How to stop 2.5 year old waking up cold after switching to duvet?

[Pumpkin88]

We recently moved to a duvet while the weather was warmer, to save buying new sleeping bags. Now that the weather is starting to turn, DS is starting to wake up for the day between 4.45-5.30am. I assume due to temperature dropping and being cold as he kicks the duvet off.

We’ve tried turning the duvet sideways and tucking it in under the mattress but he somehow still ends up on top of it. Not sure how he manages it! His room is going down to around 19 degrees so it’s not exactly freezing but he still feels cold to touch when we go in and he used to wake between 6-7am.

Is 19 degrees too warm to start layering him up? Any other ideas for how to get him to keep the duvet on? What do you dress your wriggly toddlers in at night, in winter?

Is he in long sleeved/leg PJ’s and socks?

Slumbersacs they arent cheap but wash well.
You could look on vinted if price is a factor.

We have 2 for winter bought them in highest tog and a bit big and never looked back.
My dd is 3.5 and will wear it this winter too.

Long pyjamas and continue putting it on sideways so you can tuck it in would be suggestions. Plus maybe getting him to practice covering himself back up with it so he can remember what to do if he wakes up. It's just one of those things they eventually master.

@Lafufufu Yes I have looked at slumbersacs but they’re so expensive, especially when you need to buy extra for washing etc. Also I didn’t know if it was better to try and get him used to a duvet as eventually he’ll need to.

@PersephoneParlormaid Yes he’s in long pjs but not tried socks yet. Is it too warm for a vest as well? 😆

@Spies When he’s fully awake in the day, he can pull the duvet up fine but during the night he often ends up a bit tangled and I think when he’s all sleepy and disoriented he just struggles. So normally calls out for us. Also when he ends up lying flat on top of it, he can’t find it as he doesn’t realise he’s lying on it 🤣

Mine always used to rotate the duvet (TBH still does and he's a teen now).

You could just go to Decathlon and get a camping style sleeping bag for now (they do child sizes, and in the flat style, not just the cocoon one - it doesn't have to be a dedicated toddler sleep sack

We bough the basic colour and a "seconds so about £60?
given the sleep it gave us think we have had our moneys worth.we have a second child too.

They are on vinted for much less
https://www.vinted.co.uk/items/6974959430-dinosaur-25-sleep-bag

You could try to layer pjs with uniqlo or m&s thermals ?

Mine did this at 2, it drove me mad. He continued to do it and now at 3.5 tells me he likes to ‘sleep cold’. It’s madness, he’s literally cold to the touch. So I don’t have the solution but all I can say is that they obviously don’t feel the cold. What I do is keep some light blankets by his bed so when he inevitably lies on the top of his duvet I can cover him up.

If he lies on the duvet it might be worth putting another blanket to the side of the bed so he can use that to recover himself?

It's definitely something they just learn to do eventually albeit annoying in the interim if he's waking early.

Sleeping bag? Not a fancy dancy £££££ slumber sack thing but an actual bog standard children’s sleeping bag?

More clothes! Use a thinner duvet to compensate.

My wriggling child is already in a fluffy/fleecy onesie for exactly this reason. He has always either woken up (when a baby) or pushed the covers off (when older) within 10 mins of me putting covers over him. He just doesn’t want to sleep under covers!

Dress them for sleeping without the covers and then put the covers loosely over their legs so they know they’re there.

@HappyAsASandboy where do you buy your fleece onsies from? They all seem to have hoods and I can’t imagine that’s very comfy? What is he wearing underneath it?

I use ones with or without a hood and he doesn’t seem to care. He is 5 now though, so a bit bigger!

There are ones without hoods on Amazon though, which I agree would be more comfortable (and safer, if your child is younger). Like this https://amzn.eu/d/hUcEyTa

My son doesn’t wear anything under it at the moment. If he seems cold I will add a vest later in the year.

My 3 year old also kicks the duvet off. Most mights she still wears a Love to Dream tog sleepsuit which I brought off Vinted. If they can get out of bed it’s best to go for something they can walk in without tripping over. The ones we have only go up to 4 years so she will have to get used to the duvet soon.

These sleeping bags with legs in are great and under £20

https://www.amazon.co.uk/MIKAFEN-Winter-Sleeping-Cotton-2-5Tog/dp/B0CNPVCHTF?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&smid=A1XM2REAF3MB98&th=1&psc=1

We used something like these for a while when we first swapped DC to duvets. Had one near the end of the bed and one towards the middle so they weren't actually strapped into the bed. They kept the duvet roughly in position - depends how vigorous the kicking it off is!

www.cosygripsuk.co.uk/

Sleeping bag with feet. Or layers.

I think 2.5 is still quite little for a duvet. Ours was in a sleeping bag with feet until 3/3.5 probably. Only ever needed one. If there are leaks, wash in the morning and chuck on radiator or in dryer. Use duvet as emergency measure if you need to.

I got baby sleeping bags on vinted for about £5 last winter. How old is he? Mine staying in sleeping bags til about 4 because she slept well in them (and we had about 4 as hand me downs!) - but honestly, just get some sleeping bags second hand if you’re fairly sure it will solve the issue. By the time you’ve bought onesies or fleecy pjs or whatever the price won’t be any different. Plus the sleeping bags will probably fit next winter too!

Put a single duvet in a double case which gives lots of spare material to tuck under the mattress without being too tight. You can tuck one or both sides.

Ours used to do this but it didn't last that long before he worked out how to put it back on himself without yelling. We used to just sneak in during the night and put it back on top of him - in our experience, the actual kicking off of the duvet happened before we went to bed (10ish), several hours before the waking up cold.

Dress according to how they sleep not how you want them to sleep! So if they sleep without covers pick PJ's suitable for no covers. My daughter is still in poppered vests overnight when cold to stop her back and stomach getting cold when the PJ's ride up. She's 5 but luckily the size of a 3 yo and hm do vests up to 3-4

She learnt to remove herself from sleeping bags at 18 months so we have had the battle with covers since then. We have learnt if she's cold she is more likely to kick off the covers. Through winter we have an electric heater in her room to keep it about 20-21 on a timer so we don't have to heat the whole house. She also sleeps on a heated under blanket. Both of these aren't currently in action but we will get them out again if the weather cools

I bought on amazon an elastic thing with clips that is supposed to turn a flat sheet into a fitted sheet but instead used it to lie under the mattress about half way up the mattress and clip each side of the duvet to hold it in place - then after a few years we bought both kids double duvets and never looked back!