Keeping your baby cool at night

With it set to be a hot few days in parts of the UK this week, we have put together a guide with hints and tips to keeping your little one cool at bedtime.

Monitor room temperature – By using a room thermometer you can keep a good check on the temperature your little one’s room and this will be the best guide as to what actions to take. An ideal nursery temperature should be between 16 - 20⁰C so any higher and we should be looking at ways to either cool the room or help keep our children cool through the night. 

Check them regularly – If you do not have a room thermometer, you can use your hands to feel the back of their neck or tummy. Never use hands and feet as a guide to baby’s temperatures as these are normally cooler. If you baby’s skin is hot or sweaty, remove one or more layers of bedclothes or bedding. Keep doing these checks every 30 minutes in hot weather.

Dress appropriately – Please see the below guide to dressing babies in different temperatures.

*14-16°C: A 2.5 tog sleep bag with a long-sleeved vest & sleepsuit

*17-20°C: a 2.5 tog bag with a long sleeved sleepsuit / pyjamas

*21-23°C: a 1.0 tog bag with a short-sleeved or long-sleeved vest

*24-27°C: A 0.5 tog bag with a sleeveless / short-sleeved vest

*27 °C+: A 0.5 just a nappy or a short sleeve vest

Avoid dehydration – Babies and children need to drink plenty of fluids to avoid becoming dehydrated especially in hot weather. The NHS website gives the following guidelines.

For babies between 0-6 months –

Fully breastfed babies do not need any water until they’ve started eating solid foods. During hot weather, they may want to breastfeed more than usual. If bottle feeding, as well as their usual milk feeds, you can give your baby a little cooled boiled water. If your baby wakes at night, they’ll probably want milk. If they have had their usual milk feeds, try cooled boiled water aswell.

From around 6 months + –

Once you have started to introduce solid foods, you should offer your baby sips of water from a cup or beaker with meals. In hot weather, you may need to offer some additional water outside of mealtimes.

Tips for a cool night

- Running a slightly cooler bath than usual will help to cool little ones down before bed if they are hot and their skin is clammy to touch.

- Where possible in the day keep windows open and curtains/blinds closed. This would be best done several hours before bedtime to allow the room time to cool. 

- A fan directed at a cool wall will cool down a room without it blowing directly onto a baby.

We hope these tips help to give you and your little one a good night’s sleep.

Baa for now x