If you’re reading this now, you’re probably wondering how to keep baby cool at night. Around here, summer is no joke. The bedroom becomes warm and stuffy. Babies and toddlers suffer from excessively higher temperatures. In the following tips, you will find out how you can prepare your child’s room without AC so they can sleep as comfortably as possible.
1. Increase Their Fluids
On hot days, babies can need as much as 50% more breast milk than they normally do. Give your baby lots of opportunities to drink apart from their regular meals. If you’re breastfeeding, make sure to increase your fluid intake so you can increase your milk supply.
If your baby drinks formula, you can give them a small amount of cooled boiled water on top of normal feedings.
Once your baby reaches 6 months old or is weaning, they can drink water from a cup. If they’re over age 1, they can drink other types of fluid to keep them cool. This can be diluted fruit juice or popsicles. If they enjoy drinking the liquids, they’re likely to drink more.
Another way you can keep their fluid levels high is by keeping them in shade out and of direct sunlight. The cooler they are, the more fluid they’ll retain.
2. Give Them a Cool Bath
A cool bath can bring your baby’s temperature down to a comfortable level before bedtime. Opt for a lukewarm bath rather than a warm or cold bath to cool your baby down but not make them too cold.
A bath before bedtime helps lower the body’s core temperature, which in turn helps your baby sleep better. They’re more likely to sleep longer and happier if they go to sleep cooler.
3. Apply a Cold Compress
If your baby’s already hot, you can always use a cold compress to bring their temperature down in a pinch. If you don’t have one handy, cold compresses are fairly easy to makeshift on the spot.
You can use anything from a wet shirt to a few ice cubes wrapped in a washcloth to cool your baby down. You can also wrap some muslin around an ice pack or ice cubes. The muslin will act as a barrier between your baby’s skin and the ice. If you’re using an ice pack, you can even keep it in their crib with them until their temperature cools down.
4. Place Them on Cool Surfaces
Check the temperature of the surface whenever you’re placing your baby down to sleep or rest. Some materials, like fleece, are soft but will be hotter than other materials. Instead, choose a thin, breathable material such as cotton or muslin.
You may also consider investing in a cooling mat. Some mats use a special hydrophilic cooling gel. It can be kept in the fridge or freezer to further its cooling effect. A cold cooling mat can help keep your baby’s temperature down on particularly hot summer days.
5. Use Lightweight Clothing
If your baby has a fever or discomfort, dress them in lightweight clothing. Just like adults, their clothing greatly affects their temperature. Choose lightweight clothing that covers their arms and legs. If their fever persists, don’t be afraid to take off some layers.
6. Use Cotton Sheets
Cotton sheets are best for keeping your baby cool at night. They allow heat to flow through it. Other materials, such as nylon, absorb sweat and trap heat.
If you prefer to use a waterproof sheet, that’s fine. Just make sure to layer a few cotton sheets on top of it to avoid it touching your baby’s skin.
7. Dress Them in Comfortable Clothes
Keep baby cool at night without AC by dressing them in comfortable clothes. This may seem obvious, but the fabric isn’t the only thing that determines if it’s appropriate clothing for hot summer nights.
As a general rule, your baby needs one more layer of thin clothing than what you need to stay comfortable. That means if you don’t feel like sleeping in anything, just let them wear one thin layer of clothing. Dress them in loose layers to avoid irritation and extra heat.
8. Sleep Downstairs
If you don’t have AC, you can keep baby cool at night by bringing them downstairs to sleep. Heat rises, so usually, the lower levels of your house are cooler than the upper levels. Heatwaves don’t last forever, so hopefully, you’ll only have to sleep downstairs for a few nights.
9. Use a Fan
Gadgets and detachable fans are great tools to keep baby cool at night without AC. Attach a small fan to their crib to keep them cool.
If you’re using a large fan, point the fan towards the room and not directly at the baby. You can even place a damp towel or sheet in front of the fan to keep the room even cooler. The towel or sheet should be in front of the fan, but not directly on it.
Another trick involves a cold water bottle. Fans blow air from the room around, which can mean it’s only blowing hot air around. About an hour before bedtime, get a frozen water bottle from the freezer. Stand the water bottle in front of the fan and let the fan blow cold air from the water bottle around. This will bring the temperature down, and the water will defrost eventually so it won’t get too cold.
10. Keep Their Room Cool
Keep the room as cool as possible at night by keeping windows, blinds, and curtains closed during the day. This will prevent the room from getting very hot before bed.
Some mothers like to place bamboo blinds on the windows. The bamboo keeps the heat out and blocks some direct sunlight from getting in the room.
If you don’t have air conditioning, you can still learn how to keep your baby cool in hot weather at night. With a few tips and tricks from this article, your baby will be sleeping soundly in no time.
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