Bedroom temperature dropping to 14/15C at night

[Daisybell1]

Sorry for such a silly question, nervous first timer here (DD is 3 weeks old). We live in a drafty farm house in the frozen north and temperatures have really started dropping at night in our room - down to about 14C. DD likes her sleeping bags (she kicks off covers) but I'm struggling to know what else to dress her in to keep her warm enough.

She generally has had vest/babygro/2.5tog sleeping bag, but is that enough with these cold temperatures (she was very unsettled last night and I wonder if its because she was cold). If she is too cold, how do I keep her warm enough? Can I put a blanket over the sleeping bag?

I put a soft jacket or a sweater on the grobag. Well, on the baby but not underneath the bag. Plus warm socks. if it's that cold I would put a thin hat on too.

I wouldn't use a hat but you put a cardigan and socks on. You could get a freestanding electric or oil filled heater and use that to keep the bedroom temperature a bit higher during the night without having to have the heating on all night

You could make sure it's a long sleeve vest and rest a blanket over her when she's asleep. If you're nervous tuck the blanket in at the bottom of the cot/basket, I still do this with DD and she's 7 mo. You can also get fleecy, warmer babygros

Oh and not a silly question at all

Its a very good question and one we are struggling with also.

You can get sleeping bags with arms on which are lovely and cosy. Not sure if you can get them for under 6 months though. We used them through the 2009 Perthshire winter with DS although when it was -10 put a blanket over too! Ours are Vertbaudet and I should really look and see if there are ones to fit DD who is 3 months before it gets any frostier! Brrrr...

I dont think the ones with arms are supposed to be for overnight use but may be wrong. This is the answer to a question about sleeves from the grobag website:

We believe that Baby Sleep Bags should be sleeveless to aid heat loss and air circulation. (Babies sleeping under traditional blankets rarely sleep with their arms inside). The new British Standard also stipulates that Baby Sleep Bags should be ?without sleeves or hoods?. In cooler weather, we recommend long-sleeve bodysuits, in addition to a long-sleeved pyjama top, pyjamas or a sleepsuit.

Also very worried about this. 16mth old DD wears a babygro and vest in her 2.5tog bag, but the temp was at 16deg despite the central heating coming on several times during the night. I'm really worried about when it gets colder as she moves so much during the night that there is no way a blanket will stay on. I've got a plug in oil heater for her room with a thermostat, but the thermostat doesn't have numbers on it and seems to be really inconsistent about when it turns on and off.

Thanks for all the advice We have had some success last night (ie she slept) with:

Long sleeved vest
Babygro
Sleeping bag
Light blanket over the top, more for security/nestiness than warmth

And (please don't shoot me for this, I hope its ok!)
One of those wheat bags popped in her bed for 10 mins when I took her out to feed, so she went back into a slightly warm bed afterwards which seemed to help her settle and go back to sleep.

We're in deepest darkest coldest Scotland and it's very cold at night. Mine have always been ok in longsleeve vests under their sleepsuits and I use a single layer cellular blanket on top if it's really bad. Despite ice inside the windows they've rarely felt cold. And a heat pack to keep it warm while she feeds is a good plan, I use a mini hot water bottle :)

We put a cardigan over the top of DD's sleepsuit and grobag. Her hands were still getting rather cold though - if I hadn't managed to warm her room up I would have put her in gloves too. The cold definitely makes her wake up more.

I warmed up the room by:

-draft-proofing everything that needed it
-adding thicker curtains to both windows and making sure they're properly tucked in when closed.
-switching the heating on (on minimum) - can maximise the radiator's work by putting foil on the wall behind the radiator.

Also, I put a fleece blanket over DD's cotton sheet as it is warmer to sleep on than the cotton.

Good luck, I hope you manage to make things more cosy!

That sounds fine - as long as you aren't leaving the heat pack in with her :)

The last few nights I have put a cardi over DD2. She gets togged up in long vest, baby grow, growbag, then I pop a cardi on backwards so it is over her chest.

I like the heat pack idea!

I have a similar issue, DS's room is red hot in the summer 29!!! Has got down to 16 this week. I know his room can drop 2/4 degrees from bed time to morning so I'm always guessing what he will need to get through the night. So far we have used vest, sleep suit then 2.5 tog Gro bag. I will switch the vest to long sleeve body suit then sleep suit as the winter really sets in. Its starting to feel like a science working out the best warmth combo although he can be a bit sweaty when having last feed before sleep.

Ha, I know what you mean - it can be a sod to judge correctly. All my efforts to warm the room up were so successful that DD was a bit too warm last night - but once I took off the cardi, she went back to sleep and stayed that way until 08.00 (hoorah!)

Sounds ok to me. Remember that it's better for a baby to be on the cool side than too warm. A lot of people make the mistake of bundling their babies up too warm at this time of the year, but SIDS instances are more numerous in the autumn/ winter because babies overheat. When the temperature drops to proper winter temperatures i might be tempted to put a breathable blanket (perhaps knitted with holes and not doubled over) over the top too, but i'd avoid hats and lots of layers. If her tummy/ back feel comfortable to the touch (not her hands/ feet) then she's the right temperature.

Head to Matalan, they do really cuddly snuggly warm sleeping bags of 4 tog and are only £10

Read
what should my baby wear under a grobag which I have always found useful...so an extra blanket or jacket sounds fine.

I would put an extra heater in her room to increase the temperature to at least 18 degrees TBH

Actually Dikker is probably right- I'm pretty sure I've read baby's room is best between 16 and 20 deg

We have a monitor in DS's room that says 'too warm' at 19/20 degrees. I went in the other night and it said '18 degrees' and for the first time didn't say too warm but to me it felt so so cold ... I have him in a sleepsuit (but no vest at the moment until it gets colder) and a sleepbag from Matalan that says it's 'no more than 4 tog' so I've always assumed it's about a 3.5/4 tog.