I have a dilemma

~Roo'sMama~ wrote: Ok now that it's cold out, it gets really chilly in here at night. We have been turning the heat down to about 60 or 62 degrees when we go to bed, so I've been swaddling Andrew with his arms in the blanket to keep him warmer.

When it was warmer, I was just swaddling him under his arms, and when he woke up at night he would suck his thumb and get himself back to sleep. Now he fusses and cries until I go and put the pacifier back in his mouth. Even if he manages to get his hands out he's still too worked up by then to get himself back to sleep.

I don't know what to do... this getting up 2 or 3 times a night to give him his nuk and wrap him back up again is starting to drive me crazy. I know that a lot of babies his age still wake up a few times a night but since he's been sleeping 9 or 10 hours without crying it feels like a major step backwards.

I know it probably sounds bad but turning the heat up isn't an option. We are barely going to make it through the next few months as it is.

Do you think 60 degrees is too cold to leave his hands out of the blanket? I was planning on trying to stop swaddling anyways but I just don't know now.

moped replied: I think it is just fine to swaddle him with his arms out......................he will not get too cold for sure................DH made our house cool over last winter and I never swaddled Jack's arms in - always out and he was just fine!!! If it would make you feel better maybe you could get him a sleeping bag thingy or maybe jsut thicker PJ's?????????

coasterqueen replied: I'd say it depends on the baby. I could have done that w/Kylie because she's her own furnace . Now Megan would freeze so much she'd wake up, guaranteed! Do you have him in thick pj's? If you do I'd say he'd definitely be fine.

I on the other hand would FREEZE.

mckayleesmom replied: Have you tried one of those baby sleepers with arms....They are like the bag ones, but with arms....I always put Macky in one of those. Also....Walmart had a really soft Winnie the pooh snow suit that I put Russell in for a while to sleep....maybe you can find one online on Ebay...it was so soft and cozy and I could pull the flaps over his arms....I plan to use it again this year if he isn't too tall.

moped replied: Ok, I just did the metric conversion on 60 or 62 degrees............YIKES. We keep ours at 65 degrees and I find that cold.................................ummmmmmmm, I think jsut warmer jammies would be just fine. He will never get cold to the bine, if his fingers are cool that doesn't mean his whole inner core is cold.............my DH is a HVAC guy and he knows everything about it. Apprently people/children sleep better when it is about 15-18 (60-65) at night.

Maddie&EthansMom replied: My kids do just fine with it being that cold at night.

~Roo'sMama~ replied: Mmmk well, I have been putting him in the baby sack jammies with arms that Brianne was talking about, with a long sleeved onesie under it. I'm contemplating putting him in a sleeper under the sleep sack but maybe that would be going overboard.
I tend to be very cold at night unless I have heavy blankets pulled up to my chin so that's why I'm afraid he'll be cold. But maybe he's not like me. I wish I knew!

Thanks for the input, I guess I'll try leaving his arms out tonight and see how he does.

I have another side question ~ when did you start just covering your baby with a blanket instead of wrapping them in it? I read on Baby Central that you can tuck the sides of the blanket between the mattress and crib to help keep baby from pulling it up over his head. Have you ever done this? I don't want to swaddle him forever but I'm so paranoid now that he's not sleeping in my room anymore!!

massagemommy replied: Mine definitely would be so cold he'd wake up multiple times if the heat were that low at night -- even in a cozy sleeper with a onesie underneath he just needs warm air, even now at 10 months. Is there a Warm House program or similar offered by your utility company? Lots of them have deferred-payment programs or even donation programs that allow you to pay for your heat later or have the cost donated, esp. if there are babies or seniors in your home.

~Roo'sMama~ replied:
There is but we don't qualify for it. Dh makes a tiny bit over the limit - I'm so ticked off too because our heating bill was almost too much for us to manage last year, and he was making more money last year than he is now.

Maddie&EthansMom replied: Sara I bet that is frustrating. Do you put socks on him, too? I am always warmer when I wear socks. And will he wear one of those little hats like they come home from the hospital in? That will keep his little bald head warm.

I have no advice on the blanket situation. Ethan had to have a blanket and he had to have it over his head to sleep. Freaked me out, but I couldn't keep him from pulling it over his head. Now his head has to be wedged between something to sleep.

massagemommy replied: You know, I forgot to say our son sleeps in a sleeping bag -- not to wear, but like little kids have. He stopped accepting swadddling at about 3 weeks (!) so we put him in his J. Cole Bundle Me bag -- the one that's supposed to go in the carseat. We just flattened the bottom, lay him down in it, & zipped it up. His bed then was a close-&-secure on an armchair next to our bed, so it all fit great. When he outgrew that I just made a bigger bag to fit the Delta portacrib he moved up to -- fleece lined w/sheeting, zippers up the sides, top slightly shorter than bottom so he couldn't pull it TOO far over his head . It still works great -- I don't know how it would work in a full-size crib though?

Bottom line is, he'll probably be just fine. You could even stick a thermometer on his wall if you're worried about the temp in there. Bummer about the income limit.

kimberley replied: it shouldn't be a problem. our house is oil heated and we have gone weeks in the 60's here and no one got sick. the baby soon got acclimated but i always made sure she had footed jamas and a diaper shirt under. if it ever got colder than that, i would put her in the bed with me and she'd be toasty all night. jade hates blankets too.

~Roo'sMama~ replied:
I haven't thought about putting socks on him, that's a good idea! I'll try that tomorrow night. Tonight I put him in a lightweight sleeper under the sleeper sack, then swaddled him in a light blanket leaving his arms out, and put another thin fleece blanket over him and tucked it between the mattress and crib. So hopefully he'll be warm even though his arms are sticking out and his hands are bare. I don't know if he'll wear a hat or not... I can try it if I can find a hat that'll fit his head and stay on all night. The one from the hospital has been too small for a long time.

The blanket seems pretty secure ~ I don't think he'll be able to pull it up over his head. That's one useful piece of information I've gotten from Baby Central anyways!

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied: I didn't read what everyone else said, but since I live in Colorado, I understand COLD! So I would use those fleece sleep sacks when Wil was an infant and put them on with a long sleeve onesie that had the hand covers in them. Or I put those little cotton mittens on him that you put on babies so they don't scratch their face. You can even put socks on his hand if he lets you! Now that he's bigger, I use regular fleece sleepers with the feet in them and always put a onesie and socks on him underneath. We keep the temp around 70ish. As far as blankets go, I used afhgan style blankets for a long time. The kind that people knit and have a lot of holes in them. They kept him warm, but I also felt comfortable he would breath fine if it got over his head.

Have you tried giving him a warm bath before bed?

mckayleesmom replied:
Mckaylee had those too and never had a problem breathing

~Roo'sMama~ replied:
Oooh the afghan is a good idea too! I wonder where I can get one. Yeah I'm beginning to think that the long sleeved onsie and socks under the sleep sack is the way to go.

I haven't tried a bath before bed, but it's usually still pretty warm in the house when I put him to bed so he doesn't have any trouble falling asleep, it's just that it gets so cold during the night because we turn the heat down when we go to bed. We've been keeping the heat set at 66-68 degrees during the day and I think it's FREEZING. But so far it doesn't seem to be bothering him.

I can not wait until we can move to a house that isn't so hard to keep warm in the winter!!

~KARA~ replied: Sara can you cover your windows with plastic??? that wiill help. We have our heat set at 70 and when I go in to check on Kade its chilly in his room. Of course his room has 2 outside walls.



do you have a second hand store near you?? Like goodwill or salvation army. You could probably find one there.

~KARA~ replied: Here is the linke to a bunch of ebay auctons!!

ebay- afghan blanket!

My3LilMonkeys replied: Roo's Mama, where do you live? My MIL crochets a lot and we have boxes of afghans that I don't know what to do with - I'd be glad to mail you one if you're in the US and not too picky about color/style.

Maybe get up in the middle of the night and just unzip him quick and check him tummy/back to see if he feels cold? As long as his core feels warm to the touch he is not too cold even if his hands are chilly.

I understand where you are coming from - we are on a tight budget and don't qualify for assistance either. We try to keep our house at 65 as much as possible. At that temp I freeze, Brooke is ok in long sleeves, Madison is ok no matter what she is wearing, and DH is walking around in his boxers asking if he can turn the heat down!

~Roo'sMama~ replied:
We're planning on plasticing them - thanks for the reminder! I don't think we can do it yet though because we are going to have some remodeling done hopefully soon. (our city is giving out grants to improve housing and we qualified. I'm so excited to finally have sheetrock! lol)

Thanks for the link I'll check it out!

~Roo'sMama~ replied:
I live in MN. It's so sweet of you to offer! I would have to check with Dh about giving out our address and see how much it would cost to ship. Where in the US are you?

So far tucking the blanket in between the crib and mattress is keeping him from pulling it up over his head though so I might be ok with what I have.

When I got him up this morning (I left his arms out last night) he was warm except for his hands... it wasn't terribly cold last night though so I guess we'll see.

My3LilMonkeys replied: I live in PA. We could split the cost of shipping if you want. I totally understand not wanting to give out your address to a complete stranget though!

Warbride replied: I've been using blankets with my son with no problems. Even if he pulls them over his head he can still breathe. I totally understand about the money issue, we're a miliatry family, it's hard to make it on 20.000 a year. Something my grandma told me that has helped, with the fleece sack things, it's best if you can put pajamas on underneath. I use a set of tight fitting pajamas(almost like long underwear, but made out of regular cotton) with a set of footies on over them on the colder nights and my son sleeps fine.

my2monkeyboys replied: I do my son the same way... longjohns, socks, footed sleeper, blanket. He used to wear a sleep sack, but once he got about a year old he started using loose-knit blankets. Thin layers are always good... keeps them warmer than just 1 thick layer. If you still prefer to swaddle him then just leave his arm out. As long as there are sleeves on him he should be fine. If he gets too cool he'll probably figure out how to tuck his hands under him somehow. Hope this helps!

CosmetologyMommy replied: U should try the blanket that is meant for swaddling with the velcro