Dressing baby at night - old cold house

[Enidcat5]

I feel like such an idiot as it should just be common sense but I'm really struggling to dress my 5 months old at night in order that she's not too cold or hot.

My bedroom is 17-18 degrees according to thermometer but it feels freezing. House is very old and not insulated, my room is on coldest side. I'm wearing 2 layers of pjs plus dressing gown to bed.

If I dress her according to gro bag guidelines she feels v cold on chest and back of neck and she's waking every 20 minutes. She's currently in 2.5 tog bag, short sleeve vest and sleepsuit. I have been putting 3 cellular blankets layered over her just up to chest, tucked in at bottom so they can't slip over her head. I've tried long sleeve vest and also adding a pj top, she's still cold.

I bought a 3.5 tog sleeping bag but guidelines state you shouldn't use those until 15 degrees or under. So far the room doesn't get that cold although it does feel very cold. I tried it on her last night and she was toasty and I was then worried about overheating. Argh.

Anyone else struggling with this? Help! What are your cosy solutions for an old house? Has anyone used the 3.5 bags and at what temperature please? If she's warm she sleeps OK, I'm shattered from weeks of these rubbish nights holding her all night.

Glad you've got it sorted. I've been puzzling over this too, and decided I'd just have to put my 8 month old in more layers than the guidelines suggest. The night before last went down to 1 degree here, frost on the roofs, and his hands were like ice when he woke up. He was in a long sleeve vest and 2.5 tog bag.

It makes sense that the companies would cover their backs, but it does make it very stressful trying to figure out what's actually for the best!

And they always say 'oh, it's ok if their hands are cold, as long as their body's warm' I feel like saying to them 'could you sleep if your hands were freezing cold?!'

Its definitely not perfect but I feel a bit more human today for having had a few more hours of sleep. We're in Scotland and I live in an exposed old house at top of a hill. It's only going to get colder here so I need to get it sorted. I'll add more layers if needed and have background heating on if temp dips lower. She was restless from about 5am so I might need to add a blanket but otherwise I feel she was finally warm enough last night.

I totally agree with you that I think the companies (and the Lullaby Trust) very much err on side of caution with the guidelines
It's understandable why but does mean that you feel so anxious if you have to go outwith the guidelines for your own baby's individual needs. I'm very anxious anyway about SIDS. My mum says no wonder parents feel confused and anxious these days with all the different guidelines and warnings. But as long as they are based on science I'm following them.

I have this problem ds has a long sleeved vest, at this time of year a normal baby grow but when it gets colder a fleece one and a cardigan. When it gets colder an old fashioned matinee coat instead of the cardigan which is longer.
The sleeping bags didn’t work for us but he slept on a sheepskin with just a wool crocheted blanket and one of those holey cotton blankets
Now he’s older (2) he wears the same but instead of the blankets and sheepskin he’s under the thick duvet with me

DS sleeps in a 2.5 tog, vest and sleepsuit or long pjs, AND we have an electric heater in his room that comes on every couple of hours for half an hour. We don’t have gas central heating and live in an old cottage.

I’m thinking about getting him a merino wool sleeping bag .

I find the grobag etc guidelines to be ridiculously cold and I couldn't sleep like that.

As long as you're not making her sweat it's fine. A midwife told me in the early days to forget about gro eggs and charts and things and just look at the baby. Finger to the chest or back (bare skin) and if they feel cool, they are too cold. Sweaty means too hot. Everything in between is fine. I also found that I could feel DS2's cheeks and if they feel cool, then he's too cold and that's what is waking him up. I can't remember if DS1 had the same in built cheek thermometer :o

I had DS2 in Germany and there they are obsessed with keeping babies warm :o They had him under an actual mountain of blankets while I flapped and tried to say "But in my country they worry that babies will get too hot!" He was fine. Of course. And we still got the same lecture about not overheating him from the paediatrician on discharge :)

Also, no hats at night, as they use their heads to regulate body temperature.

Guidelines are there to give you information about best practice, even though they are based on science, it doesn't mean that if you slightly miss one your baby will be in huge danger. They are there to give you information about what you can do to reduce risks, but you should still use common sense and do what is practical as well. Remember that before guidelines, although more babies died than do today, most babies were absolutely fine and it has only ever been a small unlucky minority that anything happened to.

Natural fibres are very good at keeping them warm without overheating them, I find synthetics can sometimes seem to go past a point where they just make you too hot. I don't have the patience to figure out the washing instructions on things like wool, natural fleece or bamboo etc but my friends who do keep trying to assure me it's very easy.

I don't do heat well, I have portable air cons. For this reason I know my living room is 18 degrees, the same as it was in the middle of summer, but it feels cooler, I'm wearing cardigans, in the summer I was roasting.

I think when the weather changes our bodies need to acclimatise so it feels colder than it is.

If your baby is sleeping then you are probably getting things right.

The only reason most heat is lost through the head is because the rest of our bodies are generally covered.

@Aria999
It's this one: wiser.draytoncontrols.co.uk/
DH did the research and chose it, we are both happy with it.

OP glad baby and you got more sleep! It really does help when you get the temperature and bedding right.

Thanks namechange30