Anyone’s baby getting cold at night when following guidance?

[Al991]

I am a die hard safe sleep advocate/obsessive and I follow the temperature guides when dressing my baby for the night, but she gets cold when I do this and it makes her cry a lot. I feel mean.

The best sleep we’ve all ever had was during the heatwave last week when it was 28C in our room and she was finally able to sleep 🤷🏼‍♀️

I am obviously not asking if I should ignore the advice - I know I need to follow it. But it’s a right pain… does anyone else have a baby that runs cold??

I’m sure there is variation in how warm babies are like anyone else, and if she’s crying because she’s too cold then you’re not attending to her basic needs. Sorry not sure how to phrase that in a kind way but I don’t understand how you can know she’s cold but not be willing to do anything about it.

Yes the guidance may say that she should be warm in whatever you’ve put her in, but if you know she’s not, then why ignore that? If she’s cold then she’s obviously not overheating.

Mine is currently wearing a vest, baby grow and 2.5 tog sleeping bag. I had started using 1 tog the other week when it was hot but gone back to 2.5 tog.

I go by how hot I am.. If it’s hot enough for me to switch to my thin summer duvet or just a sheet then I put the baby in his thinner sleeping bag.

You don't have to follow guidance if your baby is cold and crying 🙄 give her a blanket FFS

If she is cold give her another blanket. Not everyone is the same.

There's no reason for her to feel cold. What are you dressing her in? Do you have the baby sleep bags? We found those worked really well for dd and you can get them in summer togs etc.

Our daughter needed a higher tog rating/an additional layer, she still does and she’s two. Remember its guidance, not hard and fast rules, there will always be some too warm and some too cold with the advised tog rating etc, just like us adults need different tog levels.

If shes a bit chilly add another layer and see how she does, we find our daughter prefers winter tog all year round.

I wouldnt give a blanket if shes a baby, but maybe another layer of clothes or a thicker tog sleep bag?

What is the temperature of the room, what is she wearing and how old is she?

I also think you're being a little bit silly op.

As newborns my dd ran cold and my ds ran hot. It's dependent on the baby's weight and all sorts of other things (to be blunt, my ds is a chubby one and has an insulating blubber layer).

Keep your baby warm if she’s crying because she’s cold. The sleep temperature guidance is just guidance, of course you should adapt it if your baby is cold!

I am a die hard safe sleep advocate/obsessive and I follow the temperature guides

The best advice is feel her neck. Hot and sweaty, take clothes off. Cool and dry, add clothes. Warm, relax.

But also, relax. If you're worried, lay the baby on your chest and you will regulate the baby. We're designed to do this and literally nothing else.

I feel your pain op. I think people are being a bit harsh telling you that you are silly. It is so hard as a new parent. You want to follow the guidelines and it can be hard to use your own judgement because you are so scared of screwing up and harming your beautiful baby

But… you can absolutely adapt the rules to your own situation. If you have a baby who runs a bit cold then listen to that and feel free to add an extra layer.
I remember someone telling me early on to listen to all the advice you get, go with the bits that make sense, and ignore the rest. At the end of the day it doesn’t feel right and your baby is cold then screw it and warm up your baby!!

As you say they are temperatures GUIDES, not rules. Babies, like adults, will all be different and you need to employ some common sense alongside the guides to meet your baby's individual needs. Please don't leave her cold and crying.

the gro guidelines are ridiculously cautious, mine always needed 1-2 more layers than they said. I honestly wonder if these ‘guidelines’ based on a precision that can’t possibly suit everyone are the reason why so many babies seem to sleep worse than they did 20 years ago!

I agree that some of those sleep temperature guides are unrealistic. I used them as a guide but always found they underdressed the baby. I understand you want to follow the guidance but when you think about it - does routinely letting your daughter wake up/not sleep because she is cold and in discomfort make sense? The temperature probably drops overnight too in her room.

You wouldn’t send her out on a cool day in just a t shirt and shorts so why send her to bed underdressed! I agree with PP, feel the back of her neck - if it is hot and clammy then she is over dressed. If it’s not then she is fine and if she is waking up because she is cold then put another layer on her.

I take them with a pinch of salt as all babies (and people) are different. DD2s bedroom gets warm so she usually goes to bed in just a sleepsuit or vest at the moment, and then when I go up to bed if she feels cool I pop a blanket over her. I go by how she feels not what the guidelines say she “should” be be wearing.
That goes for a lot of things tbh - the baby hasn’t read the books or the guidance for sleeping, feeding, weaning - a lot of times you jus t need to go with your gut and you’ll be just fine!

I never let my babies cry with cold. There’s a big gap between crying with cold and dangerously overheating - add a layer of PJs until you find it.

I’m surprised by all the responses. I had the egg that changed colour depending on room temperature. My baby slept the best when the egg was red and was too cold when it was the right colour.

My daughter always needed more layers/thicker tog than the guidelines suggested. I used to feel her chest and judge by that, then I learnt what she needed at various temps.
Even now at 2.5 her room has been 22/23 the last couple of nights and she has had full pjs, with socks (she insists!) and a 1 tog sleeping bag.

The guidance is only guidance and tends to err on the side of cold to avoid some babies accidentally overheating. You need to work out what works for your particular baby - some need more layers than the guidance and some less. Also sleeping bags with the same tog rating can vary in warmth between brands.

Thank you everyone I might add a light layer like a vest and see if it helps her. I don’t want to put her in danger but also think I need to get out of the newborn mindset a bit!

This is like that classic thread where the mum knew the guideline for dressing a baby that your baby should have on one more layer than you do. So she took off her jumper 🤦🏼‍♀️

I had this with my firstborn, OP - it's really hard! I was highly anxious about the possibility of cot death, so I stuck to the guidelines religiously, but she wasn't a good sleeper and I'm sure she was often cold in bed. I'd dress her for the temperature of her room at bedtime, but the room would cool down overnight so by 3am she'd be underdressed. But if at bedtime I'd dressed her for what the temperature at 3am might be, she'd have been too warm in the early part of the night!

Anyway, she's a teen now and doesn't seem to have suffered any ill effects, but I was less of a rule-follower with my subsequent DC and co-slept with the youngest (following safe sleeping guidelines).

I absolutely loved that. Makes me laugh so much when I think of that one 😆

I agree with all the above and just want you to know I was right there with you only a couple of weeks ago but I’m trying to let go of the guidelines and go with my gut. We also have the egg for temperature but honestly when it’s “safe” heat I’m freezing, sleeping next to my partner with a duvet. So god knows how our poor babies feel. We now dress her in a footed cotton romper and a 1 tog arms up swaddle and the room is between 22-24 depending of the air con (we live in Spain so has to be on unfortunately) I get so anxious about it I sometimes wake up at 3am just to check in a panic. But if the layers are cotton and you use a light sleep sack/ swaddle I think it would be hard for the baby to overheat unless it really gets hot. I have to remind myself these guidelines are probably aimed at people who cover their child’s head/ use excessive blankets / amp the heating up. But I do think they’re far too cold and actually dont make a lot of sense. Don’t worry I’m sure your doing amazing

I also use the room egg. For the past week it's been blue, at 15, when we get into bed. By 1am, and onwards it goes down to 12/13, and even dressed as per guidance, my baby is waking up fussy and cold. She has been sleeping through the night for weeks, when the room was 17-20. I am adding more layers, one at a time, to see if this helps her. I am massive on the recommended temp and togs etc but if she's cold, she's cold! She's cold using the recommended togs so am going with my gut and her behaviour:)
I came here on this site to see if anyone else felt the same, and so glad it's not just me struggling! Xx

12/13 overnight is pretty cold with a baby. I would aim to keep your house a bit warmer overnight, preferably over 16 degrees. Most of the temperature guides only go down to about 14 degrees and that might be with a 3.5 tog sleepign bag.

I still find around 18 degrees optimal with a toddler in a 2.5 tof sleeping bag.