Bedroom above garage is freezing!

[newtonupontheheath]

I am sat in ds's room what he goes to sleep and it already feels colder than the rest of the house. It's above the garage and has 2 exterior walls. I'm dreading winter... His sleep breaks because he's cold and he ends up coming into our bed and I feel awful putting him back

Is there anything I can do to make it warmer? We have ds in thick pjs, he has a blanket on top of his duvet, blackout blind and lined blackout curtains

[valiumredhead]

Ds used to wear a fleece all in one suit but with a cotton onesie vest underneath. He was in them until he was 4 as his room was like fridge

[newtonupontheheath]

I mean those fleecey suits... Fleece next to skin?!

[valiumredhead]

A fleece blanket UNDER the bottom sheet is warm but not sweaty.

[valiumredhead]

They are washable now

[newtonupontheheath]

Oh and how would an electric blanket work in case of bed wetting?!

[newtonupontheheath]

Oh gosh, yes... It's a slatted base and low down (near the cold floor!!) so will do something about that before tonight. Maybe a rug under his bed? Then a fleece under the mattress?

His duvet isn't very thick; it's the only cot bed one we could find at the time (it's still a proper duvet though, not just one of those coverlets) This is his first proper winter in this room so in his old room it wasn't an issue.

Thanks for all your suggestions... But for those suggesting fleece, is it not really sweaty? I'm not a huge fan of those fleece onsies as I fine the man made fabric means my skin can't breathe and I get all sweaty (nice!) What is your experience of using them on toddlers/children?

[NoComet]

Google fleece mattress cover/protector

Parents used to have one, makes a huge difference to how warm the bed feels. Much easier to wash and dry than a mattress topper.

DD2 has our coldest room and she just sleeps on/wrapped in a fleece blanket under her quilt.

She's 12, but she's sorted this out for years, she also insists in keeping her socks on.

Also if it's a slatted kids bed, an old blanket under the mattress may help.

[PigletJohn]

the summer sales are long gone. You can probably get half-price bikinis and suntan lotion now.

the cheapest oil filled radiator I found now is £20 at Tesco. It is a small one of only half a kW output but will help in a bedroom.

They are usually in the 1500W to 2500W range, but you must get a built in thermostat with a large one or it may overheat the room and waste energy. Preferably not with its own timer, though, because IME timers on heaters get noisy, and are the first part to fail.

Ordinary electric convectors and fan heaters can be much cheaper, but are nowhere near as safe unless you but something like a wall-fixed Dimplex for £hundeds

More on here

I would definitely go for one with wall brackets. It might be buried in the product details or written on the box

[steppemum]

The easiest way I have found with samll people is to buy all in one fleece pjs, like a onsie with feet. You wear normal pjs inside, so it is like a body blanket. You wear it in bed, and then duvet on top.

Toddler duvets/cheap duvets are often only 9 tog. Get a 15 tog one (rather than fold a cheap one)

I agree about squashing duvet, but a thin lightweight blanket, put on top and then tucked in on both sides means that there are no drafts, and the duvet stays put.

Hot water bottle is also good as it warms bed up. You can put adult one in ahead of bed time, and it will have cooled (check) by bed time. or remove it. Or get microwave teddy.

As a teen my attic bedroom had no heating. I slept with 2 duvets and a huge over blanket to stop drafts. i was warm in bed (just when I got out I froze!)

[valiumredhead]

The night sky-mine has 2 outside walls but that includes huge French windows-gets a bit nippy!

[valiumredhead]

Electric blanket? Safe and washable these days and very cheap to use.

[ohforfoxsake]

Have the free insulation offers provided by energy companies definitely finished? I had someone round last year to survey. Found out about it on moneysavingexpert? Worth a look?

[newtonupontheheath]

£4 I might see if I can get hold of one anyway at that price, just in case the boiler is ever on the blink!

I only be worried about ds walking into it in the night, but the way his bedroom is laid out, he gets out of bed and walks towards his door if he wakes in the night. So I'm sure he'd be one if it was to the side of the room.

I've just been up to check him and it's not too bad in there tonight. I closed the curtains as soon as I got in from work which seems to have made a difference too.

[PigletJohn]

the big advantage of the oil-filled radiators is that unlike most electric heaters, there is no red-hot element. You must not put clothes or anything on top, but unlike most electric heaters, if you do, I don't believe they could catch fire. I don't know how hot the surface gets, but IIRC if you pick one up without using the handles, it is hot enough to make you put it down, but not hot enough to burn or blister. Maybe hot like a teapot.

A large one, with a thermostat, set to half power, will not get as hot as a small one set to full.

Come spring, they will be on sale at half price or less

I got mine at £4 each in Wickes summer clearance.

[newtonupontheheath]

So, for tonight I have:

Layered DS up... vest, pjs and I'm going to put socks on him later.

Taken fleece blanket from the top and put on the mattress

Dug out a couple of thick cot sheets and put them under the duvet

I also have the number of a builder to call tomorrow to see if we can afford to do the insulation thing. Couldn't possibly convert the garage, where on earth would I store all the crap if I did that ;-) If we definitely can't afford the insulation this winter, it will be carpet and extra thick underlay. And possibly an oil filled radiator. DS is 3, but we could position where he couldn't get at it (and I'm assuming they get no hotter than a normal radiator?)

I have just completed a survey on our council website regarding the energy efficiency test, so hopefully will hear something back about that. I'd sort of expected us to be pretty efficient but the more I think about it, the more I reckon the builders will have just cut corners.

At the weekend, I will pop and buy a single duvet so I can fold it inside the duvet cover (as he's currently in a junior bed) so he will have the double thickness of his current duvet. Although then I may have to move the blankets as I don't want him smothered!! Will work that through when I have the duvet though.

I feel a bit happier now I have a plan... thanks so much for all the tips

[ErrolTheDragon]

My DDs room is also the cold one over the garage. Her solution is a duvet, her unzipped sleeping bag over that, sometimes a blanket (actually her old cot one!) under the other stuff (as dizzy says better under) and a nice warm dachshund to snuggle while she gets to sleep.

[thenightsky]

My bedroom over garage combo has 3 outside walls

[ATruthUniversallyAcknowledged]

I have a cheapo ikea fleece blanket next to my bed and on extra cold nights I wrap it round me, under my duvet. Works a treat.

[RenterNomad]

We lived in a (rented) Victorian house in which poor DS's room -in a newer extension- apparently had no insulation in the walls (2 external) and ceiling, so we used heating (humph) and wall hangings, which we put up without screws/nails thanks to tension rods between the window's vertical "sills" and end walls.

[BlackeyedPetitsPois]

Our DD's bedroom is above the garage and when we had new carpets (when we moved in earlier this year), we asked the fitter to get the thickest underlay around - I think it's 15mm thick. We are hoping that will do the trick this winter.

I agree with trying a rug possibly (cheap ones from Ikea), and the oil filled radiators are great - very safe to leave on all night.

[fiddlemethis]

Some councils have energy efficiency tests you can have done for free. My husband goes out and does them with an infra red camera and they look at where heat loss is occuring. The window is a massive source of heatloss so secondary glazing might help.
Definitely look into cavity wall insulation, we had ours done really cheap. Our house is mega warm despite only having single glasing/old windows. My husband had also done a lot of work in the attic getting it properly insulated.

[amazonianwoman]

In the winter I use an oil filled radiator in DS's room which has 2 outside walls and gets really cold. It has a thermostat and is silent, pretty small too. Does the job well

[Fluffycloudland77]

You can get really thick underlay on eBay, 15mm was the thickest I saw

[mercibucket]

look in the attic

our new build had no insulation at all over that room no wonder it was bloody freezing

[thenightsky]

I'm in a new build with my bedroom over double garage too. The floor gets too cold to walk on. I'm thinking I might have to go for thick carpet with massively thick underlay too.