Keeping Toddler Warm at Night

Hello A..

I have a toddler myself and I try to read up on all the new doctor advice. When he was younger I read that it's always safer to dress the child for the tempt rather then adjusting the temp. With this in mind, I believe you could put him in warm flannel sleepers. They have some really nice ones that are always on sale at Sears. They start at new born and go all the way up to 4 or maybe 5 toddler.

I hope this shed some help.

Had almost the same problem. My daughter is 4 and she was wakeing up telling me she was cold. And her room is the coldest. We put plastic on the window you may have a window leak? it warmed her room up and the whole upstairs! hope this helps.

Angie

My daughter NEVER keeps blankets on her and I am always worried that she's cold. I found these sleepers that look like bags, they have long sleeved ones and sleevless ones. They are blanket sleepers. I love them because they keep her warm and covered at night. She can't walk in them or anything but she only needs them for sleeping. Try those, hopefully they will work for you!

If you have an unfinished basement, you can control the vents by levers on the ductwork. I just got finished adjusting all mine so the kids bedroom get more heat. If you don't have access to the ductwork, partially close the vents in the rest of the house and leave his room all the way open. It should do the same thing just not as well. When the heat can't come out in the kitchen or bathroom it will be forced where it can come out the easiest. Hope this helps. A.

My experience with toddlers is they never ever keep their blankets on while sleeping. If you can't warm the room you'll need to warm your toddler - I always put socks under my children's footy sleepers and, like you, a t-shirt. Never use an electric blanket!

You could check to see if the heater duct is connected and insulated, and perhaps shut or partially close ducts in rooms you use less (1/2 bath, utility room). Also check windows to see if they are drafty and add foam insulation around them - heavy curtains work well and non slip rugs help on bare wood floors.

Also, check to see if the room gets warmer with the door open or closed.

Good luck!

A.
I can understand as most mothers can, we worry our children are cold or too hot, my son was the same way when he was little so in his crib, inside of the small blankets i bought a twin size comforter and it worked great when he was a baby, now that hes older he wraps up in most of his blanket but ends up naked by morning time cause he gets too warm, try a larger blanket and wrap up in it a little bit but not too tight give him room to move this way when he does move the cover is still around him. Good luck

First, try to weather-proof. There are these foam thingies that you stick under the lightswitch plate and electrical outlet plate to help insulate against drafts, then there's the plastic that seals around the windows to block drafts...I would recommend the plastic inside and outside the window but make sure that he has no way of reaching the window such as be sure his crib isn't by it. Make sure you have a new furnace filter so your furnace will run more efficiently. If that doesn't do the job, then add more layers. Like instead of a t-shirt under the sleeper, try a union suite...it's like one piece longjohns. You can always put on more layers of clothes as he needs them. If the one piece longjohns and blanket sleeper aren't enough, add a t-shirt to it.

try insulating his windows with the plastic sheets. It is very easy and in expensive. once you have them tapes, you use a hair dryer to seal them. we did all of our windows and my house is nice and toasty. My daughters room was always the coolest. now it is comfortable.

We had the same problem last winter with my son who is now 21 months old. The only conclusion we came to was the space heater.I know that they sound really dangerous but they are worth checking out. Many of them have lots of safety features, just be sure you read the instructions and follow them to the T. We've used ours for the entire winter last year and have already used it for several months this year. I love it because my son will not sleep under the covers ever! So now we both sleep more sound.

A. S

We have the same problem and this is what I do. As long as he cannot/doesn't get out of his crib on his own, try a warm mist humifier. (Target has some reasonably priced ones. I recommend NOT getting a character one. Don't want to tempt him to play with it.) I put it on top of the dresser and run the cord behind the dresser so mine can't get to it even when he is out of bed. It's warm enough to take the chill out of the air and, when on low, the humidity helps keep his lips and nose from drying out so much over the winter.

I put my 12 month old in a sleeper and then a fleece sleep sack at night. On the coldest of nights, I throw another light blanket on her when she settles down her movements a couple of hours after falling asleep. You can buy a sleep sack that will fit in the One Step Ahead catalogue or onestepahead.com. I hope this helps.

I'm gonna have to agree with dressing him warmer!!! My daugther who is 6 months old sleeps in a short sleeve onesie with a long sleeve one over that one with thick fuzzy pjs over all that. We also put high socks on that go up to almost her knees. Good luck and i wouldnt put a heater in the room unless dressing him warmer doesn't work.

I have two suggestions. One is a sleep sack. They carry them at babies R us and most Toys R us stores. Many people think of them only for young babies, but they area actually made up to size 18 months or 24 months. It's basically a blanket in the form of a zippered sack with arm holes and a head hole.

Secondly, we have a fan with a small heating element, it doesn't put out the kind of heat that a space heater does, but I also don't have any fear of it catching fire either. We put it on the floor of her bedroom and turn it on at naptime and bedtime and it works really well for us.

Also, are you using a blanket? At 14 months, my pediatrician did say it was okay to place a (not bulky) blanket over our child while she slept. She actually does a decent job of leaving it on most of the time.

Only other suggestion I have is to find the thickest blanket sleepers you can find and maybe put a longsleeve onsie on under it.

Hope some of this is helpful to you.

R.

uhhh... put clothes on him.... get some footie pjs...

We have a Delonghi oil-filled portable radiator, which is less dangerous than a space heater. Oil-filled heaters are cheap but they will run up your electric bill! Another option is a micathermic heater. I don't have one, but the selling points are that they use less power and are less of a fire hazard because (like the oil heater) they don't have exposed elements.

Amazon.com has plenty of micathermic and oil-filled heaters. I find it useful to read other customers' reviews even if I don't buy the item from Amazon. I had a quick look and the DeLonghi HHP1500 Mica Panel Radiator has excellent reviews and costs $78.88.

Of course, as others have pointed out, warmer clothes might solve the problem (and won't increase your power bill!).

you can try a warm mist vaporisor. they will add some warmth to the room and also add moisture to the air to keep his nasal passages from drying out. maybe dress him in a fleece sleeper too...they are warmer than the regualr sleepers. or wrap him up in a warm blankie. thats what i do with my daughter.

I had the same problem when my daughter was little. I would suggest putting him is some footy pajamas. This will keep his feet warm and his body warm. I used to put socks under my daughters jammies on the really cold nights. If you run into the problem of him unzipping them and taking them off, you can just put a safety pin in the top just below the zipper. This worked for my daughter so even if she kicked off the covers she was still toasty. Good luck

if you read the boxes realy well and make shure that you have a space heater that will shut off and or sound an alarm when messed with you wil be fine. Most fires occurs due to being too close to items or haveing a blanket tossed on them. Just please make shure that the heather is away from everything a good four to five foot and you will be fine

Not sure how to warm the room. Sometimes a humidifier helps the environment feel warmer. Are the sleepers he's wearing extra warm? You can find really thick ones that may keep warmth closer to him. Also instead of a t-shirt, maybe long thermal underwear is better for underneath the sleeper. Sometimes I've put a sock hat on my infant when the room is cold, because much body heat is lost through the head. Hope this helps and wishing Caleb warmth and comfort soon!

If there is a window in the room you can check it for drafts, you might even want to check the vent in his room, make sure it's not pointed at him or his bed.

We have an oil heater... almost like a miniature radiator that can roll around from place to place. It heats up a large room in no time and keeps it warm for a long time thereafter. These are not as likely to catch anything on fire, since they aren't the same as a space heater. They are about $20-$40 depending on what you get. If you'd like I can send a pic of mine to you via email, just respond to this and let me know. I would just test the heater in a room similar in size before putting it in his room, that way you know just the right setting--b/c it can really warm up a room!

Sounds like you definately need to dress him warmer! Our kids (ages 1.5 and 4.5) usually sleep with 2 PJs at night. A long sleeve/long pants sets underneath zippered/footed fleece PJs. They stay nice and warm even though they usually toss the covers off and the rooms are cool (we turn the heat way down at night). We do the t-shirt sometimes but that's usually not enough to keep them warm. Sometimes we also put socks on them because kids usually sleep better with warm feet (they actually did a study on this!).

If you have a Lowes in your area they have lots of tiny little electic heaters that are perfect for your situation... They stay cool to the touch and give just enough heat to take off the chill in the room and they are child safe...

Good luck Hugs M.

My toddler sleeps right next to me, so that helps...but I still dress him up. Instead of sleepers, which seem to be so lightweight, he wears a thermal long-sleeved shirt, sweat pants, and socks. I don't have any suggestions for warming the room. Can you keep your whole home warmer? Or have him sleep in a different room?

ETA - I forgot about the heaters that other posters have mentioned...and weatherproofing is always good.

Take a look at this. My home is kept between 64-68 degrees on a regular basis. My daughter wears winter PJ's in the summer and I use this during the winter.....

http://perfectlysafe.stores.yahoo.net/81202-bedwarm.html

Hello A.!
I use a blanket for my daughter - I was afraid of it getting up over her head, so I tuck the blanket into the side of the crib (down on the sides of the mattress.) My husband makes fun of me, saying it looks like spiderman has captured her in his web, but it makes me feel better that she isn't going to just kick it off in a matter of minutes! Most mornings, the blanket is still tucked into the sides & around her.