32 degrees in toddler's room - is this unsafe?

[hellosailor]

It has been boiling hot in my 15 month old daughter's room for the last 2 days, and got to 32 degrees by her bedtime tonight - didn't know a gro egg could glow quite so flame red...

She has sobbed the house down both bedtimes when we have tried to put her to bed, which has led us to do anything we need to to get her to settle in another room, i.e fall asleep lying on our bed with one of us, which has taken up to 2 hours last night and tonight, as she is clearly not going to settle in her room, and then transfer her once asleep to her cot....but is it actually safe for her to sleep in a room that hot? I know 16-20, or 18-22, depending on what you read, is the guideline for younger babies, but how much of a safety issue is this after they turn 1?

She has two fans trained on the cot to try to keep her cool, and is wearing just a nappy and a 0.5 grobag, and I'm supposing that if we took her on holiday to a very hot country her room might be very hot, and people obviously do this all the time, but just wanted to check...is it unsafe to be putting her to sleep in a room this hot?

We tried settling her in a travel cot in another room last night (hers is the hottest room unfortunately ) but she absolutely screamed the house down and we had to give up after many attempts last night (bodes well for the holiday we have booked!) which I think is because she has only slept in a real cot when we went away before and frankly didn't know what on earth was going on..so doesn't seem to be the solution we hoped! With the weather set to get hotter I'm not sure what to do, particularly as if her room has reached 32 when it was only 25 degrees outdoors today, I imagine it could get much hotter if the days get hotter...jeepers

should I be worried about the safety of her sleeping in this temperature? thanks for any advice

[minder]

Two fans trained on the cot seems a bit extreme (could this be disturbing her).

If you're in a house then the air rises during the day anyway, making it a bit hotter upstairs (that's what I find anyway).

Does your toddler usually cry at bedtime? If not, then the heat is probably what's going on.

Do you have some ventilation like a small window?

[hellosailor]

yes two fans is indeed a bit extreme, but it's a bit of a case of a rock and a hard place, tho they are angled so they're not blowing a gale straight into her cot.

She doesn't normally cry at bedtime, no, so it is the heat that's upsetting her. But we can deal with the disruption of her not wanting to go to bed, that's just one of those things, what is worrying me is the potential safety element..

[minder]

If she has not a temperature in herself then I would not worry (it's hard I know) but other than that carry on with the fans.

If you're still worried phone NHS Direct but it looks like we're all in for a sticky night.

[Avelana]

Hi hellosailor, it might sound a daft suggestion but what we found helped if you live in a house, is keeping the loft hatch open, it really helped take that heat up and away, im sure you know this but felt for you. Best wishes, Hazel

[Norfolkvillas]

My toddler's room was 29 degrees throughout last night. Unfortunately, his window is actually a patio door so we can't leave it open or partially open. This makes his room one of the hottest in our house. I kept his door open and the window in the next door room open, and put him in just a nappy and 1tog sleeping bag. I confess I tend not to worry about it - I figure babies the world over sleep healthily in much hotter climates than May in the UK, so how unsafe can it be? Perhaps this is just really naive of me though!

[Convex]

Ours just slept in a vest and nappy last night, room temp read about 24.

We keep 2 windows open front and back to get some airflow.

Also find a humidifier makes the room feel cooler. Not sure if it actually helps with temp.

[Yak]

Poor minisailor! Is the sudden change in temperature contributing to the woe? The Yaklet sleeps the sleep of the just normally but both last night and the night before was clearly upset by it. He coped better last night, praps because he'd adjusted to it.

I err towards the benign neglect style of parenting and figure that babies manage to sleep in hot weather round the world. I'm never convinced how accurate those thermometers are which is why I don't use one :-)

Hope tonight is better all round for everyone.

[Pickle]

I don't think it's unsafe, try not to worry. I've been putting my baby to bed dressed as she has been since birth in Jan - vest, sleep suit and 2.5tog sleeping bag.

We put our other two (nearly 4 and 5) to bed wearing summer pj's last night only to find they had both got changed into fleecy winter ones over night claiming they were cold :)

[sunbob]

Probably obvious, but remember to leave the curtains shut during the day to help minimize the temperature gain during the day. If you are around during the day you can also open or close the windows depending on whether the outside is cooler or warmer than the room (eg we get morning sun in the bedrooms and afternoon shade, so I would keep the window shut till about 2pm then open when the outside temp has gone down on that side of the building).

[Convex]

Yes sun bob we do that in our bedroom which gets the sun all day and it makes a huge difference.

[Norfolkvillas]

Actually, that reminds me - isn't there some kind of clear film that you can apply to windows which keeps heat out in summer and heat in in winter?? I remember someone mentioning it to me last winter, and I thought at the time that it could be handy for trying to keep my son's (south-east facing) room slightly cooler through the summer...

[hellosailor]

Thanks for replies everyone, it had reached 31 degrees in her room by midday - today I tried opening the window for a couple of hours in the coolest part of the day from about 7am, and then closing it until lunchtime to see if that made any difference. I didn't put the blind down as it is a blackout blind and definitely makes the room hotter, I think perhaps keeping curtains / blinds drawn only works to cool a room if they're not blackout, as ours creates a greenhouse type humidity!

Anyway, keeping the window closed seems to have made it worse, as the room is so hot I can't put her in it for her lunchtime nap as she was just screaming. back to the drawing board...

[Kes]

yuck - you have my sympathise - very hot sticky night with us too.

If you happen to have sash windows be sure to open the top and the bottom as it helps the air circulate and draw hot out and cool in.

We keep the curtains and windows shut all day then open up everything once it starts to cool in the evening, not sure about black out blinds, but curtains with black out linings worked well for this

We tried the window film in our old flat (which was unbearable in summer) but it turned everything in our lovely view a weird colour so we took it off, might be worth it in little ones room tho?

One thing I would say (which is probably obvious but apparently not to my husband!) is don't put those stick on black out blinds on the window when it's really sunny we (he) cracked one of our windows by doing that and over heating it!

As you say plenty of kids sleep in that sort of heat all the time and I think it's more of a worry with new borns. but not nice for anyone concerned.

I may try the loft hatch trick tonight, hadn't heard that before!!

[oimissus]

I thought that a blackout blind was meant to help keep a room cooler as the material reflects the heat back out? I could be wrong, we have blackout curtains, which we keep shut and the window open all day in Miss Oi's room, and all the other windows upstairs open too (we have bolts on our sash windows which means they can be open a couple of inches). Her room has hit 29 degrees in the past, but it's rarely disturbed her, hardly and clothes and bedding, one fan pointed away from her, door open. Given how swelteringly hot the postnatal ward was at Kings, I can't imagine it's a problem with a robust toddler.

[sandy_rose]

You could put some ice in a bucket in front of the fan, that should help cool the room down and keep curtains shut during the day. Perhaps put a sippy cup within reach too in case she wakes up thirsty in the night? I'm sure she'll be fine as long as she gets plenty to drink during the day.

[BeccaL]

Don't know - keeping our daughter's black out curtains closed definitely keeps her room cooler - might be worth trying that again?

[hellosailor]

thanks all, room is now 35 degrees, she has screamed until I have taken her out of the room for both naps today, so has not slept and is absolutely exhausted..

Her room is in the loft, therein lies the problem, so the opening the loft hatch trick is not possible unfortunately, keeping the windows closed has definitely heated the room up rather than cooled it down, I think this must be because it is a loft room, as it has kept other rooms cooler,

I will google this film you can apply to windows that some of you have suggested, thanks

plus my question has been answered about the safety as when I brought her down from the nap-that-wasn't this afternoon, her temperature had gone to 100 degs just from being in a room that hot, so I guess I've answered my own question and I don't feel it is safe for her to sleep in that heat...not that she has any intention of doing so....!

[edanna]

Hellosailor I'd put her to bed in nappy only at that temp. Hope things improve.

[Saffron]

As others have mentioned, children around the world do sleep in a variety of temperatures, including very hot temps. However, it should be kept in mind that these children were born into their environments and have been adjusting since birth. It cannot be expected that an infant or small child that has been until very recently only acclimatised to cooler temperatures to suddenly safely tolerate long periods of heat.

Keeping the loft hatch open will only help if air can fully circulate up and out of the window, creatig a passive cooling effect on the house as a whole. Were the fans angled simply at the cot, or were they also moving air through the room? Simply moving hot air around w/out directing up and out will not effectively cool the room.

Try opening the window fully in the morning with a fan to move air up and out. Shut the window in the afternoon if it received direct rays of the sun. A blackout blind will help considerably, even the cheapy suckercup kind. A reflective film on the window will redirect the light/heat outward.

However, it sounds like the room may need some additional cooling. Have you looked for a small cooling unit somewhere like Home Base? Children are definitely as risk of dehydration and heat exhaustion when the ambient temp spikes. But even if she could sleep safely, it doesn't sound like she could sleep comfortably. Just like adults, some individual children will be better/worse at tolerating hot/cold. I totally agree that she should sleep only in nappy, as it sounds like she doesn't tolerate the heat well at all, and I don't think we're forecast any significant rain till middle of next week.

[Saffron]

Heat "rejection" window film... is that the one? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Window_film

from Google:

http://www.rabaker.co.uk/ultra_vision70.htm

http://www.abodewindowfilms.co.uk/acatalog/Heat_Glare_Window_Film.html

Does anyone know who our local glass merchant are that might do this kind of window treatment?

[oimissus]

hmm, that doesn't sound good. Is there no way you can swap bedrooms, or is hers not big enough? If not, I think you need to look into getting an air-conditioning unit installed - when I was staying with my sister-in-law in Queensland most places seemed to have wall-mounted ones in bedrooms (and all the houses were on stilts) - in the short term you can get portable ones, from Argos possibly? Also, d'you have Velux blinds on the skylights - I thought you could get blinds for those that reflect heat out?

[Susan]

I feel your pain, we have the boy in an attic extension room as well (he was originally above the kitchen but basic things like opening the oven door woke him so at 10 mths to the attic he went)..the problem with these rooms is they go from hot to cool and visaversa from one day to the next. Up until last week I had an oil heater in his room to keep it at a steady 17oC overnight. Tonight and last night its currently 27oC. I gave up with blackout blind curtains etc (they just didnt keep the light out but are still up) and in the end cut out blackout lining to the exact size of the window and tacked it in place ( am proud to say you could develop photos in there now). I do feel lining the windows def helps keep the room cool, also keeping curtains ect closed during the day and having any windows (non sun facing open that you can) all been said here before...sorry have no magic bullet on this one!

I have to agree with above post we will have to buy an aircon unit if this summer continues this way (small price to pay IMO!). have it on for last few hours of the day to cool the room down before bed

Hope tonight is better for you all

Hugs

xxxxx

[Dorothy]

Sympathies to you OP and have to say that this thread is completely putting me off having our loft converted!

The front of our house is east facing and I keep all front room curtains closed until the early afternoon in very hot weather. Also keeping the cellar door open (if you have one) helps to cool properties down.

[hellosailor]

thanks so much for all your replies...she is finally asleep...my partner bought a (several hundred pound...*pales* ) air conditioner unit from homebase on the way home from work and it has made the room just bearable for her to sleep in...possibly only because she has been awake for so many hours without sleeping that she was finally going to pass out whatever we did!

But it is definitely making the room cooler, still about 28 but this is a vast improvement on 35, and I am less worried about her body temperature soaring up like it did as lunch time when I tried to get her to nap in there...after 3 days of crying day and night with no sleep, I am just relived she is finally getting some rest.

Susan funnily enough we have exactly the same arrangement as you - blackout lining that I can velcro up to the window, but this definitely makes the room way hotter, baffled as to why everyone else is finding it makes the room cooler, I wish it did in her room!!

What a gruelling 3 days of no sleep and constant crying, reminds me of newborn days..I have to laugh, I've spent weeks moaning about the rain and eagerly checking the weather forecast to see if we're going to get a bit of sun, and am now fervently checking the forecast hoping it goes back to being a paltry 14 degrees soon....the ridiculousness of the situation is not lost on me...

if anyone is thinking of extending into their loft: don't

but if anyone is thinking of PMing me to come round for a sauna: do

x