Nursery temperature

[DevonianMummy]

I'm still waiting for my baby girl - 4 days overdue and counting...but everything is all set up and ready for her arrival. However am worrying about room temperature! The baby monitor is recording it as 21 - 22 degrees, so just above the 16 - 20 degree guidelines. But it's summer!! The windows are wide open, and short of installing AC, am at a loss of how to make the room much cooler. A fan I guess. But did want to check what everyone's thoughts were on that extra couple of degrees? Are they a big deal as long as she's wearing the right amount of clothes, and only has one or two light bed linen layers on her? (She'll be sleeping in a Moses basket, next to our bed)

It'll be fine -- the temp in DD's room hadn't been below 26 for weeks until this weekend! Whoever writes those guidelines didn't take into account that the UK is sometimes hot but that very few homes have air con.

I would recommend the sheet sleeping bags from JoJoMamanBebe (I'm sure other companies sell similar) for really hot nights. With a vest and one of those she's unlikely to overheat.

The main thing is that they need to be able to get rid of excess heat easily so I wouldn't use a "sleepsuit" in those temperatures.

Do you own a fan? We have a fan on in the room ds sleeps in as it is said to lower the risk of sids, it won't alter the air temperature but it would make you baby feel cooler. Also a fan is a great constant noise which helps babies sleep.

We also have a portable air con machine as our bedroom gets up to 26/27 degrees sometimes and I really don't feel like that is safe for him.

The thermometers built into baby monitors are incredibly inaccurate. Ours regularly decides the house is "too hot" when I'm shuffling round in 2 jumpers and bed socks.

Baby will make it very clear if she's too hot or too cold. Don't worry about the thermometer.

Don't stress!

DS (now almost 3) refused to sleep unless his room was 22 degrees and he had two blankets on

Many nights did I spend getting the nursery to the "right" temperature, only for him to stay up all night

Finally gave up on thermometers and just judged it based on his core temperature.

Our thermometer read 24 last night. But I was cold & he (18 wk ds) had a 2.5 tog grobag on with a long sleeved babygro, & still felt cold. He woke up every 1 - 2 hrs (fun night) & I think maybe it was because he was chilly.

Basically I was really paranoid about room temp & SIDS before I had him, but now I'm much more laid back. I even let him sleep on his side! Ignore the thermometer & go by how warm/cold her body feels (not hands/feet cos they're always a bit chilly). If you're clutching your duvet around yourself chances are she's just as chilly!

Good luck with your new little one.

Try not opening the curtains or the windows and see if that makes a difference. We live in a hot place and nobody opens anything until the sun drops.

You can stand frozen water in front of a fan.

It was hot when DD was born last July so she slept in a short-sleeved vest with a muslin covering her legs for the first few weeks. You can just add less clothes if it's hot. I used to be nervous opening the window in case insects came in and bit her!

Thanks so much everyone - great tips and reassurance! I now have a fan (apparently the last one for sale in the local shops...the local heatwave had cleaned out local supplies of fans!) and am sure that with that, taking the monitor thermometer with a pinch of salt (it does seem inaccurate) and all the other suggestions on this thread, we will all sleep just fine and comfortably! xx