How on earth can I cool my baby’s room down in this heat?!?!

[Biosblbay]

My 11 month old will not settle at all. I even went out to buy a new fan this evening, she has 2 in her room, not even making a difference at all, the camera is saying it is 28 degrees, window is open, I’ve taken her vest off, taken her out of her love to dream swaddle and it’s still so hot. I never thought I would get so angry about the nice sunny weather but I’m just so paranoid my baby is going to overheat. What else can I do?!?!!

She won’t overheat
Leave her in just a nappy, she will be absolutely fine!

Keep her sheets in the freezer? Swap the sheets out at intervals. I’ve seen something about a bowl of ice cubes behind the fan, so the air it draws is colder.

It sounds silly but make sure she isn't actually chilly which is why she isn't settling.

Where are you?

It's not that hot now with windows open, make sure the door is also open and other windows to allow air flow.

It's going to get hotter. The best strategy is open windows overnight and shut windows and curtains in the day.

Also no point in opening windows if the curtain/blind are shut. The air can't circulate.

Order an air con unit. It’s worth it.

also - keep curtains and windows shut until the evening. Then let the breeze in. Shut them again in the morning.

She can sleep in a nappy and vest.

Aim the fan on her

@fashionqueen0123 we have 2 of them already but her room is so small it would get freezing in there with aircon. I am thinking possibly getting the travel cot and having her sleep upstairs with me and my husband in our room the next week or so

Get an aircon and cool the room and hour before bed

When we had the 40 degrees heatwave 4-5 years ago we all slept downstairs in the lounge as it was cooler, so could you take her to sleep in the coolest part of the house?

Then put the air con unit in her room for a couple of hours before bed. Bedroom curtains, windows and blind tightly shut during the day/early evening too.

She doesn't sleep upstairs with you?

But yeah obviously if you're room is much cooler - then move her to your room for this heatwave period.

Point the fan OUT the window. It sucks hot air from the room and sends it outside.

@Kerry242no she hasn’t since 8 months old, she slept so much better on her own. Haven’t had a contact nap with her in so long, she is too nosey, she doesn’t even sleep in her pram, never has done!

but yes, I am going to put the travel cot in our room and have her with us until the heat settles. Might end up me kicking the husband on the sofa for the week

They’re expensive but Dyson fans are very good.

@Happytaytos I am in Essex, it was 30 degrees today, Tuesday is 34, dreading it! But I do have aircon upstairs so as of tomorrow I will be having her up with me with in her travel cot

Use the aircon in another room on the same floor. Cool the room before bed and let some cool air in when needed after that. Also, a fan won't cool the room but will make it more comfortable to sleep in. Put them to bed in just a nappy on the hottest nights.

You can always switch it off at like 2am.
or yes just bring her in with you then now.

If you have the air con in the room with her just dress her appropriately.

It's relatively cool overnight even if its 34 in the day. We still have the wind which might not be true next week.

It's OK to let them sleep in just a nappy and cellular blanket.

When my son was that age and we were living in a country where 30-35 degrees is very normal for most of the summer months, the trick was little clothing and indirect cooling.

Very thin vest + nappy. No blankets

Fans, Aircon, windows etc. yes, but not directly on the baby. Generally you try and keep the room next to the babies room colder, but you don't actually want too much cold wind on the baby. At least that is what is believed here.

Also look at the sheets and blankets you use.. English ones are designed for the cold. Whereas here we have specific bedding sets for hot water, with materials that are better suited for dissipating and not retaining heat.

Most of all though, keep her well fed and try not to overthink it too much, I know it's unusual for the UK, but in other parts of world, pre-aircon, parents have raised babies for as far back as you want to go.

It was 28 degrees in my room last night, only dropping to 26 overnight. Not looking forward to the rest of the week.

My baby slept in a short sleeve vest.

I hope OP means Love to Dream sleeping rather than swaddle as an 11 month old baby is way too old for swaddling. The 0.2 tog love to Dreams can be used up to 27!degrees. Any hotter I go for vest or nappy only.

Keep curtains / windows closed throughout the day so heat can’t get in
consider taping foil to the window (shiny side facing out) to reflect the sun away - makes a massive difference

I read that anything 26 degrees or hotter means baby should have a nappy on and nothing else, no vest or blankets. What calmed me down when it was hot and mine were small was being told there are places a lot hotter than here, this is not an every day occurrence for us, for in some countries it is and their babies are fine. Try not to overthink it. Put down in a nappy and leave them.

Keeping the upstairs of our house cool is an all day job. We open the windows, blinds and door when the sun is on the opposite side of the house. So in the morning one side is open, the other closed. Then when the sun is creeping towards the back of the house (usually about 2pm) we swap. If out for the day I'd just leave them all closed.

About an hour before bed I go and check the temp in the kids rooms and if it's too hot I have a fan directed towards the door so it's blowing warm air from inside the room out in to the corridor. Add a bowl with cooling blocks /ice in front of it if you need extra oomph.

When the heat was lasting more than a few days we cut reflective insulation to the size of the window and taped that up. Other friends used to block the window with tin foil in the hotter months, just kept the light on and didn't ever have any natural light in the room. So blackout and heat reflection in one.

À Google tells me that most places dipped to 19 or lower overnight last night. Therefore if your room is that hot, you need to get the air moving and windows and doors open through night. In the day, shut everything and only open when it is cooler outside than in. We're not set up for this heat in the UK, but we can make the best of what we have.

I live in a very hot country. You need to shut your windows, blinds, shutters completely closed during the day. Doesn’t matter which side the sun is shining, if the temp outside is higher than what you’d like it to be in the house, shut everything. British “curtains” are anything but, and don’t actually tackle the problem of glass overheating and warming up the house temp… If I had a place in the UK again, I’d be installing our type of outside rolling shutters that actually prevent the heat from getting to the glass in the first place.

I digress. Air the house after the temp has gone down, keep everything open until 8-9am or whenever it starts to heat up. You prepare for a hot day/night by doing this 2-3 days before already.

Our babies don’t die in heatwaves but yes, they do need to sleep almost naked. They go outside in just a nappy sometimes too 😂

Between mid June and September, our minimum temps don’t go below 23… It’s crazy hot, but you just become militant about the airing routine!

Is there a typo somewhere in that post because it would be really dangerous to swaddle an 11MO!

But don’t overthink it, she’s not going to overheat in a 28 degree room that will likely drop overnight so long as she’s in just a nappy or at most the naply plus a thin vest- if she is 11 months old I would put a vest over to stop the nappy being removed 🤣 Think of all the healthy babies in southern europe that sleep in those sort of temps all summer long.