Temperature obsession / question

[m33r]

I'm 28 weeks with my first and very excited but also obsessed with room temperatures and not knowing what to put the baby in clothes-wise to prevent overheating / freezing.

Dh and I are notorious with our friends for having a hot house so we got nursery and sitting room theremometers a few weeks back to see how close we were to the between 16 and 20 Celsius guidance. We were of course waaaay hotter than that but have knocked the theremostat down and are trying to acclimatise BUT when we go to bed the nursery is say 20celsius (or a bit over) so we'd use blankets as per guidance I have found online but then during the night I've been up and the room is 15celsius so baby would be cold. Am I being stupid here and over thinking things? REALLY worried about baby overheating ...

Also, guidance on dressing as one more later than myself for dressing I am worried about as in shopping centres I'm wandering around in a t-shirt (have cardi and jacket in bag) but notice that others have their babies really wrapped up in prams... Wouldn't they be too hot?

Sorry if these are the most stupid questions on earth!?!

You're probably overthinking this to be honest.

For the first question about night time, you can always add an extra blanket in the night as the house cools down.

When out in shops etc just remove a layer or two from your baby. If you put it in the pram wrapped in blankets, you'll be able to unwrap blankets when you go inside without waking the baby if it's sleeping.

Best tip I got re temperature is to dress your baby in one more layer than you. So if I was wearing a tree shirt and cardigan then she would have a vest, tee and cardi.

Also, re the room temp, baby will be in your room till around 6 months anyway so you'll be able to check their temp and by 6 months you will be super confident with all this stuff!

Were the same with hot house, not comfortable until it reaches 23C so a nursery at 18C feels frozen to us,!!

We plan to keep the bedrooms cool, but well prob keep the house downstairs warmer. X

My midwife said one more layer than me. She also showed me how to pop my finger down their back to see how warm they actually were. Feet and fingers get coldest because they don't move about. It doesn't feel like it now but you'll get the hang of it quickly.

For the first couple months you will be up all night every 2-3 hours feeding/changing, so you'll have plenty of opportunities to adjust layers/blankets.

16-20 degrees is an ideal temperature, not a must. If your baby was born in the middle of summer there's no way you would be able to get temperature under 20 degrees unless you have an AC in the nursery/your bedroom. So it's not a big deal if it's just over 20.

As pp said, you can always keep the house warm during the day and turn the heat down in the bedrooms to keep them cooler.

The one layer more is a good idea...

Except that when pregnant/newly not pregnant my thermostat seems to be way off and I'm wandering around in t-shirts while everyone else is in massive coats.

I let my kids guide me. Hands feeling a little cold, I add a think layer. Pink cheeks, I take a layer off.

If I'm unsure then I feel the back of their neck under clothes and add layer if it doesn't feel warm.

At night, in summer, cotton sleepsuit, in winter vest and fleece sleepsuit (mine always kicked off blankets).

I err on the side of under rather than over-dressing since I assume that they'll whinge if they're cold.

I think 18 degrees is pretty chilly, and I'm not convinced about the 'guidelines' on layers either. Just play it by ear

Hands and noses often feel cool but if they're warm at the back of the neck they're fine.

As other people said, just pop on extra blanket at night. Or we have a heater with a thermostat in the nursery which clicks on and off during the night which keeps it nice and warm.

It's easy to worry and constantly check the temperature and layers. But my DS was born during a heat wave and his room was 37 degrees for weeks. He was fine. So 18 or 20 is really not such a big deal.