lullaby music/ hot bedroom

[ionesmum]

Hello! Can anyone recommend a lullaby/relaxation/classical music c.d. that we can play for dd at sleep time? Ideally I'd like to be able to buy it on-line.

Also, does anyone have any ideas on keeping a 4 month old cool at night? The thermometer in our bedroom is already too high for even the lightest Grobag and is labelled "too hot". I don't want to open the window because of mosquitoes etc. We have tried a fan but we've kept it well away from dd and it hasn't made much of a difference.

Ionesmum-last summer, temperatures in ds1 bedroom reached into the 30s. It was horrendous. ds slept in his 0.5tog summer cotton bag and a nappy, with a fan on speed3, doing a sweep of the room, so that there weren't any "cooler" spots/draughts. It was on a timer to switch off at about 5am when things turned a little cooler. He amazingly seemed to sleep ok. He would have been 7-8mo old at the time, and yes, I was a v paranoid first time mum wondering how on earth you were supposed to keep the room temp down to the required 18C. I used to keep the curtains closed during the day and windows open, and used citronella oil drops on a hanky to ward off biting insects. It seemed to work!

Having used a free gift tape from Our Baby magazine till it wore out, I decided I'd better get a CD of relaxing music for the smaller person so I could do multiple copies on tape!

The one I chose is called Baby Pan Pipes from Meringue Productions (tel. 0181 744 2277). It's really good and relaxing!

ionesmum, flute music is lovely, there are lots of collections by James Galway (but avoid those with Flight of the Bumble Bee which is very agitated!)

Actually the fan itself makes a nice "white" noise even if it doesn't cool the room much.

Which direction does your room face? If east, keep curtains closed/windows shut in the morning, and open them in the afternoon - if west reverse this - if south keep both closed all day unless it gets a bit cooler. (North can be left open all day and just closed at night.) You can get nylon mesh screens in a variety of sizes which fix at the corners with Velcro, so you can keep the window open at night, but I can't remember exactly where I've seen them - some small catalogue or other - OR you can buy the mesh and cut it to fit.

Does the heat actually bother your dd or is it just that you think she is too hot? I think babies can tolerate heat better than we can. HTH!

I have abandoned the grobag for now - ds just sleeps in a vest. I bought a mosquito net from jojomamanbebe (mail order) which goes right over the cot so I can keep the window open. I dont use a fan as Im frightened of leaving it going all night in case of fire - it only pushes the hot air round anyway!

Cant really help with the cd - sorry.

Thank you so much for this advice. I don't think that dd could have been too bothered as she slept right through the thunderstorm!

I hadn't thought of flute or panpipe music. Thanks!

Woolworths have got some good fans in at the mo, with £ off! Got oldest son a blue one for £9.99.

Cradle Days by Julian Lloyd Webber is beautiful. It sends me off to sleep!

jonesmum -I have the same prob are you in the uk? I've since tried the windows and shutters shut routine and it has made a difference, but ds's room is still off the thermometer. His hair is wet with sweat, and as he;s not well anyway at the mo it's a real worry. I too am afraid of leaving the fan on all night, and it doesn't seem so effective either. any more tips would be gratefully received

Yes, monkey, we are in East Anglia. We also have a thatched roof which is so insulating it's untrue. I worry about the fan from the point of view of fire but sometimes it seems to be the only way to make things tolerable

I have a wonderful bedtime CD someone gave me as a gift but I can't remember the name of it! Will check it tonight and try to post the name tomorrow. It's got lots of really beautiful lullabies and lasts for ages so dd is always asleep before it finishes!

The CD is called Lullaby Themes for Sleepy Dreams, Produced by Susie Tallman and Scottie Duncan. Like I said, my copy was a gift but I did find it on-line at Amazon.com (NOT Amazon.co.uk unfortunately) but I think they ship overseas. It is a really wonderful CD. It has 18 tracks beautifully sung, including Hush Little Baby, Mozart's Lullaby, All the pretty horses, golden slumbers, brahms' lullaby. I highly recommend it!

Rkayne - thank you. My mum is in the States at the moment so she might be able to get the cd for me!

SueDonim & Ems - thank you also.

Dd slept through The Clash the other day but I'd like to find something more appropriate!