Heating the home for a newborn

[Blueberryscones]

Hi everyone,

First time poster here so apologises if this is the wrong topic to post under. I’m currently 38+3 weeks pregnant with my first child due in under two weeks.
With the recent snowy weather, I’ve been more aware of how cold my house gets. I live in 3 bedroom, Victorian end terrance with no carpet, and not very well insulated except having had the loft insulated last year. My partner and I generally never have the heating on, we can’t work from home so aren’t in during the day and I don’t get home from work until about 7pm most evenings- don’t know why we never have the heating on, we just have never really put it on unless it’s been unbearably cold.
I’ve recently had a new boiler installed in preparation for our little boy knowing that we will need to put the heating on and hoped by updating to a more modern system, it will help with its efficiency thus keeping bills down.
Currently sat in the living room with no heating on and the thermostat tells me it’s 9.9 degrees- I don’t feel cold though, my hands are warm and I’m sat under an electric blanket. From my understanding, 16-20 degrees is ideal for a baby- I would have to have the heating on all day to keep it regulated at 16 degrees, do people actually have the heating on all day and overnight? There’s no way I can afford to do this everyday. If in the day time, the temp was for example 14 degrees and baby is wrapped up and chest is not cold to touch and he doesn’t appear to be in distress, is this temp okay? Does it HAVE to be 16 degrees? Same for overnight, I spoke to my health visitor last month about whether people really did have their heating on overnight to keep them temp at 16 degrees and she advised this was unrealistic as most people can’t afford to heat their homes all day. I’ve invested in 3.5 tog sleeping bags and will also dress baby in guidance with the Lullaby Trust so I’m hoping this will be sufficient but just wanted to get thoughts from other parents about the temp of their homes during the day/overnight.
Naturally if when he wakes for feeds in the night and his chest is cold to touch I’ll turn the heating on but would like some realistic advice on whether they actually keep the house temp to a min of 16 degrees or whether this is just a guidance- I appreciate every baby is different but just wanting to get some thoughts.

Thanks in advance.

We have a similar cold Victorian house. Downstairs takes quite a lot of heating as there are 4 outside walls plus 2 external doors. Upstairs is more connected so heats and retains heat more easily. I would invest in a hive thermostat & hive TRV's for all the radiators so you can easily heat specific areas at specific times without having to run around the house turning radiators on and off. You can then heat downstairs during the day and your bedroom overnight/during nap times without having all radiators on all the time.

Never have the heating on overnight unless it's an extreme freeze. Doesn't happen much here.

Why don't you have the heating on though? We don't have a thermostat so no idea what we are at temp wise. If I'm cold I turn it up, if I'm not I turn it down.

Old house and heating on minimal (16 in the kitchen on chilly days - other rooms colder as radiators are on freeze protect, bathrooms on max). It was a while ago that kids were newborns . I dressed them in layers, socks and a hat. I co slept so they were warm next to me with just a vest. What I do is ventilate the place to remove condensation and mould spores that are in all houses. I get fresh air into the rooms no matter the cold temperatures (heating is off during this time). I felt that this was and is important to respiratory health.

Babies shouldn’t wear hats indoors FYI

Babies are used to a 37 Deg bath when inside. I had an August born during a heat wave and had two layers on for most of the first two days.
I can't remember what we had when she was a baby but currently we have the heating set to 14 overnight, my daughters room has a heater on a timer in it set to 20 Deg which keeps her room at 18-20 degrees overnight she's 4. During the day the thermostat is set to 16-17 Deg is my daughter isn't in the house and 17-19 Deg if she is.
You need to start realising what you need to keep the main living room and babies sleeping room at a temperature where you don't need an electric blanket and a hot water bottle to be warm. These might be appropriate to keep an adult warm in lieu of central heating but it wouldn't be appropriate to be warming a baby with an electric blanket. Once my daughter is in bed the heating is set to go off and if we get cold then we use blankets. I have a blanket at my desk too as I work from home and if I'm sat still for a prolonged time I find I get chilly in what would be an ok temperature for me normally
You also need to factor in that you might be more sedentary after baby arrives. I honestly spent 4 months chained to the sofa with a contact sleeping reflux baby that fed every 45-90 minutes and couldn't be moved for 20 minutes after a feed and couldn't be moved once a sleep. I breastfeed and found myself spending quite a bit of time in a state of undress is she had stripped me off in order to stroke my skin during a feed and then gone to sleep so I couldn't redress until she woke up!

Pre children our heating often didn't go on until rooms were 13-16 degrees and on for the minimum amount of time in a house that could easily drop to single digits so I do appreciate that it can be an adjustment!

Mine did and it was fine - advice of my doctor.

Curious to know for those with heating on all day and night in the high teens what does it cost per month?

I would also recommend an electric oil- filled radiator, it can be kept on low all night. I bought it when my daughter was born as we had a cold bedroom that was badly insulated. Also it’s REALLY hard to get out of bed to feed/change a baby when it’s cold! Much more pleasant if your bedroom is warmer!

I have a newborn at the moment, and we were similar with not having heating on much beforehand. Since he came along we've had the bedroom properly heated overnight, and the smallest downstairs room in the day. We have horrendously inefficient and expensive heating, but when family asked what we needed for the baby we just asked for help with heating costs this winter! It's not been as expensive as we thought to keep the bedroom warm with the door closed and us all in it, although still pretty steep compared to before. Everything else that could have been expensive we've managed to get cheaply secondhand. I know it isn't a very exciting present for people to get, but they've been happy to do it, and we send pictures of him all cosy so they know it's appreciated. If you have anyone likely to want to spend some money on you, maybe you could do the same?

13 is far too cold. Below16 and there is a risk to health, particularly the respiratory system.

She's very healthy

We couldn't afford heating a lot

Just to echo everyone else, you really do need to get the temperature up. 10 degrees is really not healthy even for adults. Did you know it’s bad for your respiratory system and your heart?

I also live in a similar house. You will find that once you start heating it, it will be a lot easier to maintain a decent temperature.

Ventilation removes condensation and mould spores. Old houses tend to have ventilation built in as it was known to be important years ago. Modern houses lack this air movement. You can keep one room warm but you need to ensure all rooms have fresh air daily and beds aired.

Agree with everyone else the house needs to be warmer. I don't know who you use as your energy supplier but our bill was almost cut in half by switching from British Gas to utility warehouse.

@Bignanna

You do realise babies were born before central heating? It was common to have no heat at all upstairs when I was a kid, babies managed just fine, and do in cold parts of the world today. The key is to be appropriately dressed, 13 is not cold

If you just have wooden floorboards in your ground floor rooms the get a large rug to reduce drafts coming up. If your front door is in the front room then think about getting a door curtain if you haven't already.
Agree with others about heating. Our house is a bit newer with uninsulated cavity walls but heating is on all day to just under 20 in the living room (warmest room) and 15 at night ( although room retains enough heat so it doesn't usually come on). Gas cost yesterday was £4.25 including hot water and cooking. Bit more so far today as colder.

Yes, and I am old enough to have lived when the ice was on the inside of the windows,but:
https://www.britishgas.co.uk/the-source/no-place-like-home/whats-the-ideal-home-temperature.html

16 as a minimum for a tiny new born, you don’t want to have them so muffled up they can’t move for blankets, this would also be a risk for suffocation. You won’t need the heating on 24/7 to keep it warm. We have a big old house, thermostat is set to 16 at night and 18 in the day. The boiler kicks in and out probably only every 3/4 hours for an hour to maintain that temp. You also don’t want a damp atmosphere for little ones chest which can happen when it’s so cold

No central heating didn’t mean no heating though. Rooms had fires, at least downstairs and the heat would warm the bedrooms too

This too- you won’t be out at work all day warm, you’ll be sat feeding and probably feel cold yourself!

Your post has made me feel freezing - but then I'm always cold! You'll find you're sitting around with the baby a lot, especially trying to feed/ wind/ get them to sleep, so you might feel the cold more. Plus you'll be sleep deprived. Our house thermostats are at 21 now and I'd say we most likely had them set the same for both babies, as i just went by how I felt and how they felt to the touch. Don't your nose and face get cold btw?! Mine do! Sorry that's irrelevant!

It should be about 21 degrees with a new born durning the day. You'll have to be taking their clothes off to change them frequently etc. they're used to being in your lovely clothes warm body! Coming out is enough of a shock.
And then around 17-18 at night. I wouldn't go below that.

Spring will be on its way in a couple of months. With a new born it is an exceptional circumstance so just suck up a high heating bill. It won't last forever.

I live in a house the same as yours (although we do have carpets upstairs and a large living room rug) and I have preteens.
I used to just put the heating on for a bit in the morning and a bit in the evening (about an hour/2 hours max) and set it for 20. The temp would really drop low, 9-13 degrees, between those periods though and unless you’re moving about you could really feel the cold, the damp was awful too!

This winter I’ve set the thermostat to 18 during the day (if we’re home) and 16 at night, we aren’t having the same issues with damp and the temperature through the day maintains quite well so actually I’m not using much more gas than I was by doing the hour in morning and evening.

I would definitely think about getting some thick rugs and curtains if you don’t already have them, expensive outlay but make a world of difference.

This 100%

9/10 is far too cold

Amazed your home isn't damp

You aren't cold as under a hot blanket aka heating

I've worked in houses that say 14/15
And that's too cold for a newborn baby - I'm a maternity nurse

Doesn't have to be 20

But def not 10

Your bills much be so low

Ans once you start using heating the home will warm up

So no doesn't need to be on all day to keep warm but def needs some heat

We're in a draughty mid-terrace and the heater stays on for 12 hours in the children's bedroom for 6 months a year! The house is too cold even with lots of layers on.