Tricky things about the summer....

[snowboarder]

Last year's summer passed in such a haze I don't think I noticed anything different - the difference between having a newborn and a 13 month old I suppose!! Anyway. The hot weather seems to bring MORE troubles....any tips from the more seasoned parents?!?

1. Hats. How to convince naughty babysb to keep his on. It's a hilarious game to pull it off, and use to collect mud...

2. Hot bedroom/windows/what to wear overnight. Can't open the window in baby's bedroom as a) our cats climb in and b) v noisy screaming child next door. So the monitor is saying ALERT it's 25 degrees!! Argh!

3. Sunstroke/heatstroke. How to tell whether drinking enough? Paranoid about sunburn etc....

New season new dilemmas!!

[The Nappy Lady]

Hiya,

hats - just keep putting 'em back on, he will get it eventually. Our first was more or less bald for the first 2.5 years so we used to put suncream in her hair - doesn't look great but is good protection. Still put along her parting when necessary as she's so fair.

Bedroom - ignore moniter, turn off if need be. Strip down to just a vest if very hot, must admit tho I always use at least a very light sleeping bag here in UK. We have fans in the room (ceiling fan in two of the three) these help a lot and can be set to low so keep air moving without creating big draft. I know some use the freestanding air con units but I was advised there are cons to these by HV with my first - can't remember what/why.

Drinking, just keep offering regularly. C seems to love drinking from a plastic cup just now - messy but she glugs lots and half goes in/half down her - in heat not the end of the world and as you say, reassuring. Home made ice pops with frozen juice/water mix may be popular too? Can also do with whizzed up fruit and fromage frais mixed.

I had to keep reminding myself that children do survive in much hotter climates and less mod cons when O was newborn and we had the hottest August that year - 4 weeks old and sleeping in just a nappy, I was a nervous wreck. Not so bad when they are older I think, but maybe it's just that I'm more confident these days.

Molly

[Pickle]

Hey,

This time last year I found a hat with a chin strap that I could tie onto M (with a knot, a bow just wasn't a challenge!). C has always been happy to wear his hat, and is convinced he looks cool despite the fact he's in a wide brimmed, surfer-style patterned monstrosity that frankly makes him look like a bit of a clown ;-)

My youngest sleeps in a sleeping bag - tonight she's in a short sleeved vest and nappy. I tend to ignore the monitor - by this age if he's too hot he'll let you know.

I think with water the key is to just keep offering it. If you're worried he's not having enough try offering it out of a drink bottle that's not his - my kids think it's a huge joke to "steal" Mummy's drink bottle, so might work for you. Slap on the sunscreen morning and afternoon, try to stay in the shade if you can, but don't worry too much if not. Having grown up in NZ I'm a firm believer that a bit of sunshine is good for you!

P x

[pebbles]

HATS - just keep trying. had exactly same problem. the ones that worked for us were the ones in the same material as swimming costumes that had the neck protector as well. don't know what it was or whether he first wore it in swimming pool so therefore wet again his head so harder to get off but having had a few months of hell here went on hols and he didn't mind the new hat so kept it on when we got back and although he looked a bit stupid in park with this "swimming cap" on he didn't want to chuck it off

TEMP - I've been lucky enough to travel a bit with my kids to a lot hotter countries and i've always put them in very light

grobags (mostly cos when young they rolled over and couldn't roll back without it and then when older could climb out of bed if they didn't have them on).

Anyway... toinght - 2 1/2 yr old has t-shirt and .5 tog grobag (he doesn't ahve monitor in room) and 7m old has long sleeve babygro and .5 tog grobag (25degrees currently however i know can get down to 18d or there abouts in this weather). the windows have been open all day (apart from nap time) so fairly aired. I used to really worry about temp in rooms however i know when i go to bed too warm and chucking my feet out of duvet within a few hours i'm snuggling up and think they may be same.

our eldest is a warm boy and used to complain of being hot (or that's what i think he was complaining about) however our youngest wakes i think when too cold. I HATE BEING HOT AND HUBBY HATES BEING COLD

i'm waffling. basically within reason try and ignore the monitor and go with how you feel.

WATER - keep offering - however if u r worried that they're not taking water from anything then try different beakers. when no1 was 6 months old i went to australia for 6 weeks and he REFUSED water from beakers or bottles so i gave it to him in my gym bottles (ie i squeezed it into him) and he loved them and thought it was a game and still does.

good luck. every season brings new amusments

xxx

[ryedalema]

Just a tip here - nappy rash can come on really fast and strong (more concentrated wee and hot environment inside nappy etc). When we were in Oz last year the pharmacist told us that Sudocrem actually has a slightly abrasive texture and that Bepanthen was miles better.

We've used that ever since.

I know you weren't asking about this ;-)..but that would be my summer tip.

Now I just need the ice cream van to stop parking outside our house at 7pm - a tantrum every night just before bedtime, great.

[snowboarder]

Oh yes the ice cream van!! Arrives here around 7.30 and I seriously consider going out and telling him to SHUT UP!! Don't they realise my baby is trying to sleep?!? Honestly...

[NunheadGirl]

Aha - tell them when the Ice Cream man plays his music it is to let everyone know he has sold out of ice cream!

Evil Mummy grin. ;-)

[GinaG3]

I have been trying for the last 5 days or so to get my 16 month old daughter to wear a hat (oh blimey) finally today she just seems to be wearing it. I still slather her head in sun cream though even if she has a hat on incase she pulls it off again.

I would ignore the monitor in the room, leave windows open all day to air it out for night. Right now my daughter is just wearing a tshirt and nappy to bed in a .5 tog grobag and she is perfectly fine.

All you can do with the drinking thing is to keep offering (one tip make it nice and cool, maybe stick it in the freezer for 5 minutes - they love it). I keep offering my daughter and she is drinking 3-4 cups a day at the minute. She was 6 months old last summer and loved to take water from a sippy cup!!!

[crystal7]

Snowboarder I feel like telling that ice cream man to shut up too!

E wears a hat that ties under her chin- in a double knot! It's from Zara, think they do boys ones too...

My problem with night wear is that the room temperature changes so much in the 10 or so hours she's in bed. Very hot at 7 as the room gets all the evening sun and the 2 layers of blackout material don't help. But don't really want to wake her to put on a sleeping bag. What to do?

Oh well it's supposed to cool down on Wed so not much longer!

[Belle]

When it's really hot we put our baby to bed in just a vest or PJs, sometimes with a light blanket over him so he can kick it off if hot, and then when we go to bed , if it's got cooler we put a blanket on/replace the one he's kicked off. I keep meaning to buy a 0.5 tog grobag but have two 1 tog ones plus winter ones and they are sooo expensive, so managing without for now. On holiday at moment and just doing vest and light blanket (one that's got lots of holes in if that makes sense, quite thin). I do prefer to put something on more for the psychological effect of it signifiying bedtime somehow.

[snowboarder]

Are 0.5 tog grobags worth it do you think? There's quite a difference (obv!) between the 2.5 and the 1 togs - but can't believe that the 0.5 can be that much lighter than the 1 tog. Jojo's do what they call sheet sleeping bags - maybe better? Am now thinking ahead to hols in a couple of weeks.

[Moos]

I have 2 of the Jojo sheet ones and wouldn't be without them, though have a sneaky feeling that if I weren't blessed with 10 thumbs, they'd be really cheap to run up on a sewing matchine. Moosling asleep in Tshirt, nappy and sheet sleeping bag upstairs now. I expect he'll be slightly sticky when I go up to check on him in a minute but will have cooled down by morning, so it's a tradeoff.

BTW, had to tie his hat on in first and second summers (aged 0 and just 1) but now he likes wearing hats as long as they are branded as 'cowboy hats', 'pilot hats', 'scarecrow hats', 'pirate hats' etc. etc. The Lies We Tell Small Children..

I do remember on the hottest days of his babyhood opening his window or else his bedroom door so that there was good circulation within the house at least. Electric fan very useful too.

Why am I even awake?

zzz

[jam]

Bandanas are a great way of providing head coverage, lots of babies tend to pull their hats off, even the tie on ones, so bandanas are a good alternative.

I love my portable air con, I just leave it on in the bedroom an hour or so before we go to bed, it brings the temperature down to 18c, and I turn it off before bed time and everyone gets a good night sleep. I find the fans just circulate warm germy air.

A bit of sun is always good, we need the vitamin D so do not hide the little ones completely from the sun, just be careful with sunburn by slapping on the factor 50 and keeping them in the shade between the hottest hours. I offer lots of water, have a water spray to squirt them, a wet cloth, paddling pool etc to keep them cool.

Bed times tends to be just a nappy and vest, and then a light sheet or very light cellular blanket if the temperature drops during the night.

[The Nappy Lady]

Personally I just wish someone would invent a way of magically getting the suncream onto the children without any complaining/crying or it ending up

- on me/fresh clothes just on for the day

- the carpet

- in their eyes (due to rubbing eyes during the process)

So tedious......

[Moos]

Ooh, yes - like a walk-in spray tan clinic for kids! Would be brilliant.

[ryedalema]

Yes please + a way of getting rid of sand:

- from the pond

- from her girly bits

- from inside her tights (which she wasn't wearing!)

And in everything we are eating - ugh.

[The Nappy Lady]

....and stopping my 5 year old from terrorising the poor frogs and tadpoles in our pond, despite the Baby Dan barrier around it she can still catch the poor things.

If I have said "please leave the frogs alone" once I have said it a thousand times this week (oh god and now I sound like my mother)......

[sanity girl]

Have you tried roll-on suncream? I got some from Superdrug (own brand) for kids and it's brilliant. They have a buy one get one free offer on at the moment. I let my daughter roll it on the bits she can reach herself and help rub in and she happily lets me do her face with eyes closed. And she is not the most cooperative when it comes to things like bath-times, face washing, hair washing etc!

The Nappy Lady Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Personally I just wish someone would invent a way

> of magically getting the suncream onto the

> children without any complaining/crying or it

> ending up

>

> - on me/fresh clothes just on for the day

> - the carpet

> - in their eyes (due to rubbing eyes during the

> process)

>

> So tedious......

[The Nappy Lady]

Yes, my older one likes the roll on one, and isn't generally bad about having any put on these days other than disliking the smell, it's just the 19 month old, and frankly I reckon she'd complain whatever we use (balshy little madam)!

Just a phase, just a phase, it will pass (my mantra to myself).

Molly