Newborns in the heat

[atalantis]

DS2 due in three weeks' time and (apart from being wretchedly uncomfortable) I'm panicking about the effects that this weather will have on the new baby. The idea of keeping a room between 16 and 20 degrees at the moment is just laughable. What would you do to try to keep baby safe in the heat, especially when asleep? DS1 was born a year last September so didn't have the problem of trying to keep a tiny baby cool in the summer with him. Any advice would be much appreciated.

I will be watching this thread with interest I am also due DD2 in just under 2 weeks and have been wondering how to help keep her cool. DD1 was born in November so I didn't have this problem with her.

Mine is 8 weeks so not newborn as such but he is spending his days in a nappy with tepid baths when he gets too hot. All the windows are open and we are avoiding direct sunlight. I am pale (almost blue) and freckly so I am assuming that my children are similarly crap in the sunshine.

At night we are co-sleeping but DS is wearing a nappy with a thin muslin over him in the early hours when it is a little cooler. DH has been relegated to the spare room anyway.

Oh, and he is feeding more frequently so I'm pretty worn out! I hate the heat, roll on winter!

DS was born in the hottest summer for years, it reached 41 degrees in Kent. He spent the first few weeks of his life in just a nappy, we kept the curtains drawn and had all the windows open. He had just a sheet on him at night and he didn't seem to get too hot. On the other hand, I was boiling what with that lovely post-baby hanging tummy swinging about. He also wanted to feed constantly, but I have no idea how much that was to do with the heat and how much to do with him being a very greedy boy.

Yesterday when we all got a bit too hot we went out in the car for spin to cool down in the air-con!

DD was born in the 2006 heatwave, she didnt wear vests just thin cotton dresses and a nappy and at home just a nappy (ds is a bit older but is wearing sleeveless bodysuits atm

We did have a fan but never directed at the baby, normally pointed at the wall, sometimes with ice in front of it

I boought a shade a babe which are dislike d a bit and called buggy burkhas but it does provide true shade and makes the buggy actually feel cooler (dd is three but climbs into her brothers buggy to cool down!)

I bfed (alot) and just kept offering to make sure baby doesnt get dehydrated, you can see if they begin to if the soft spot on the top of their head starts to dip

I remember when DS1 was little (but not newborn) doing as llareggub said and taking him out in the car as it was the coolest place by far! Also drove to large shopping centre a couple of times as it was air conditioned.

When I did take him out in the pram he was dressed in just a nappy and had a damp muslin over his legs.

Also got a big a/c unit for his bedroom as his room seemed to be the hottest in the house (always over 30 degrees when he went to bed).

ds 3 to be born next mon ( c-section) will be in a shortsleeved vest if this heat continues and down to a napp if he can't take the heat. Ds2 -20 months is in vests at the mo and hating the heat where as lucky ds 1 takes after daddy in that he LOVES the heat!!

Also going to use muslins as sheets as they are a little thinner than cotton.

Thanks for all the replies. I wonder whether there's any temperature difference between cloth and disposable nappies? DS1 was in cloth from very early on, but perhaps throw-aways are cooler? Or are they less breathable and therefore less comfortable? I wish the poor little things could tell us for themselves!

Have to say though, I panicked with ds 1 as it was quite hot then and the midwife looked at me and said wryly 'People have been having babies near the equator and also in the poles and they seem to have survived...'

I was a bit

I lived in the tropics for many years and babies newborns too slept in nappies and with a thin sheet with curtains closed and windows opened. They tended to wear cloth nappies - mainly due to price of disposables but also because they were breathable but those were the ones you fold into shape and use pins with.
During the day they wore a nappy and something like a cotton shirt sleveless but thinner than bodysuits.

Muppet Yeah, I hate comments like 'they have babies in Australia you know...' I always think 'yeah, but my baby isn't used to hot weather, she isn't acclimatised' Grr!