advice about baby room temperature please!

[hellosailor]

Fellow forumites please can I pick your brains...our baby is less than a week old and I'm getting a bit confused about the room temperature.

I know that the temp is supposed to be between 16-20 degs to be within the safety guidelines, and have a gro-egg thermometer. But we have no central heating on and it often reads 22, 23 or even 24 degs. Obviously I can't alter the room temp because the heating is not on so nothing to turn down!

The advice I've read seems to say that if the room temp is above 20 degs and you can't alter the temp then you adjust the baby's clothes/remove bedding etc, so strip a baby to the vest or whatever, but it would seem a weird thing to do to strip her to her vest and remove her blanket for sleeping in February?

What would you suggest? Advice very much appreciated!

[littleEDfamily]

Wow, lucky you having a warm house! Our will happily go down to 12 degrees with no heating on.

20-24 degree room temp is lovely. At that temperature, I would say baby needs a long sleeve babygrow (no legs, or maybe a romper type thing) and a 1 tog sleeping bag. When cooler than 20 degrees, go up to a 2.5 tog bag and if it's getting closer to 16 degs, you need 2 layers on top, 1 on the bottom under the sleeping bag as well as mitts and maybe even a little hat and socks (not that it sounds like being too cold will be a problem).

Good guideline is to feel baby's neck at the back (just below base of skull). If they feel hot to the touch, you need to do something to cool them down, such as removing layers.

[Beagle]

I think you are doing the right thing in reducing bedding covering your babe.

Like poster above I also would have a feel of the neck throughout the night to see how warm the baby is, and have a look at them to see if they look too warm. However unlike above I would disagree with putting a hat on a baby indoors ( not that the occasion is going to arise in your particular case ). Double check with your midwife/health visitor when they visit and show them the room so you can be confident that your instinct is correct, is there any chance the themometer is positioned somewhere that is causing a slightly false reading - I had mine on a window ledge (in late summer) early motherhood so much to absorb!)

[hellosailor]

thanks chaps for advice, that's useful it isn't on a ledge or anywhere particularly hot so don't think it's a false reading. am surprised the house is so warm though!

[Saffron]

Could there be hot water pipes in the wall near your thermometer? We have this problem. It tends to make the reading about 2 C above the actual temp. Also because of where the nursery is situated in our house, when the door is closed this room is always warmer than the rest of our house. This works out fine for Little Saff. She has preferred a warmer room temp since she was born. She sleeps really well in 23 C. We just dress her in light cotton pyjamas. I'm sure you LO will be just fine in a warm room if not overdressed. xx

[hellosailor]

thanks Saffron, that's reassuring too....

x