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Sleep

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Original poster

Baby's room cold at night. Need some advice

32 replies

jadey24 · 12/12/2008 23:10

My dd is 5 months and in her own room.
She has no heating what so ever in her bedroom so for all of november we used a convector heater in her room all night ( which wasnt that great tbh) and we got a really bad heafty bill a few days ago.
If we carry on we will be in huge huge debt. We are not in credit with our elec company as just moved in and first home. Our home is private rented so its not like we can do a lot.

dds room gets sometimes is beween 14-15 deg at night sometimes lower but we really have tocut back on the use of the heating at night. ( it sounds selfish i know but we have to come up with something)
Our room just as bad so not a case of putting her in with us.

We have her in a short sleeve vest, sleepsuit and 2.5 grobag plus i put some socks on her hands. Would this be ok in a room at this temp or should i dress her more up and with what without her getting too over heated?

dd sleeps through night no prob but i dont coz of constant worry and is up 3-4 night checking on her so if i think her room too cold i will have to put the heater on for a couple hours here & there.

If dd was properly wrapped up at night would sleeping in a room at that temp be a problem for her. She feels warm to me skin wise.

thx

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SnowballsintheSky · 12/12/2008 23:19

I've just started putting a cardigan on DD over her grobag as she seemed to be waking with the cold. She is also wearing vest, sleepsuit and grobag but she is in the bed with me so I'm wary of her getting too warm. So far she seems a lot cosier and is sleeping better.

Habbibu · 12/12/2008 23:27

While it's cold, would it not be worth bringing her in with you just so that you're not getting up to check on her all the time - you could just stick your hand out, and not really wake up?

Grobag say: When the weather is very cold, simply add more clothing (this could include a sleepsuit, socks and even a cardigan). When the weather is warmer, or perhaps if your child is unwell, you can remove layers of clothing while still keeping your baby at the right temperature. Never use a duvet or quilt with a baby sleeping bag

MaryMotherOfCheeses · 12/12/2008 23:28

Can you get a 4 tog grobag?

If not, maybe just a thin blanket as well.

How are her hands when you check on her?

Leoness · 12/12/2008 23:29

Jadey, I think you've probably got it right...saying that I
I would try a long sleeve vest and/or maybe put on a cotton or thin wool blanket _ i don't recommend any man made fibre which get far too hot.
Go carefully they can sleep well in cold rooms so don't worry. They sleep in prams and buggies when you are out shopping in 10 degrees so no panic.
Checking there temp down there back a bit is helpful..

Leoness · 12/12/2008 23:30

their not there

sorry

Original poster

jadey24 · 12/12/2008 23:50

Thx for the help.
It has stressed me out so much these past few days and i feel like a bad mom for sacrifcing her heating to save our elec bill.

Our room gets same temp so would make no diff if she went in with us.
I cant have her in our bed ( as much as i would like to) coz have dh in there too and i couldnt risk it. Its dh i dont trust. And we dont put heating on in our room either as its storage and trying to avoid them. ( if it got bad tho i will move dd in with us and use it)

I dont have any long sleeve vests and did try looking for some today but cant find any. Tesco didnt have any.
Does anyone know where i can get some?

Leoness- You do have a point actually they do sleep well outside in cold. Didnt look at it that way

OP posts:

Original poster

jadey24 · 12/12/2008 23:55

Her hands get cold but i was told babies get really cold hands anyway.

We brought a snuggly sleepsuit frm tesco today. One of those thick ones which has little mitt things to go over her hands. I was thinking maybe putting her in a vest with this thick sleepsuit and the grobag but the sleepsuit is real thick and was worried she would over heat.

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bookthief · 12/12/2008 23:56

I used to have the same worry with ds as we don't put the heating on at night (no central heating and tbh, I can't sleep in a room with heating on).

I used to put a pyjama top on him with the grobag and he slept just fine. Checking the back of his neck he was always toasty.

Now I frequently check on him on the coldest nights and he's sleeping soundly with all his covers thrown off so he's obviously not feeling the cold!

We all survived before central heating - I read somewhere that the average temp in a home in the 1970s was 14 degrees (I may have made that up..)

bookthief · 12/12/2008 23:57

If it's a fleece sleepsuit, tbh I probably wouldn't put a grobag on top of that as fleece really keeps the heat in.

BananaFruitBat · 13/12/2008 00:02

When we first moved in to this house, DS was 18months old and went in to the small bedroom in his cot. It was freezing - the temperature could drop to about 10 deg or less.

Long sleeved vest and sleepsuit
Max tog grobag
Blanket
Blankets between the cot and the wall

He never woke up complaining of cold. Until his 'proper' (warm) bedroom had been done up and decorated. Then he complained of being cold.

Original poster

jadey24 · 13/12/2008 00:02

Yeh its a fleece one. I actually think if i did but the grobag on top of it she would deffo overheat.

Do you think it would be ok to use a vest, thin sleepsuit and then the fleece one on its own without a grobag. I think that could poss work out well. Scared to try it just incase.

Im sure tho if dd really cold she would let me know. I hope anyway.

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bookthief · 13/12/2008 00:08

How about vest, fleece sleepsuit and a blanket? Really, if she's not waking up she's unlikely to be too cold.

bookthief · 13/12/2008 00:09

Tbh, I think vest, cotton sleepsuit and grobag is fine btw if she feels warm to your touch. Their hands do get cold how ever wrapped up they are but it doesn't seem to bother them.

Original poster

jadey24 · 13/12/2008 00:12

She kicks blankets off real bad. Even if we tucked it she has it off in seconds.

Just checked on her now and she been asleep for 2 hours and not woke up. Her room 13 deg and her nape feels to me ok. put my hand inside her grobag and feels warm. ( not too warm)

She actually feels warmer then me but i am frozen.

Im gonna nip to asda 2moz and see if i can get some pg tops for her.

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NellyTheElephant · 14/12/2008 20:51

If the temp is going down to 14 or even 13 I'd definitely put more clothes on her than one vest and sleepsuit in the sleeping bag. My DDs room often goes down to 14, as unfortunately it has 3 external walls so v difficult to keep warm. If you can't keep a blanket on her (tucked in over the grobag) I'd definitely suggest at least one more vest and maybe try and get some of those thick cotton sleepsuits - I had some really thick heavy cotton jersey ones.

Fleece sleep suits (I have one) are generally 1.5 tog - i.e. same weight as a summer weight sleeping bag, so don't use a fleece sleepsuit INSTEAD of the 2.5 tog grobag as she'll be colder.

Original poster

jadey24 · 15/12/2008 18:48

We did try extra layers. No good. Still cold. Her room was that cold last night it wasnt even on the temp strip.
I cant have her in there even with more layers. Just still too cold.

Last night i had a brain wave ( dont know y i didnt think of it in first place)
We can only afford to heat the lounge and dd has a travel cot so from last night she slept in lounge. It is about 17deg here so better for her. Not practical mind but when our contract up we are looking at maybe moving somewhere else nxt year we hope if we can rake some money up.

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IAteTheWholeSelectionBox · 15/12/2008 18:52

I was given good advice on this from another MNer - overheating is known to contribute to cot death, but (within reason obviously) the worst that will happen to a cold baby is they'll wake up! So I always erred on the side of less covers and it's amazing what they will sleep through

FiveGoMadInDorset · 15/12/2008 18:52

We have one of the electric radiators in DD's room (gets down to about 12) that cost 2.5pan hour to run and just keeps the chill of the room.

babyOcho · 15/12/2008 18:57

I've seen long sleeved sleeping bags. Not got any ourselves, but this may help?

www.purflo.com/product/sleepsac/sleepsacrange.ashx

VeryHungryKatypillar · 15/12/2008 21:03

We've got a small oil filled radiator with an internal thermostat. It only uses electricity when heating up the oil inside.. once temperature is reached it switches off, leaving the radiator hot for ages (cos of the oil). It's really good for DD's small bedroom. It's a Delonghi Bambino 500watts I think.

gingerninja · 15/12/2008 21:13

Is 14 degrees too cold though? It's cold yes but we slept in temps of 12 during DD's first winter. I used to put an extra blanket on her and a fleece blanket underneath her so she wasn't laying on a cold sheet.

Original poster

jadey24 · 15/12/2008 21:38

14 deg isnt too bad but its been getting lower then that now to some nights 10deg.
dd kicks blankets off. Did try again.

The oil heaters sound interesting tho. Might look into them if they use less watt. Our convecter uses 2kw.

We are seriously thinking about ringing esate agency up and getting them to ask landlady about putting some proper heating in there.

Yeh it is better that they are colder then hotter but i just feel wrong to put her in a 10deg room.

Does anyone know if there is baby thermo clothes?

If not im seeing dragon den coz i would buy some.

Im gonna look at those long sleeve sleepsuits

OP posts:

gingerninja · 15/12/2008 21:44

I think having warm arms and shoulders probably would help so a cardigan might be a good idea. I think if their head is uncovered then heat is likely to escape that way but I doubt she'd over heat in that temp and with those clothes on. Have you tried cutting out drafts around the windows and stuff too?

Original poster

jadey24 · 15/12/2008 21:46

I havent no. We keep the doors shut but to do any fiddiling we would have to ask for permission. ( really strict estate agents )

If i could cut out drafts what sort of things could i do?
Daft quest but first home so no idea lol

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Original poster

jadey24 · 15/12/2008 21:48

Forgot to mention the other big problem is the room isnt carpetted now as its private renting i dont wanna have to fork out dosh to do this when its upto landlady coz she could kick us out nxt year and get a free carpet.

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