Overheating newborn

[BooDoo5]

My baby girl is 5 weeks almost 6 weeks. With the temperature in the UK right now I’m super worried about her overheating.

she is boiling even in just a nappy.. we haven’t been able to lay her down on her back to sleep in a week due to her reflux and everything else being so bad.. she wakes up the second we move slightly or go to put her down. Even if we are holding her and lean forward she wakes and starts screaming.
We do the holding upright for 15-30min after feeds, burping etc before laying down to sleep.
We went to A&E yesterday as she has a rash and I was worried about all of her movements with her arms and legs that they explained are Moro refluxs due to reflux and being a baby anyway but I keep getting paranoid they are seizures which they assured me they aren’t concerned about even with me showing them videos.
she hasn’t got a temperature so it is ok that she’s this hot? she is like a hot water bottle, super clammy and making me sweat when I hold her!
I worry if she was to get a temp that I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between her normal movement and a seizure.
We are checking her temp regularly and it’s normal so my partner, family, friends and the doctors aren’t concerned but I can’t get it out of my head.
I am a worrier being a first time mum especially with how pregnancy was.

She has reflux, colic, posterior tongue tie & tip tie and tension. We were fetal medicine led my whole pregnancy due to increased NT fluid measurement at 12 week scan and they also found cycsts in the brain but we all got cleared for everything after 20weeks but were kept consultant led for growth scans.

just hoping for maybe some advice, reassurance or people who have had similar experiences.
TIA

My DD is 3 weeks and my house inside is about 20 degrees… I’m guessing you have a room thermometer like a gro egg? DD is in a short sleeve vest and baby gro and I’m not concerned x

Are you following the guidelines about the temperature of the room and clothing?

Have you got an appointment to get the ties cut? These can cause reflux.

What did the rash look like? I don’t want to add to your stress but please be aware of cmpa.

I mean this is in a caring away. I think you should ask your GP to refer you to the preinatal mental health team for help with your anxiety. It’s very common after having a baby, especially if it was a stressful pregnancy. I saw them after my first child and before my second and the staff I saw were lovely and really helpful.

Do you know the temp of the room?

Sounds like the issues are more the tongue tie and the reflux than the temperature - are you getting treatment for those?

My room thermometer hasn’t been that high really, certainly not high enough for overheating in appropriate sleepwear. Have you got a thermometer in your room? It might alleviate your worries to see it’s not actually as warm as you think.

When I get anxiety over things like this I remind myself that there are thousands of babies born in far hotter countries around the world that don't overheat. It seems warm to us in England at the minute, but it really isn't.

I had my son in a tiny upstairs London flat in 2023 as a newborn, he was also a refluxy cmpa baby with a tongue tie that was cut early. I remember worrying so much but he's absolutely fine, he was sweaty at times on us when holding upright after feeds and eventually when he refused to lie in his cot at all 🫠 but he was fine despite the crazy heat, we just monitored it more closely than some may have to.

My baby has always got hot and sweaty when we’re holding her for long periods of time, once we put her down she’s fine and cools down

Yes we are following skeepsuit guidelines
we have grow egg, 19.3 degrees

everyone we’ve seen has said she doesn’t tick boxes for CMPA luckily.
we had her ties cut 2 days ago and had osteopath on Wednesday.

i think I could benefit from mental health to but I honestly don’t know when I would ever find the time especially because we are breastfeeding. I’m struggling to find time to collect milk so my others can help with feeds and me being able to have naps etc.
I love my baby girl so so much ..all the days are blurring into one and my memory has gotten awful. I’m having to write things down in my phone Because I’m forgetting stuff otherwise. Nothing important but like what iv eaten the day before, if we went anywhere nice etc.

19 degrees is nowhere near overheating sweetheart, don't worry.

Have a look at the safe sleep 7 and co-sleeping, you will get so much more sleep doing that than by putting her down in a cot, especially as you are breastfeeding.

Your baby is not going to overheat to the point of seizures at 19 degrees. I think you know that logically but the hormones the anxiety the lack of sleep all mix together!
As You’ve said, some mh support might be great before this level of anxiety isn’t sustainable for you, and you’re adding a lot on yourself when things are already hard. Babies move and jerk around, they also feel hot, and it sounds like you have no reason to particularly worry about seizures, try not to worry, you’ve had medical advice and everyone around is saying the baby is ok. If she is sleeping, eating and toileting and has no temperature that’s all you really need at this stage.

if you get mh support you can take the baby with you or even do it on the phone so don’t worry about that.

If expressing is causing you more trouble, can you switch to an occasional bottle of formula or could you just go and sleep and have baby brought to you for a feed then taken away again and you go back to sleep.
it’s so so tough in those early days. You’re doing great, just look after yourself too
Your sleep and rest is important

Thank you so much everyone

I know I’m doing great and everyone is telling me I am. I know you all understand and have been through the newborn stage to.
i feel like I need to clone myself for help….
my partner (babies dad) does more than you can even imagine but as you can imagine he’s exhausted to.

iv had to chest sleep with her the past few nights as we haven’t been able to get her down at all, the second we moved her on us she would wake and start screaming. If we got her to lay down then she’d wake & start screaming crying within minutes. When she’s suffering that much with her gas and reflux it breaks my heart. She gets so red and hot it takes ages to try to sooth her.

Another thing I keep stressing about it everyone saying I need to lay her down to sleep on her back but after holding her up after feeds if I do manage to get her down it’s not for long before she wakes again if she even manages to stay asleep. So I have her on my chest on her chest but then people say yes that’s fine but when she falls asleep you need to put her on her back… how?! How is that possible. Risk of Sid’s due to overheating by laying on her front ..
there’s risk of sids with almost everything you do I feel like and that’s adding to it all. I feel her every movement when she’s on my chest and she seems to be fine and wake frequently enough for feeds to us to both get sleep. I don’t want to do that forever and I want and need her to sleep on her own laying down.

sorry for all of this offloading …I do find it helps though, thank you all for speaking to me <3

Here is a link to the Australian Breastfeeding Association guide for breastfeeding in hot weather https://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/resources/breastfeeding-hot-weather#:~:text=Feeling%20more%20comfortable%20when%20feeding,comfortable%20for%20both%20of%20you.

I've had two summer babies including one with a tongue tie. Keeping me cool helped keep baby cool. I also cosleept with all my babies following safe sleep guidelines.

had 4 baby’s…all past 10 now…they were all extremely hot…even said to midwife health visitor, the were..to hot to handle…your baby is just gonna be a to hot to handle, and do really well with the hot blood running threw em 🥰 god bless you 🥹

you sound like me when I had my little one, everything was terrifying and it wasn’t long before I was refusing to be in a different room from her or putting her down to sleep because I was petrified something would happen to her and it spiralled really quickly, it’s so hard to manage that level of anxiety alongside a newborn. With further investigation I realised I was suffering from post partum OCD and anxiety. My little one also refused to lay down in the crib. I recommend looking at the happy cosleeper on Instagram, she has whole sections on chest to chest cosleeping with a newborn who won’t sleep laying down, it’s not considered to be the same risk as sleeping on their front on a mattress when they are sleeping on your chest, various factors like breathing and temperature regulation from the skin to skin of a contact nap/ sleep change it up. That being said obviously the safer place would be on the bed in the cuddle curl position but sometimes this is simply not feasible when baby will not sleep! You’ve got this!

Sorry you’re having such a hard time. Just a thought - maybe she’s waking up because she’s too cold, not too hot? 19 isn’t very hot and if she’s just in a nappy I think that she’d be cold. We’ve got a 5 week old and I tried her in a new sleeping bag a couple of nights ago. I was worried she’d be too hot, it was 20 degrees and so I only had her in a short sleeved vest inside the 2.5 tog sleeping bag, but she kept waking up every hour and her arms were cold so I put her in a long sleeved sleep suit in it and she slept great for 4 hours. As others have said there are charts saying what to dress them in, so I’d just follow that and try not to worry too much. I know they talk about SIDS a lot, but it’s actually incredibly rare. I realise it’s easier said than done though!

I totally get the worry about jerky movements/worrying it’s seizures - I thought the exact same about our baby’s jerking and asked the midwife but she said it was normal baby movements. I think as long as someone has checked them then it’s fine. Also people are often unconscious during and after a seizure where as my baby is alert when doing jerky movements so I don’t think it’s an issue.

As others have said, I think it would be worth asking the GP for mental health support. It’s such an intense time at the moment, having that extra support might really help. And remember, nothing is forever, it will get better! Sending lots of positive vibes 😊

That brain fog is totally normal, I remember feeling it and feeling I'd never be the same again! The gradual change as you do get yourself back, the newborn era lasses and baby gets more predictable and needs more easily met, you'll realise one day oh my brain is my own again!

To add my friend had some therapy for her mental health after a traumatic birth and emergency section then refluxy baby, just once a fortnight and helpful to talk about things that are worrying her to a person qualified to help. She found it helpful and when it wasn't anymore as she didn't need it they signed her off no problem.

It sounds like you are doing your very best OP. Are you getting some sleep in the day as it sounds like you are not getting much at night?

At 19 degrees have you considered that she is waking because she is chilly? I had 2 summer babies and remember the absolutely crazy amount of sweat/clammy feeling after breastfeeding them.

Have you received any help with her reflux?

You can let baby sleep on your chest as long as you don't fall asleep, we did it alot and still do sometimes (he's 9 months now). You'll find at this age baby won't sleep for long periods anyway. I was terrified of sids, still am to an extent, there's so much to do and don't do. But as time goes on it'll ease and it sounds like you're doing a great job. If you look online it'll tell you how to dress baby at night depending on the room temp, I still follow this for my baby. His rooms usually around 24 degrees, he'll sleep in a thin sleeping bag and a sleep suit

Sounds like you are doing a great job. I’d recommend looking up happy cosleeper and cosleepy on instagram. One of them has some great info on chest sleeping.

Also Lucy Webber Feeding Support and Lyndsey Hookway, Lyndsey has some great info on reflux.

Are you giving her something for the reflux?

We always needed one more layer than the gro bag guidelines, a short sleeved vest, so you need to have the confidence to adjust it slightly if you need.