My husband and I have had a heated mattress pad on our bed for several years now. Our room seems to get much colder than the rest of the house so this has been great for us. Our baby, now 6 months old is sleeping in our room in her own full sized crib. I feel terrible turning on my mattress pad to warm my sheets before climbing into bed every night, when she has nothing like this in her bed. I guess I just feel that if I need it, she does too. I have read about heating her sheets up with a heating pad and then removing it before putting her in, but many night I keep my mattress pad on all night and I'm not sure if she needs the same. When she does wake up, her hands are freezing because she won't keep them in the wrap (we still swaddle her, but she always wiggles her arms out). Anyone know of anything we can do?
Put her in a one piece feety pajamas they have the ones that zipper up. You can always lay a blanket in her crib over the mattress and her sheet to keep it warm. I think they even make flannel sheets for cribs. The body temp of a baby is warmer than an adult.
Congrats on being a new mom, I was a new mom 3yrs ago, my baby turns 3 January 27th.
I think a mattress warmer for a baby is a bad idea. There are so many safety issues. It's actually better for babies to be cool than too warm, being too warm is a SIDS risk. As long as she's in pajama's and swaddled, I'm sure she's warm enough. If she doesn't have much hair yet, you might want to let her wear a baby hat (the kind they give you at the hospital) to bed.
What about putting a portable heater in your room, one with a programmable thermostat so it shuts off when the room is at the set temp
Like an earlier response, the first thing I thought of was SIDS. You don't want to have it to warm for a baby, swaddling should be enough.
Babies sleep just fine and very well @ 65 degrees.If you get a warming pad on her bed she will become overheated and the possibly of dying in her sleep goes up tremendously from being to hot this goes as well for her sleeping in bed with you.Put her in footed sleeper with socks try to keep her swaddled usually babies have out grown this stage by 4-6 months that is why she is coming undone it is no longer comfortable for her.So I would recommend a sleeping blanket that zips up they sell them everywhere now and most are backed by the SIDS alliance/foundation research.She is a bit to young to have her own blanket in her crib yet I wouldn't do it but your a mom now and have to make your own choices when it comes to your baby.
I'd be scared to death of it shoring out and starting a fire in her bed! It seems like a really bad idea. I also wouldn't keep one in my own bed. I am just too scared of a potential fire.
i like the idea of a space heater with a timer or thermostat, so that it shuts off. also i thought, they have those great sleep sacks for little ones, no matter how much she moves around she'll stay snug inside.
Oh my please do not heat her up, at the risk of SIDS. All she needs is her sleep wear, some socks, and if you are worried about her hands, put a pair of mittens, or even a pair of socks on to keep them warm. With my first daughter I was worried about the same thing, so I would just put her in a onesie, pair of socks and a sleeper. I am very paranoid about SIDS because I had a brother die from it. I personally think it is far better for her to be alittle cold rather than the alternative. Good luck !!!
I can understand your concern about your baby being too cold, but I don't think a heating blanket/mattress/etc. is a good idea. If we get hot in bed, we can throw covers off, take off clothes, etc. They are "stuck" with what they get.
My daughter is now 18 months old and her room (in both houses) has always tended to be one of the coolest...no idea why. ANYWAY, I always worry about her being too cold, so I have used the sleep sacks with great results...but now that she is bigger, I am always covering her with her blanket, and she's always kicking it off! She really does sleep best when it's cool. Now she just sleeps in a long sleeve onesie and her footed fuzzy PJs. She sometimes wakes up in the morning with her fingers and toes cold...but those are often the nights she sleeps the best and longest! They'll let us know if they are uncomfortable (too cold). I'll recommend the "sleep sack" first hand!
Okay...I looked and looked (I love research!) and this is what I've found...
The wool, non electric version. Looks nice and comfy. See here:
http://www.comforthouse.com/woolcribpad.html
And the body heat activated, thermal, non electric version. See here:
http://perfectlysafe.stores.yahoo.net/81202-bedwarm.html
Personally, I like the look of both. I'd probably put the wool over the thermal deally for extra snugglyness. See what you think....hopefully this helps!
Unfortunately, it doesn't look like they make the kind of electric mattress warmer you are thinking of...
Good luck!!!
Christy
Good Morning Mindy, How about using the blanket sleepers, some have mitts on the end of the sleeves for their little hands. They are zipped up completely inside and they can move their feet around also. Our 1 yo gr son's hands are cold also in the mornings his room is on the north side of the house. brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Give it a try before looking for any type of bedding warmer. Well flannel sheets are always Nice..lol
God Bless you and yours
Karen Nana of 5
Turn the heat up.
Would you be willing to turn the heat up and not warm your bed up until the baby is out of your room? I don't think you should heat your baby up, and if you want to make sure the room is warm enough, you'll need to know how cold it is yourself.
Once baby is in its own room, you could keep its room warmer, then use your heated bed again in your colder room.
Even though your baby is now six months old, you need to be aware that overheating has been implicated (according to recent research) in the incidence of SIDS. Babies can't regulate their body temperature as well as we do and cannot cool themselves effectively if they get overheated. You might look into this before getting a mattress warmer for an infant.
Flannel sheets would be good but babies, as the get bigger, soak themselves. Electricity and urine? I don't think so.
I know his is going against all the other responses, so I hesitate in responding. But our old house was very cold (even with the heat on). When my daughter was an infant, she would start screaming once her head hit the cold sheets. So we put a electric heating pad in the crib. We would turn it on about 30 minutes before we put her to bed and then shut it off before we actually put her in the bed. I also put her in a "sleeping sack". I agree with everyone else's posts--you don't want to overheat your baby. But maybe just take the chill out of the bed before her in it.
I wouldn't feel comfortable putting a mattress pad on a baby bed - I haven't seen anything made like that for a baby mattress. Have you tried the sleep sacks? You can put her in her winter jammies and then put her in a sleep sack - that will keep her warm and you don't have to worry about covering her up.
i would say skip the warmer for your daughter. it could be a safety issue. if it gets over heated etc. i haven't read the other posts, so you might have gotten similar feedback. one idea is to have her wear pjs that have hand covers on them, or maybe putting socks on her hands (if she isn't a thumb sucker). i know my sons hands get cold when he is hungry. that may sound strange, but as soon as i feed him they seem to warm up.
I would use a heating pad to preheat the bed before she gets in then take it out. I would also consider a space heater for the area. We've got an older house and I had to break down and add the space heaters in their rooms b/c it was soo bloody cold. I DID get the space heater that would regulate the temperature and automatically shut itself off when it hit that temperature.