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Original poster

Baby too hot - already! Please help...

15 replies

Babe · 07/06/2004 22:12

Please can anyone suggest a way to keep an 8 month old baby cool during the day and night? I'm sure there must have been loads of advice last summer (when I was pregnant and feeling every minute of it)but would really appreciate your top tips on this - ds is already as hot as a hot thing today, and our home doesn't get much air through it. Us new mums need your veterans' advice!

Many thanks

OP posts:
sincy1 · 07/06/2004 22:16

my ds is 5 1/2 months, he's in a nppy and a 1.0 tog sleeping bag with a fan by cot, its 26 in his room!! All windows are WIDE open

Aero · 07/06/2004 22:50

Sleep in nappy and vest or just nappy with light sheet. Keep a fan on in the room and open windows. During the day you can keep his curtains closed to keep the room cooler. He can just crawl around in his nappy. A paddling pool is fun (obviously providing he can sit by himself and will be closely watched) to play in and cool down for a while. Or, just a basin of water to splash. Try to stay in the shade.

Easy · 07/06/2004 22:59

Can I just say "Don't Panic".

DS was born during a tremendous heatwave in 1999, and during the 4 days we were in hospital the temperature in our room was much MUCH hotter than the recommended temperatures for baby. No aircon in that maternity unit.

None of the nurses seemed at all concerned, altho I kept taking him out of his plastic box, cos I thought he must be even hotter in it.

He came thru that unscathed. I don't think it's a big worry in a ventilated house, unless baby is distressed.

Spod · 07/06/2004 23:01

i sympathise babe, our dd is the same age and is feeling the heat too... very grumpy.. I've put her to bed in just her pj's but its so hot upstairs and i cant leave a fan on in her room (irrational fear about electrical things!)

morocco · 07/06/2004 23:16

keep his nappy off whenever you can to get a bit of air on his bits
don't worry - he'll soon acclimatise
I'd also be careful not to leave him directly in the path of air from a fan as I think it can be overcooling and cause a chill but that's just my opinion, not medical fact
and in case anyone is worried the high tems because of cot death, its actaully more common in winter and in cool climates so I guess not directly linked to temp but perhaps more to things like central heating (just a guess - what I mean is, don't worry that it's caused by hot weather)

eddm · 07/06/2004 23:24

Ds was born during the heatwave last year and I used to really worry about this. Kept curtains closed in our bedroom in the day; put him down in just his nappy; had a fan in the room which I put on well before his bed-time and kept on at night (can't remember but electricity bill must have been huge!) but not trained directly on him.
Don't think there's much more you can do; I just kept trying to remember that babies born in hot countries survive so ds would too. If there are any MNers out there who live in hot countries I'd be interested to hear how they cope.

OldieMum · 07/06/2004 23:32

I just bought a 0.5 tog sleeping bag, after a night in which dd got very sweaty in a 1 tog one. In the heat last summer, when she was 5-7 months old, I put her in her sleeping bag in a nappy only and kept the window and bedroom door open all night. In the day, I kept her out of the sun in the middle of the day and gave her lots of water to keep her hydrated. You have to be particularly careful about this with bottle-fed babies, apparently.

larlylou · 09/06/2004 09:14

Don't worry about the heat too much. My DS was 4 months old and we spent 6 weeks in France last summer (heatwave period). DS bedroom went up to 36 at night. Used to put him in just nappy and 0.5 sleeping bag (won't sleep without one), with 2 fans on throughout night. Keep them hydrated with plenty of water and try to stay in the shade. We used to go for an afternoon drive every day just to enjoy the a/c and that cooling feeling!

gloworm · 09/06/2004 10:33

if baby develops heat rash use pure aloe vera gel. we used bucket loads of it last year. it calms and soothes the rash fairly quickly and is very cooling on baby's skin.

clairemagnolia · 09/06/2004 16:03

Last summer - 37 degrees remember! - when my ds was just 1 he seemed to acclimatise very well, and in fact coped with the heat much better than us adults! He naturally sweats a lot anyway which shows the body is dealing with the heat I think - we just made sure he always had water available. He slept in a nappy only but with window closed as we look onto a busy main road. His first summer, when he was just 3 months, he was breastfed exclusively on demand and carried in the sling by sweaty old me, again no problems. I think the main thing to worry about is the sun, rather than the indoor temp. I tended to avoid going out in the midday sun or if this wasn't possible, stayed in the shade as much as we could.

kiwicath · 10/06/2004 08:13

It's 45C as I'm writing this. 5.5 month old fast asleep in the next room with AC on to 27C (old AC though, don't know how accurate the thermostate is!!). He's in a vest with one layer of cotton cellular blanket on just to tuck him in. He's in cloth naps which I find have been great with no rashes etc but he's got a bare bum 70% of the time. I keep a skwirty bottle with me all the time and give him a mist when he's looking flustered - best game ever and you can see the sheer joy on his face as the water cools on his little bod. As long as they are happy, content and not bright red I wouldn't worry. Stay out of sun or at least under the shade at the hottest part of the day. Keep them hydrated (still on boob and offering it every 2 hours ish). If you're feeling comfortable chances are they are too. Good luck.

mckenzie · 10/06/2004 20:31

Babe, our son's bedroom is south facing and get's the full pelt of the sun from about 11.30 until it goes down. I've had 3 summers of experimenting and have found the best thing is to open all the windows in the house first thing in the morning and get as much cool breeze flowing thourhg as possible and then at 11am or so I close his bedroom windows and his blackout blind and curtains but leave all the windows at the front open. This seems to work. On the odd occasion I have forgotten to close his windows etc it can get as hot as 27 in his room but normally I can keep it down to about 22. Once DS is asleep and the heat has all gone out of the sun and breeze then I open his windows and blinds again to get some frech air back into his room. I know it all sounds a bit tedious but it does seem to work.

mckenzie · 10/06/2004 20:32

I have no idea why I put an apostrophe in
get's..... sorry

ThingOne · 10/06/2004 21:03

My six month old is in a nappy and a 0.5 tog sleeping bag. It was up to 27 degrees in our bedroom this week but Like larlyloo my ds won't sleep at night without his grobag. During the day no problem but nighttime is clearly special!
I've haven't used the fan yet as I know it will probably get hotter.
Started using the paddling pool this week and he ws ecstatic. It went down far better than the damp cloth I'd used earlier in the day.
I got my pool for a tenner from ELC and it has a manta shade on top - not much of a sunshade but better than nothing. Mind you, ds hasn't been in for very long yet.

Original poster
Babe · 10/06/2004 21:55

I like the sound of squirting him with a mister thingy. Actually I think I would use that more on me.

You lot are absolutely right - he is coping much better than me in the heat. Thanks for all the suggestions, I feel ready for anything now...

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