Baby, It's Cold Outside!

Our little five month old has been sleeping through the night, but last night woke up at 5am! I suspect he was cold as he fell back to sleep as soon as we brought him to bed with us.


My question is: What do your babies wear to bed in this weather? And when do you start using a heater in the nursery? Bubs is currently sleeping in a velour all in one with feet and a 2.5 tog grobag.


Thanks!

We have a grobag egg in the nursery and the temp was 17C at 5am. His hands and face were freezing poor thing!


I wondered whether he might be hungry as he has been very distracted during his feeds since he started noticing the world around him more, but when he came into our bed, he didn't root at all -- just curled up and went to sleep. Maybe I'll try the heater tonight to see if that makes any difference -- thanks, Mummybee.

According to the thermometer that comes with the grobags, the ideal temp is 18c. The temp has been a steady 19c for the past 2 days in Meg's nursery but dropped to 17c as Mayafox said.


Our little one is sleeping in a long sleeved sleep suit, 2.5 grobag and a cardie on top (to keep her little arms warm.)


Am considering putting socks on her hands tonite as her poor little mits were bright pink this morning!

Babies do not need hot rooms, and all night heating is rarely necessary according to The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID). They recommend two blankets if the room is 18C (65F) which is the recommended temperature. These guidelines are for babies wearing a nappy, vest and babygro plus a sheet.



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If his hands are warm, then he's warm enough. If his hands are cold, add some layers. Dr. Brazelton (I'm showing my age here) makes the point that a baby's body core (chest, abdomen) is where the heat is generated. If the main body is warm enough, his hands and feet will stay warm naturally. So, focus on keeping the baby's tummy and chest warm enough, and extremeties will pretty much take care of themselves (within reason of course)! As a mom, I prefer dressing the baby in warmer clothes at night instead of using a lot of covers, so I don't have to worry about the baby kicking the covers off and then getting cold. I also personally prefer to use the heat a bit less because the heater will dry out the air too much. So, I always used the one piece, warm sleeper suit that covered whole body, coupled with a very light baby blanket. Another thing you can do is put a hot water bottle in bed with the baby (don't use a heating pad as this can be dangerous). But here's another thing to consider, it's not just hot / cold issues. At five months, your baby is at an age where he will quickly figure out that he likes sleeping with warm and cuddly mommy and daddy rather than alone in his dark, cold. So, either accept your little visitor gracefully knowing it could turn into a long term thing, or brace yourselves for a bit of struggle and hold firm when he figures out he really wants to be in your bed and begins complaining always about being put to sleep in his own room. I personally love having the little one snuggled in bed with me (using some safety precautions of course), and when they're close I never have to get up at night to check and see if they are warm or not. But if you go that route, it could be as many as four years before they willingly move to the privacy of their own bed again.