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So cold at night!

19 replies

SpoonfulOfJam · 17/11/2013 14:35

My baby is 3 weeks old. Last week he was sleeping in his Moses basket at night. Now however I find it so cold out of the covers, and his basket must be freezing with just his fleece blanket, so the last couple of nights he has slept on me, falling straight asleep after feeds. I want to get him back in his basket so I am wandering what do people do about cold rooms at night? Do I really have to have the central heating on overnight just to heat 1 room? We will be bankrupt by Christmas! We have an electric oil heater which we use in the living room in the day, I could use that upstairs I suppose. Just curious as to how people keep their babies warm at night, it's only going to get colder!

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FunnyRunner · 17/11/2013 15:12

We used an oil radiator overnight with baby. Even in a very cold house it kept the room at eighteen or nineteen degrees when on at half power.

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zippyrainbowbrite · 17/11/2013 15:19

I use a sleeping bag with DS (16wks£ and it keeps him toasty!

When I take him out to feed I pop a hot water bottle in there, which keeps his basket all lovely and warm - when I tuck him back in he usually gives a little 'ooh thanks for making me all snuggly' smile!

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Ledkr · 17/11/2013 15:22

I heated the room with an oil filled radiator too.
I couldn't imagine filling a hot water bottle in the wee hours

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ImATotJeSuisUneTot · 17/11/2013 15:23

We use an oil heater radiator thing too in DD2s room. Dp and I, and older DD have electric blankets.

DD2s room was snug as a bug all last winter, and only ever used the lowest (of three) settings. Literally costs pennies to run. We've just started using it again as she was waking in the night due to the cold.

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purrtrillpadpadpad · 17/11/2013 15:31

You can use a newborn sleeping bag. Make sure your little one meets the minimum weight requirement for the bag. Lots of places sell them. You can also put a cardigan on over a sleepsuit. As a last step, you can use a fleece blanket as a sheet. Lovely and cosy.

Just be sensible regarding layers, it's better for your baby to be a bit on the cool side rather than risk overheating.

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cindyrella · 17/11/2013 15:34

We also use an oil radiator to keep the bedroom warm. Works a treat! Think its important to keep.the air in the room warm as our house gets freezing during winter!

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SpoonfulOfJam · 17/11/2013 16:28

Thanks all. It might be worth investing in a second oil heater for the upstairs. Baby is still a bit small for a sleeping back, but little spoon gained 320g last week so I'm sure he'll be big enough soon.
I like the hot water bottle idea. Will see how long mine stays warm for- not keen on the idea of refilling in middle of the night.
Thanks again.

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juneau · 17/11/2013 16:39

Vest, footed sleeper and then sheet plus two or three blankets?

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happydaze77 · 17/11/2013 21:36

We used to put a little cardigan over dd's sleepsuit to keep her warm last winter.

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Scoobyblue · 18/11/2013 06:49

I second the use of a cardy. My MIL knitted one for dd1 and the first time we used it she slept through the night. We used to call it the "magic cardy"!! Our house gets cold at night but I can't sleep if I'm too hot, so dd had vest, sleep suit, cardy and sleeping bag. Super snuggly.

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DeathMetalMum · 18/11/2013 06:56

We used cardigans with dd2 (dd1 is a human hot water bottle) I also have a hot water bottle that stays warm all night to an extent though not used for dc. We do have the thermoatat set to 16 at night otherwise it would be very cold in our house.

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meganorks · 18/11/2013 09:42

I have just ordered a 3.5 tog sleeping bag with removable sleeves from Jojo babe mama (something like that anyway!). At the moment have a 2.5 tog and wearing long sleeve vest, sleepsuit and cardie over the top. Put the heating on for an hour or 2 in the might just to stop it getting really cold

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FunnyRunner · 18/11/2013 10:34

We also found swaddling helpful for the first few months for many reasons including heat. DC still gets freezing hands overnight and sheds gloves in seconds!

One other tip I read on here was to put socks on small babies underneath their sleep suits. Apparently it's an old midwives' trick.

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WallyBantersJunkBox · 18/11/2013 10:39

Swaddling used to help my DS too.

Babies love the constriction of it too, don't they? Like the security of being back in the womb apparently.

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SpoonfulOfJam · 18/11/2013 15:28

So I bought the oil heater up and baby slept in his basket last night. Was a bit warm for me so still want to explore other options.

Stupid question- is a sleepsuit different to a normal babygro? I have been given a couple of fleece type babygros, are they sleepsuit?

I think I have some hand me down cardys which I will dig out. I think my son is still a bit young to sleep through the night, but we have months of winter ahead of us yet, so who knows, maybe a cardy could give me a full nights sleep!

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SpoonfulOfJam · 18/11/2013 15:30

Also, love the idea of a sleeping bag. Will start shopping around- I'm sure he will be big enough by the time I find one that I like.

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purrtrillpadpadpad · 18/11/2013 17:03

Babygros and sleepsuits are the same thing, normally popper fastened (sometimes zipped) with enclosed feet.

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SpoonfulOfJam · 18/11/2013 17:31

Ok. Thanks.

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Oblomov · 18/11/2013 17:52

I did put the central heating on. From nov to feb. Crawling out of bed to bf is bad enough, without it being freezing. And that's just me!!! Not even the ds's being cold !

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