newborn in co-sleeper - unheated bedroom

[karlu]

We are finalising our lists for a new arrival in February and are a bit puzzled with how to dress our baby at night. We live in a rented old house with central heating but no temperature caps on radiators and I am not terribly keen on oil plug in ones because they dry out the air. We are used to sleeping with no heating in our bedroom and feel uncomfortable when it's on at night. Fingers crossed the baby won't mind Arm's reach co-sleeper. The question is when I need to change a newborn in the middle of the night it's going to be very uncomfortable temperature-wise. If we will keep the bathroom warm and I will have to take the baby there then it would really disturb the night routine. So what would be the best solution? At the moment I am thinking a vest, a babygro and merino swaddling with a beany plus some blankets just in case.
Would really appreciate any suggestions.

Firstly I wouldn't put a beanie on a baby, it's not safe. You are not meant to be covering their heads once they are indoors.

We have the same issue as you in that we have no temp caps on our heating so it means most of the night it's off so it can be cool. My 6-week-old seems to have adapted quite quickly and doesn't cry in the middle of the night nappy changes. My advice is this:

Make one nappy change at the last night feed (the 10-11pm feed).

Don't change nappy in the middle of the night unless it's a dirty one (quite difficult in the first few weeks but my baby now poos once or twice a day and usually in the day).

If you want to change nappy in the middle of the night, do it quick. Whip off old nappy, give bum a quick wipe and put new nappy on. I used to be meticulous with creaming the baby with my first but a lot more laxed with DS2 and guess what, no nappy rash so far!

At the moment, DS2 sleeps in our bedroom and it's vest, babygro, a fleece swaddling blanket and a merino wrap on really cold nights like this. He's never cold when I unwrap him.

With my PFB, I used one of those cheap fan radiators (only a tenner or get them off freecycle) during nappy changes so at least it's blowing hot air towards him.

Good luck! DS1 was born in Feb and I can say coping with a newborn in December is worse! The winter stretches on...

Thanks a lot for the advice. I thought babies poo at every feed and by dirty nappy you mean not just wet, right? Hope my whipping off nappy skills will be up to scratch.

Well, babies in the first few weeks do poo a lot so you will have to be prepared to change a poopy nappy ever so often but it settles down after 3-4 weeks. Yes, when I say dirty nappy, I meant a soiled one. You should be getting wet nappies all the time. My MIL made me think I have to change nappies every time we feed but in all honesty, it just made all of us (especially the baby!) more upset when all he wants is to go back to sleep after a night feed... Good luck!

Just to second that some babies do stop pooing at night quite quick, I think my DS was 5 weeks maximum before he was going the whole night in one nappy. Mind you we use cloth, don't know if newborn disposables will cope. However in the time you do need to change just make it as quick as possible and warm the wipes up first in your hand (I wouldn't bother with the whole cotton wool & water thing at night - too much faff, just use very mild wipes).

I would also be wary of covering babies head - advice is not too. Their little hands and noses can get very cold, but their core temps can be fine. When I BF my DS at night his little nose is like a tiny icicle against my boob! To check their temp properly always try down the neck rather than the extremities.

Having a co-sleeper will be great, but you will probably find the baby will end up very close to you, especially in the early days so read up on safe co-sleeping. Be prepared to sleep without a pillow, and keep a shawl or cardigan handy to cover your top half whilst co-sleeping and/or breastfeeding (assuming you will be)

(top tip - if you use wipes keep the packet in bed with you so they aren't cold)

My PFB is just coming up for 15 weeks and apart from the first 10 days has not had a nappy change at night.
I read a breast feeding book that advocated co-sleeping and said not to wake babe up too much by changing nappy at night...my DS has been very obliging and doesn't poo until we are up in the morning! Also pampers newborn nappies cope fine.
As for cold bedroom, have you got a room thermometre yet?
The ideal temp is 18 degrees - until you check it with the thermometre you will be amazed at how cool this actually feels.
We live in a farmhouse on a cliff in Cornwall and sleep with the window open. The electric heater is set to come on if temp drops below 15 degrees and it rarely comes on at all.
I swaddled my son to begin with but he wasn't a fan so moved him into a gro-bag and now he sleeps for 6 hour stretches most nights.