Keeping baby warm at night

[Jessie2024]

So I never usually put the heating on overnight, because the house heats up very quickly and I’ve always been told to keep the baby’s room cool overnight for safe sleep. Baby (6m) sleeps in a vest, sleep suit and a 2.5 tog sleeping bag. Last night, I accidentally left the heating on, but instead of waking up every two hours like baby usually does, she slept through the night!! And she didn’t leak through her nappy like she usually does (I always assumed this happens because because she feeds every two hours overnight, but apparently babies wee a lot to keep themselves warm).
The room was quite warm when I went in this morning, but now I’m confused as she slept so well for once, so she clearly prefers a warmer room. So now I’m stuck between a warm room as she likes, or a cool room like the professionals recommend!! Need advice!

The thing I’ve heard is that baby’s don’t wee in their sleep but they wee just after they’ve woken/stirred each time. Then go back to sleep. So maybe they’re waking up if they’re cold more often and weeing…?

No idea what my phone did with that post it's a mess apologies

@RevelryMum thank you! Although when I say she slept through the night, she still woke up, but she just very quickly settled herself back to sleep without a peep - when she would usually cry! So I’m hoping she wasn’t so hot that she was completely knocked out. I think it was probably around 21-22 degrees in there, as the house rarely gets hotter than that. Maybe I can dress her in less clothes, but keep the room warm, and see if that helps her.

21-22c should be fine, stick a hand on her chest and head is she sweaty? That would suggest too warm.
I usually touch the back of the neck/chest to gauge temp (assuming your hands aren't freezing cold).
I wouldn't go above 22c with a 2.5tog personally.
18c is cold.
So for me anything around 20-22 range is ideal.

That article doesn't really say babies pee to keep themselves warm, it says they produce more pee when they are cold (because they are thirstier, sweat less and have higher blood pressure)

As others have said I would get a room thermometer or put your thermostat in the baby's room (if possible). It could also be a one-off so I'd try a few nights before saying the baby is definitely waking up from the cold.

What temperature do you normally heat to during the day and what temperature does the house drop to at night?
Are you in Australia? (as the link you posted is an Australian store). Australian houses lose a lot of heat at night even in the summer, whereas UK houses are built for cold weather so temperatures only tend to drop dramatically at night in the winter

Erm no.

@Sia8899 ah that makes sense! To be honest I didn’t read that specific article, I just wanted to find one that sort of backed up what my health visitor told me 😂. I’m in the UK, my house is currently around 21 degrees and feels nice and comfortable. It definitely feels colder at night, but I wouldn’t say it gets lower than 18. I’ll set a thermostat up tonight and see what temp it is, it’s hard to tell what sort of temperature is good, as 20 degrees seems cold to me 😂

@boulevardofbrokendreamss thank you for the helpful input, this was just what my health visitor told me 😂 maybe I shouldn’t believe everything she says

@MakeMeATea i think 21-22 degrees is a nice comfortable temperature, i think that’s what the house was last night. But some people say over 20 is too high. Should I dress her in a 1 tog for over 20 do you think?

Basically the temperature that's statistically the safest for a baby is also a bit too cold for their comfort! So they often sleep better when it's a bit warmer but it also slightly raises the risk of SIDS.

It might be that you decide the better sleep is worth the elevated risk, either because the actual risk is tiny or because you getting more sleep means you are safer to drive, care for a child etc.

We always dressed ours a bit warmer/kept the room a bit warmer, because they seemed cold and miserable with the recommended layers.

@Dinosaurlover thank you for that information! I’m happy with waking up at night to care for her, even though it does make me more tired. But I just feel bad for her, when she wakes up crying rather than just settling herself back to sleep like she did last night! Do you know how much higher of a risk it is for it to be a couple of degrees warmer than the recommendation?

I’ve heard the wee thing too. It’s not that the baby is consciously weeing to keep itself warm but just how the body functions differently when cold compared to warm. Temperature changes impact babies more than adults.

I noticed the other week that my baby wet through her nappy the night it got really cold overnight and we hadn’t put the storage heaters on in advance so had no heating. She was definitely cold as her back and chest were. Just had her normal feeds that night so no extra fluid. The next night the room was warmer as the temp didn’t drop so much and she was fine. Never normally wets through.

Definitely get a thermometer though as PPs have suggested and dress baby according to that. There are various guides on the internet (most of which are unhelpfully slightly different to each other!) but I use the Groegg one. You know your baby best though so do just use it as a guide - like adults all babies are different and some may run cooler/hotter than others. Most important thing is that she’s not too hot.

Yes, now that more is known about preventing cot death guidance has changed significantly. Babies sleep much more deeply on their front, for example. That’s why the guidance now is to place them on their backs.

I think you’re projecting adult feelings about waking up and crying onto the baby here. She’s crying because that’s how she tells you she’s awake. It doesn’t mean she’s suffering.

When it's cold, blood vessels constrict to keep the body warm, which increases blood pressure and makes the kidneys filter more blood. This results in more urine production, especially in babies.

@Wonderballs she cries when she’s upset about something, when she’s letting me know she’s awake she screeches and babbles 😂 I know the difference with her, when she wakes crying it’s always when she’s hungry or cold or something like that.