Freezing cold hands at night

[SJ789]

Hi, this might sound silly so forgive me! Basically my 1yo who is a terrible sleeper (wakes up 6x + a night sometimes for 2 hours at a time just crying) I've noticed her little hands are so cold when I go to her, and I'm wondering if it's bothering her and contributing to the waking up? She is dressed appropriately for her room temperature and her body is fine, just her hands are like blocks of ice. I haven't found any sleepsuits with the little hand cover/scratch mittens attached for her age which I thought might help, or at least might stop her from touching her face with cold hands which might be disturbing her sleep? Would it be appropriate to put actual mittens (as in the winter ones i put on her for a walk outside in the cold) on her at night to help her hands stay warm? Has anyone had a similar issue to this and found something that worked? I'm absolutely desperate to help her sleep better we are both exhausted so I'm really grasping at straws here! Thank you!

Sorry I meant to say that I have checked every other reason I can think of as to what is waking her up so frequently (wind/hungry/thirsty etc) and it's nothing like that. She has appropriate day naps and a good bedtime routine so I'm just stumped and wondering if it's her cold hands causing the bad nights! Her room temp is usually 18-19 degrees C.

How cold is your house? Babies don’t have great circulation so it’s not unusual for them
to have cold hands and they wouldn’t usually be bothered if they and the room are warm. If she’s always been a bit of crap sleeper even in warmer weather then you’re probably deep into clutching at straws territory. But hey may as well try why the mittens if you want to! Worse case what she takes them off but as she’s over 1 they don’t present any risk being loose in the cot. If you really want to fix the sleep you probably need to think less along the lines of outdoor clothing and more like sleeping training but I would love it if the mittens solved it all for you though! Good luck!

If she’s cold then I’d put another layer on her before giving her mittens to wear

fwiw, I think the guidelines are very chilly on what to wear and mine always had an extra layer or two or they’d wake up frequently

18-19 celsius really isn’t mittens territory… I thought you were going to say much cold than that! But yes absolutely agree with PP - if you’re following the gro bag charts both of mine always needed an additional layer on top of what it said because they really err on the side of chilly.

Also, when you say she has a good bedtime routine, does she fall asleep in the cot, on her own, in a dark room? If there are any conditions that are present when she falls asleep but aren’t then when she stirs at night, even as mundane as just you sitting there, then that’s likely the cause of her waking rather than the cold hands.

I used to cut a hole in wooly tights for their head and put their arms in the legs underneath their vest or sleep suit because they would always pull mittens off in their sleep. It worked well for us

Sorry but 18-19 isn’t really too cold and I agree with PP that you’re falling in to straw grasping territory

it’s more likely that he’s still got some strong sleep association and can’t get back to sleep on his own - do you rock / feed him to sleep?

Thanks everyone for your thoughts! I tried her out with mittens last night and I couldn't believe it she only woke up twice all night with minimal fuss, quick feed (always fed to sleep which doesn't bother me, weaning her off that is a battle for another day 🙈) and back to bed! I have no idea whether it was complete coincidence that she just had a better night but I will keep using the mittens in the hope it was those that made a difference.

Funnily enough I had to google a sound issue with her monitor last night and happened to find comments on forums from people saying they found this particular one actually reads a couple of degrees higher than the room actually is, I guess meaning her room could possibly be more like 16-17 degrees, not arctic but if you're just laying still I guess may feel a bit chilly on exposed skin.

Fingers crossed the mittens continue to work!

If it's the BT monitor the temp is definitely inaccurate. The base of the monitor gets warm and distorts the recording. I'd buy a separate thermometer to keep in her room. Also echo others re the sleeping guidance - our daughter has always needed at least one layer more than they recommend.