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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Keeping 4 month baby warm overnight

64 replies

Expectingfirstbaby · 02/12/2022 22:57

Posting here for traffic. We have a 4 month old baby and we currently heat house for 5 hours a day. Our gas and elec currently costs £10 a day (gulp).

It's getting colder though and we want to keep her warm overnight so looking to just heat 1 room overnight so it stays at 18 degrees.

What are your recommendations? Any links items would be much appreciated

OP posts:

SuburbanMummy123 · 02/12/2022 23:00

Vest, babygrow, sleeping bag, even socks…? Layer baby up! If baby’s chest/back is warm then she’s ok

Original poster

Expectingfirstbaby · 02/12/2022 23:03

Once heating is off at night the room is around 19degrees. In the morning when I wake up it's at about 18degrees. So I'm worried it's falling to below 15degrees in the middle of the night.

Atm we dress her in long sleeve vest, baby grow, 1 tog sleep bag, and 2 cellular blankets. When I get into bed at around 11pm I sometimes also add a third blanket from her hips down.

Is that OK? Is it OK if the room gets really cold in the middle of the night?

OP posts:

Original poster

Expectingfirstbaby · 02/12/2022 23:05

Just to clarify - in the morning when we wake up the heating has been on for about an hour and a half, so when it's 18degrees in the morning that's after it's been heated.

OP posts:

Flangeosaurus · 02/12/2022 23:05

That doesn’t sound too bad to me for overnight temps. Our room is down to 13 overnight due to shite windows and I’ve got 1 year old DS in a 3.5 tog sleeping bag with sleeves plus vest and babygro. We also have an oil radiator on really low overnight.

BeardieWeirdie · 02/12/2022 23:07

A one-tog bag is nothing. I don’t heat my house at night and my new winter babies at best and fleecey sleepsuit or a normal one and cardigan, 2.5 tog bag and thin knitted blanket if needed. Socks on hands too.

Kiopa · 02/12/2022 23:07

Our room goes down to 15C and our 6 month old is in sleepsuit and 3.5tog bag with arms. He wasn't sleeping well in a lower tog but is nice and cosy now.

Pastash · 02/12/2022 23:08

That sounds ok- our growegg flashes up blue now and then but as long as she feels warmish I think that’s fine- cold is less harmful to babies than heat in general.

I don’t want to scare you but please don’t put blankets on if she’s in a sleeping bag- you generally shouldn’t use both together.
A 2.5 tog sleeping bag with bodysuit and sleepsuit and she should be absolutely fine.

SuburbanMummy123 · 02/12/2022 23:08

That sounds fine to me. I would probably
invest in a 2.5 (or higher) tog sleeping bag and loose the blankets for
convenience. But if baby is sleeping well then I don’t think you have a problem. I found these kind of charts useful as a guide: <a class="break-all" href="https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=www.sleeperific.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/BabyClothingSleep.png&imgrefurl=www.sleeperific.com/baby-clothing-sleep/&docid=WorfvtD9zSOZ6M&tbnid=_hnGMO2D-CgsgM&vet=1&w=972&h=1405&source=sh/x/im" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Link

JassyRadlett · 02/12/2022 23:08

We lived in a really cold flat when my eldest was a baby. We had a little oil radiator set to come on if the temp dropped below 17 degrees, it worked really well and was cost-effective.

FuckMyLife2022 · 02/12/2022 23:09

Over heating is more of a concern than being cold.

Uninsulated, single glazed, listed house here. Dehumidifier runs in youngest DDs bedroom (Economy 7 meter) overnight and that helps it stay warmer.

Even before the price rises I never had the boiler on overnight, wasteful. Lowest it drops is around 13C.

QuestionableMouse · 02/12/2022 23:10

Buy a room thermometer and check it overnight. Layers are best, and natural fibres like wool hold heat better than synthetics.

You'd have to look into it more, but I believe swaddling helps to keep them warmer too.

PippaPug · 02/12/2022 23:10

1 tog grow bag is really nothing - try 2.5tog or even 3.5tog with detachable sleeves

ditch the blankets - advice is either blankets or grow bags - not both

its better a baby is a little cold then too hot too

CrookCrane · 02/12/2022 23:12

I agree with all the previous advice. Oil filled radiators don’t cost a lot to run and will turn on when it drops below a certain temp. Definitely a higher tog sleeping bag and maybe get a grow egg so you can see easily the temp in the night.

MarianneVos · 02/12/2022 23:13

Why only 1 tog? Definitely get a new sleeping bag

Otherwise, I wouldn't worry too much- babies will wake and cry if they're too cold

snowflake29 · 02/12/2022 23:13

1 tog grobag is generally just for summer!

I've a 3 month old and we don't heat the house overnight at all. No idea what the temperature is as we don't have a digital thermostat or room thermometer. Baby wears a vest, sleepsuit (with inbuilt scratch mitts) and 2.5 tog sleeping bag. He's always toasty in the morning when I unzip him. Sometimes his hands will be cool but as PP said, that's not an indicator of baby's temperature.

bookbook · 02/12/2022 23:14

this may be helpful , there is a chart on what baby should be wearing
www.emmasdiary.co.uk/baby/baby-sleep/baby-sleeping-bags#:~:text=Room%20under%2016%20degrees%3A%20Use,and%20a%20short%2Dsleeved%20bodysuit.

Tali5ker · 02/12/2022 23:14

The NHS and other reputable sources recommend the ideal temp for a baby’s room to be 16-20. So 15 is only one off ideal, and I wouldn’t be too worried if appropriately dressed about that.

Original poster

Expectingfirstbaby · 02/12/2022 23:16

Thanks for the advice everyone.

The reason I got the 1 tog sleep bag is so I can layer her up on colder nights using thin cellular blankets, and she also likes being tightly tucked it. We stopped swaddling because shes showing sigs of rolling.

OP posts:

user1471453601 · 02/12/2022 23:20

This really is outrageous. A caring mum, really any mum, cannot keep her child warm? What is the country coming tp

Original poster

Expectingfirstbaby · 02/12/2022 23:20

I also like the layering because I don't want her to be too warm while the heating is on and the room is 19-20degrees. So when we first put her tobbed at 8ishpm it's with one cellular blankets, then at 10ish I come up and put the second one, then if it's a cold night I add the third just before I go to sleep. If I put her in a 3.5 tog sleep bag won't she overheat when heating is on?

Or am I massively overthinking this?

OP posts:

LaMariposa · 02/12/2022 23:21

When my daughter was tiny she slept in our poorly insulated loft room. She had a vest, and a babygrow with padded arms. Then a 3.5 tog sleeping bag with optional padded arms for the coldest nights.

Flangeosaurus · 02/12/2022 23:23

I have always put DS down in his 3.5 tog even when heating is on. He’s fine 😊I actually think the blankets are more of a risk than a thicker sleeping bag

YellowTreeHouse · 02/12/2022 23:25

The blankets are a big safety risk along with the sleeping bag. You need one or the other.

Baby will be fine in a 3.5 tog bag.

Maria1982 · 02/12/2022 23:28

I would also go for the 3.5 tog sleeping bag., ditch the blankets

GlitteryGreen · 02/12/2022 23:29

I think my room is much colder than this! My 2 month old is in a long sleeved vest, sleepsuit and 2.5 tog sleeping bag and she seems comfortable as she sleeps well. This was the recommendation for 16-20 degrees so maybe give this a try?

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