Grobag, sleepwear and room temperature - help!

[emben12]

Hi
I have recently moved my 11 week old into her cot with a grobag. I have read the guidelines for what she should wear at certain room temperatures. However, our room temperature drops through the night. At 20 degrees I put her in a t-shirt and then babygro sleepsuit and then a 1.0 tog grobag. But quite often the temperature can drop a few degrees through the night. I have a friend who wakes her baby in the night to change him into a thicker tog sleeping bag due to this, which I think seems ridiculous. What do other people do - I'm worried she'll be too cold but also don't want her overheating....any advice much appreciated. Just not sure when to move to 2.5 tog or what to do if her room drops below 16 degrees in the winter...
Thanks x

I tuck a blanket into the cot and over the side, so that when I go to bed / get up in the night, I check the temperature and if it's too low I then just pull the blanket over the top of baby in his grobag without waking him up.

That's a really good idea thanks. Do you also make sure that the bedroom temperature never drops below 16 degrees even in winter??

I do the same as snowtiger, and we always keep the thermostat at 16/17 degrees in winter. DH wouldn't for reasons of stinginess thriftiness, but I don't want the DCs sleeping in temperatures of 12 degrees.

Unfortunately we've moved into an old house without a thermostat so the heating system is either on or off. That's why i'm worried about winter. Will definitely do the same with the blanket though. Thanks.

DS always used to wake up freeing cold when he was in the clothing that they suggest - I suspect they tell you to make it colder than is strictly necessary since it's safer for a baby to be too cold (they will wake up and cry) than too warm (overheating can be dangerous). Do you have a room thermometer? Perhaps you could check it at different times of the night and then you will get a feel for how many degrees it tends to drop to. Dress her for the coldest temperature the room gets to and she won't be too cold in the middle of the night, but might be slightly warmer than the "recommended" temperature before it gets so cold. If that makes sense!

She will be a lot bigger come the really cold weather, but my babies were both born in snowy periods, and I had a little convection heater in our bedroom so if it dipped to 16, that would kick in.

As snowtiger says, when its colder, we just pop a cellular blanket over the top, though my DS likes it cooler than my DD.

That makes total sense thanks. I do have a room thermometer and even at this time of year it can drop from 20 degrees at bedtime to 16 degrees in the middle of the night. That's why i'm worried about the depths of winter. I don't want to have the heating on all night when I can't control the temperature of it but also don't want it to be freezing. And can't afford a whole new central heating system!!

I used to dress my lo's for bed judging by the temperature the room gets to in the night and not what it is when they first go to bed. During the winter the room sometimes dropped to 14 degrees but they slept snuggly in their bodysuit, sleepsuit and 2.5tog bag. 2.5tog is recommended for temperatures between 10 and 20 degrees and 1tog is for rooms of around 21-23 degrees.

see here

Have a look at this:

www.sidsandkids.org/wp-content/uploads/Room-Temperature.pdf

I don't think our temperatures are extreme compaed to Australia!

Yes, when the temp drops so much I do think the guidelines must be based on "the lowest temperature the room gets to" rather than "you must keep the room at this temperature constantly or your child will EXPLODE" it's just not practical in a lot of cases. In the summer you can worry yourself sick over the recommended nightwear, as it's impossible to keep the room at 16 degrees!

Throw away the guideline and look at your own baby - feel the back of her neck, if it's sweaty then remove a layer, if it's cold add one. Easier than trying to guess what a chart is talking about :)

Bertie talks a lot of sense... I obsess about this too because our house is very warm... In the summer our bedroom was 28degrees and I'd obsess about opening windows, togs, what's under grobag etc...
I have heard that a 2.5 tog is sufficient all year round except in 'high summer' when 1.0 tog is advised.

Thanks all - all the advice given is great and appreciated. We seem to have a house that is boiling in summer (28 degrees in our bedroom when she was born) and freezing in winter!!!

At the moment she seems to be waking a lot more - since we moved her to the cot - and I was paranoid she was cold. Having said that she has always moved herself round by 90 degrees and has her head pressing against the bars. But I read you're not supposed to put a cot bumper on in case she suffocates - its never-ending - that's another thread entirely.....

Emden I sympathise entirely I have a 22 week old who now flips over onto his tummy, I'm sat upstairs with him because I'm worried about him sleeping on his belly (he can't flip back over onto his back yet).

Its terrible isn't it - there's always something to worry about. That must be really worrying - especially if he can't flip back again. Surprised if you're getting any sleep at all!

We always have the heating off at night - even when its really cold. DD slept in babygro and gro-bag and was fine. I think the only times I've needed an extra layer was when we went camping and I was a bit concerned about how cold it would get at night.

Emben, I'm not getting much if I am being honest! I will turn him onto his back before I go up bed, but I'm certain he'll flop back on his belly at some point during the night. I usually hear him because he literally flops his feet go flying and usually end up sticking out of the slats in the cot!

I got a merino kids sleeping bag - even with a 20% discount code £40 but the best £40 I have spent.

Pebblejones you should get a cot positioner for him tom lie on so he can't flip over. Typing one handed so cant find link but amazon have them

Pebblejones, I totally sympathise. My daughter now rolls on to her side and gets stuck with her face pressed against the bars and her arm hanging out! We have to get up every couple of hours to move her back again!!!