Keeping baby's room warm for the winter

TP_CM

Hello, does anyone have a baby room heating system which they're particularly fond of? I bought an electric heater which makes a loud clicking noise when it switches on/off, and a thermometer plug adapter thing which allows electricity to flow depending on the temperature of the room. Problem with that is that the temperature checker is an incredibly bright light that flashes every 5 seconds to do a temperature check!

I basically want a quiet electric heater which knows to come on when the temperature falls below 18 degrees.

zapper55

Why dont you put blue tack on the temperature checker light? I do that for the light on the baby camera as its be too bright otherwise.

Dravokivich

I would have just given an extra blanket if it seemed cold. Having a heater on constantly may lead them to sweat more through out the night. Wont be good for them.

Dancewithme

Would you consider a grobag so the baby can regulate its own temperature?

EagererBeaver

Generally try and avoid artificial heat as much as possible. Baby grow, gro-bag, blanket should be more than enough to get through almost any Irish winter.

TP_CM

Thanks for the responses. Yes we have the growbag and blanket. Do you think they're enough? Maybe a high tog grow bag with blanket will be fine. She's 7 months now so I'm not too worried I suppose, not like a newborn. I'm more thinking about January time when we're really in the depths of it. I don't think the blue tack will work because the blinking light seems to be taking the temperature. I covered it with my thumb and it started shooting up from 20 degrees to over 30.

I wouldn't have heat on all the time, I was just thinking maybe there's a thermostat heater out there which comes on if it gets particularly icy, and which is quiet enough to be useful for bedrooms.

andreac

I wouldn't use an electric heater. Deffo go for more layers on the baby, long sleeve vest, sleep suit and heavier grow bag. If your house is particularly cold could you time your heating to come on for an hour or so during the night to hold the heat.

zapper55

If it's a very cold day I put heat on in the room for an hour during the day but that's it, I'm surprised how much the room keeps heat. Its rarely below 19c. Check yours in the middle of the night you might be surprised.

As the room is max 20c I use a 2.5tog sleeping bag and a babygro and hes grand and warm but not too warm. I'd rather if a baby was slightly too cold than too warm from a cot death prevention aspect.

zapper55

And the temp shooting up is probably due to the warmth of your thumb. I'd buy a thermometer for your room, the gro egg is a good one.

TP_CM

Thanks very much for your help. Ok I might try a higher tog babygro and a long sleeve vest under the sleep suit. We checked last night and the arms were the main issue. They were really cold. But her body and legs were fine.

What about their heads? Do they need some kind of hat or something or do you think that's over kill? I would be worried about the safety issues of having any kind of head gear. Again, I am thinking more about the January nights when the temperatures start to drop significantly.

Princess Calla

I don't think you are supposed to put a blanket over the gro bag.

A long sleeved vest under a baby gro is all I've ever used. I've never put anything on their heads.

During the summer they'd often just wear a long sleeved vest and bottoms of pjs.

bee06

Here’s good advice on safe sleep from a charity in the U.K. don’t put a hat on the baby. It could result in them overheating.

https://www.lullabytrust.org.uk/safer-sleep-advice/baby-room-temperature/#

shesty

You can get grobag babygros -bit of a gimmick but I had a couple for my second child and they were handy in very cold nights.They have padded arms, but a normal body on them.Means that you can be fairly sure about the temperature distribution in the sleeping bag.I found the sleeping bags and an extra blanket or 2 best, I wouldn't put a heater in the room.Plus if she picks up a snuffly nose or a cold, the heate rwill have to go....she won't be able to sleep in a stuffy room like that either.Dunnes sometimes have fleecy babygrows with feet on them too, that are great in winter.Definitely do not put hats on the baby to sleep.

Once she is asleep, she is fine.

zf0wqv9oemuasj

Hi,

If possible upgrade your heating system to a smart system such as the Hive. We did this and it’s an absolute revelation and you just set the heating to never drop below a temperate and leave it.

Even better is that with the hive the smart thermostats are mobile so we just left the upstairs smart thermostat in our baby’s (now toddler) room set to 18 degrees or maybe 18.5 and it just never lets the temp get below this. You can program it to a higher temp to automatically heat the room up a little more at bedtime etc also. This is important as the temp can vary a lot between rooms in a house.

We also use the sleeping bags and have some since almost the beginning as a blanket would be kicked off instantly only exception being very hot summer nights.

You can get grants for the smart heating upgrade in many cases.

TP_CM

Xiomara Silly Flashlight wrote: »

Hi,

If possible upgrade your heating system to a smart system such as the Hive. We did this and it’s an absolute revelation and you just set the heating to never drop below a temperate and leave it.

Even better is that with the hive the smart thermostats are mobile so we just left the upstairs smart thermostat in our baby’s (now toddler) room set to 18 degrees or maybe 18.5 and it just never lets the temp get below this. You can program it to a higher temp to automatically heat the room up a little more at bedtime etc also. This is important as the temp can vary a lot between rooms in a house.

We also use the sleeping bags and have some since almost the beginning as a blanket would be kicked off instantly only exception being very hot summer nights.

You can get grants for the smart heating upgrade in many cases.

Thanks for this Mickelson. Is the hive connected to an electric power source or does it drive the radiator in the room? We have a gas boiler. We don't want too much mess though so if it means replumbing the house we'd rather not. But I'm not against the idea of moving to a 'smarter' home if it's not too messy. It's just in the middle of winter if the temperatures drop to minus figures, surely the room temperature inside drops to 10-12 degrees or so which we'd rather avoid if possible. We're looking at better grobags though which might be good enough.

zf0wqv9oemuasj

TP_CM wrote: »

Thanks for this Mickelson. Is the hive connected to an electric power source or does it drive the radiator in the room? We have a gas boiler. We don't want too much mess though so if it means replumbing the house we'd rather not. But I'm not against the idea of moving to a 'smarter' home if it's not too messy. It's just in the middle of winter if the temperatures drop to minus figures, surely the room temperature inside drops to 10-12 degrees or so which we'd rather avoid if possible. We're looking at better grobags though which might be good enough.

The hive controls the gas heating system. It doesn’t require any plumbing, it just replaces what ever timer/switch etc that you use to turn on and off the heat at the moment. There is a few parts to it, a small box which replaces the old timer switch, a box you plug into the router and the smart thermostat that you can use to control the system (though an app on your phone is easier) and this can be placed anywhere. If you have two zones (upstairs and downstairs) you have two of the smart thermostats.

We have two zones and hot water than can all be controlled separately but the plumbing for this already existed. We got the hive system professionally installed and the full cost was covered by an SEAI grant.

tessting

I got a feather and down 14 tog toddler duvet from Amazon, expensive enough but did two kids and have it 4 years now, flat out all night. I agree about the heaters, the temperature monitor on the baby alarm was going crazy and they were very sweaty with it.
I used to shove in a little furry hot water bottle too before I went to bed.