had ever seen. I'm not bullshitting either. We chatted on the thread at the time. I was all for fresh air and everyone else was against it!

WeIoveyouMissHannigan · 27/08/2022 05:37

Oldcottoneye · 27/08/2022 00:22

It's like saying that a baby can sleep or survive at 18/19 degrees. None of us really can. The guidance is against overheating. It's not there to freeze your poor baby to death either.

That is such rubbish.

our heating only ever kicks in if we go under 18

we don’t have the heating on at night unless it’s sub zero all night

I didn’t realise how wasteful people are until this week!

Oldcottoneye · 27/08/2022 05:43

WeIoveyouMissHannigan · 27/08/2022 05:37

That is such rubbish.

our heating only ever kicks in if we go under 18

we don’t have the heating on at night unless it’s sub zero all night

I didn’t realise how wasteful people are until this week!

Show quote history

What do you wear to bed?

Oldcottoneye · 27/08/2022 05:44

'Our heating only kicks in when it goes below 18 degrees' followed by a statement about how wasteful people are?
Oh Christ. That you Liz?

Oldcottoneye · 27/08/2022 05:45

Jaysis but the English system never did well at educating ye.

KweenieBeanz · 27/08/2022 05:51

Oldcottoneye I'm with you. There's a balance to be struck. In the middle of winter adults all keep themselves toasty under weighty 12 tog duvets while health visitors insist newborn babies need just a thin cellular blanket. And then poor mums rack their brains stressed as they can't work out why their baby is screaming all night long and just won't settle at night.
As a PP pointed out, if 18 degrees is the safe temp for babies why on earth are postnatal hospital wards heated so much warmer than this??
I'm not suggesting people need to heat their homes warmer but cellular blankets are just crap. You try (as an adult with lots more fat) going to bed in midwinter wearing 2 long sleeved t-shirts and then popping two cellular blankets over you, just see how you feel at 3am eh.
No you shouldn't overheat babies but top tip, if you'd like them to sleep they'll need to be comfortable to do so, including being warm enough!!

abovedecknotbelow · 27/08/2022 05:53

I love to be warm but we don't have heating on overnight on the odd occasion it's been turned off timer I wake up sweaty in the middle of the night or with a headache and snotty nose in the morning. We are in the SE, appreciate it's different if you're further north.

Oldcottoneye · 27/08/2022 05:53

KweenieBeanz · 27/08/2022 05:51

Oldcottoneye I'm with you. There's a balance to be struck. In the middle of winter adults all keep themselves toasty under weighty 12 tog duvets while health visitors insist newborn babies need just a thin cellular blanket. And then poor mums rack their brains stressed as they can't work out why their baby is screaming all night long and just won't settle at night.
As a PP pointed out, if 18 degrees is the safe temp for babies why on earth are postnatal hospital wards heated so much warmer than this??
I'm not suggesting people need to heat their homes warmer but cellular blankets are just crap. You try (as an adult with lots more fat) going to bed in midwinter wearing 2 long sleeved t-shirts and then popping two cellular blankets over you, just see how you feel at 3am eh.
No you shouldn't overheat babies but top tip, if you'd like them to sleep they'll need to be comfortable to do so, including being warm enough!!

And we have sense!

KweenieBeanz · 27/08/2022 05:53

I brought my baby home with snow on the ground and spent the first 5 days with him screaming. Then my mum visited and said straight away 'he's cold!' as the HV had told me now we were home he didn't need a hat on. But my home was colder than the hospital had been where id been told baby needed a hat on 🤦🏼‍♀️

Pawpatrolwereonaroll · 27/08/2022 05:57

Merino wool vest, then a layer of cotton for any poo explosions, then merino wool sleeping bag and if necessary a wool blanket over the top. Perfect for down to about 15 degrees I’d say. I had my newborns in bed with me then from about 3-4 months in their own little cots dressed as above invert cold rooms. Merino wool is brilliant

MoodyTwo · 27/08/2022 05:58

When DS was born (Jan) we used vest, baby grow and grow bag, when he got older in the winter , we got grow bag with legs , and the fluffy onsie for him to sleep in

KweenieBeanz · 27/08/2022 05:59

Oh and for those saying nobody needs heating on at night. Many older properties don't retain heat anywhere like as well as newer homes, lots of housing stock in the UK was built in the 30's.
Yes it might be 17-18 degrees at 10pm, but if the heating stays off all night many homes would drop below 15-16 degrees for a period at 3-4am. Which is then below lullaby trust guidelines. I have mine set to come on at night if it drops below 16 and in midwinter it always automatically comes on just for an hour or so in the middle of the night. Without that hour it would probably drop as low as 13-14 by 4am in a cold snap.
And guess what the poor wee baby in a vest, thin babygro and 2 cellular blankets would be screaming blue murder by then.

Oldcottoneye · 27/08/2022 05:59

abovedecknotbelow · 27/08/2022 05:53

I love to be warm but we don't have heating on overnight on the odd occasion it's been turned off timer I wake up sweaty in the middle of the night or with a headache and snotty nose in the morning. We are in the SE, appreciate it's different if you're further north.

I have a 13.5 tog duvet and I sleep with socks and a hat and a tshirt and warm pyjamas and sometimes a fleece on too!
I've always been a cold creature and I was not able to sleep in bed with a duvet on top of me while I expected my tiny baby in her little Moses basket to sleep with nothing more than two cellular blankets over her.

I nearly froze to death as did my baby!

I'm just hoping that people layer a little more on babies if they're unable to have the heat kick in at 18 degrees lol.
Bonnets. Little bonnets.

Oldcottoneye · 27/08/2022 06:00

And I also have a weighted blanket to go over the duvet in winter! 😂

FunsizedandFabulous · 27/08/2022 06:01

Like others we had grobags in 2006.

When I was little growing up in the 80s my mum was a prolific knitter & quiter. We never went without woolly clothes and warm bedding. I had single pane glazing on the windows and during winter it was freezing. My parents rarely used the upstairs radiators at all. The heating was concentrated in the living room, and all doors were kept shut under the threat of pain and/or death. This is why I still prefer small rooms over open plan because they are easier to keep warm. My mother still only puts the heating on upstairs in her bedroom for one hour (door closed!) before bedtime and if she's really cold will use a hot water bottle.

HopeIsNotAStrategy · 27/08/2022 06:03

Oldcottoneye · 27/08/2022 00:57

The temperature on baby wards is usually about 30 degrees.

Which is completely and utterly ridiculous - if true, which I very much doubt. You seem to have a very twisted concept of what constitutes an appropriate temperature. Stop putting the willies up all the young mothers on here who are wondering how they are going to keep their babies healthy this winter.

Any new mums, check your baby regularly and if in doubt ask an experienced mum what they think. Don't panic, you'll be ok, just be sensible.

ClearButtons · 27/08/2022 06:04

I had a baby early January this year. Never had the heating on overnight - just heated the house up as usual and then put baby in a sleeping bag during the night with a vest/sleeping bag. Used a room thermometer to check the room temp but it never went below 17 really. In all honestly, small babies are up every 3 hours at least feeding so I was holding her a lot and she was getting my body heat. During the evenings, I would sit with her on my chest in the living room, with a blanket over us if necessary. Outside she would wear a snowsuit/coat and blankets. Tbh I don't remember it being really really cold during winter (and haven't for a few years!) but I'm in wales- might be different if you live in the far north of the UK!

DustinsHat · 27/08/2022 06:05

BarbaraofSeville · 27/08/2022 04:46

FGS we're not going to have babies 'freezing to death' if people start turning the heating off at night in the UK in winter.

Our heating is set to come on if the temperature drops below 16 C in the house at night as part of the Hive programme and it almost never does, maybe once or twice in a cold winter. No-one, whether they are a week old or 102 will die from cold at that temperature.

It depends if the house is heated during the day or not. If you have the heating on for an hour or two before bed yes it'll probably be warm enough. If your heating is never switched on the house will be very very cold all the time in winter but especially at night.

Oldcottoneye · 27/08/2022 06:05

HopeIsNotAStrategy · 27/08/2022 06:03

Which is completely and utterly ridiculous - if true, which I very much doubt. You seem to have a very twisted concept of what constitutes an appropriate temperature. Stop putting the willies up all the young mothers on here who are wondering how they are going to keep their babies healthy this winter.

Any new mums, check your baby regularly and if in doubt ask an experienced mum what they think. Don't panic, you'll be ok, just be sensible.

Show quote history

I am an experienced Mum.

MinervaTerrathorn · 27/08/2022 06:06

Oldcottoneye · 27/08/2022 01:11

How much do you weigh?

Show quote history

I'm not getting this either. We had heating at 16/17 last winter, off by 8pm. I'm 54kg, 44kg two winters before that, heat was still off.

Oldcottoneye · 27/08/2022 06:07

MinervaTerrathorn · 27/08/2022 06:06

I'm not getting this either. We had heating at 16/17 last winter, off by 8pm. I'm 54kg, 44kg two winters before that, heat was still off.

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Who is 'we'?

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