Co sleeping, colder temps, drafty house

"cjra" wrote in message
s.com...
How warm do you keep your house?
How do you bundle up your kid?
DO you have any issues once you start using big duvets?

We live in South Texas, so it's not like we'll have subzero temps to
worry about, but it does get cold from time to time, and dips below
freezing. We do have central heat, but our house is old and drafty -
pier and beam foundation w/no skirting at the moment which means all
that's between us and the elements is a thin layer of wood floors.
Walls are insulated and windows restored, but that means single pane
and not perfectly sealed. 12 ft ceilings are great in summer (which is
not quite over yet!), not so good in winter. On our first big freeze
last December the temp inside never got above 64F. Not a big deal
snuggled up in our duvets, but what about DD?

We've done a lot to improve insulation since last winter, but it's not
perfect yet. Do we just get one of those polar snowsuits to bundle her
for sleep? Swaddle her with thick blankets? I confess I use a blanket
with her now, I just tuck it around her body but not her arms so she's
not swaddled. I know blankets are a no-no but this has worked, only now
I'm getting a little nervous about that.

About swaddling - how long does one do it? We finally got it to work
for a couple of weeks, then stopped, She doesn't need it now (she's
3.5months). She doesn't roll over yet but she moves so much I'm
paranoid she'll flip over and not be able to get back if she's all
swaddled.

And we co sleep. Hasn't been an issue yet since I've been sleeping with
a very thin blanket (not much thicker than a sheet), but once I use the
big fluffy duvet, how do I keep it off of her? She always scoots
towards me. Do I just not use it? (DH has been using his all along, but
he keeps it close to him and as long as I'm there, she doesn't scoot to
him in her sleep, just me.

She's still nursing all night so I want to keep her in bed with us,
though even if we moved her we'd still have the cold issue. I know this
probably sounds incredibly stupid, but am just wondering how people
deal?


I spent some time in a place which had 0 degrees celcius nights and DD at
the time was 5 months. Because we were only staying there a couple of
weeks we just used the duvets that were given us. DH was paranoid right
from the time we started cosleeping (about 3 1/2 months) that DD would get
smothered or squashed so everytime as soon as she had finished feeding I
would lift her up so her head shared my pillow, and just had covers up to my
shoulders, with her in a light grobag. When she woke needing a feed, she
would wiggle down, feed and then I would move her back up again. So by the
time she was 5 months, she was already in the habit herself of wiggling
herself up to share the pillow with me after a feed, before she would go to
sleep. Because of this I wasn't too worried about suffocation or anything
like that, and I just moved the edge of the duvet up or down on her a bit to
cover more or less (in addition to the grobag) depending on whether I
thought she was too hot or cold.
Maybe you could try this with your DD?

"Anne Rogers" wrote in message
snip:
surprised to see this, where is it you've got your information from? it
seems that what chookie has seen in Aus is the same as what I've been told
in the UK, I know different recommendations are given in different places,
but I suspect I know enough Americans with babies to have picked up on
this difference, but I've not heard of it. If loose bedding is a no no,
then what on earth do you use, does everyone use baby sleeping bags?

Yes I have noticed this too with regards to not allowing blankets. I belong
to an online parenting group all with a baby the same as my DD2. With
around 400 women most of them from the US or Canada and I would say 95% of
them do not use blankets but use those sleep pocket/sleeping bag type things
for their babies.

I'm in NZ now but lived in the UK for 9 years and we go by the same practice
of having blankets on our babies. I understand the whole thing about being
careful of loose bedding but I always tucked the blankets in on all sides
and they never came loose. Baby might work her way out the top of the
blankets (not downwards because they always had their feet at the bottom of
the cot) but the blankets never worked their way loose.

I personally then go to using only a duvet on their cot when they are about
15 months old, but even then I tuck it in and it never comes loose through
the night. Maybe I just have peaceful sleepers


--
Pip

My girls :
DD1 Jasmine - 5 weeks early - 21 March 02 -
Still as small as a peanut but as smart as a whip!

DD2 Abby - 8 weeks early - 3 Feb 05 -
"Uhhhhh ohhhhhh" is my new favourite phrase, now what other trouble can I
find!

"Yes you can drive me insane just by talking to me!"


--

I love gro-bags and so does ds. You can get 3 different togs, so if
your dd does like them in winter you can still use them for the next
summer. We found they were good because ds is a huge wriggler. We used
a cellular blanket for the first 3 months when he was in a moses
basket. He was well wrapped and tucked, so even with a wriggler like
him he rarely came unwrapped, and then the blanket always ended up at
the bottom of the basket. Because he was feet to foot he couldn't
wriggle under.

When I posted about this ages a few Americans said not to use blankets,
but I have no idea what I was supposed to use so we continued and it
was fine. As a SIDS paranoid first time mum I made sure he was well
wrapped. With the gro-bags that worry is gone and when he does a 190%
turn in his bed he's still snug, although he does get wedged sometimes
.
The makers of gro-bags, who are supported by the SIDS Foundation, say
it's ok to add blankets and sheets on top of the bag (which we have
done if the temp drops in the night and he wakes), just not duvets.
Duvets are a no-no here until at least one year, but we are going to
wait till he moves into a bed.

I don't co-sleep so you can say what I reckon with a pinch of salt but
if was in your situation I'd try a gro-bag, as it's not going to be
coverd by either you or your dh's bedding, so no covers/duvets to slip
under.

Jeni

In article ,
"Anne Rogers" wrote:

surprised to see this, where is it you've got your information from? it
seems that what chookie has seen in Aus is the same as what I've been told
in the UK, I know different recommendations are given in different places,
but I suspect I know enough americans with babies to have picked up on this
difference, but I've not heard of it. If loose bedding is a no no, then what
on earth do you use, does everyone use baby sleeping bags?

'Loose' bedding means 'not tucked in'. Here's our standard advice:
http://www.sidsandkids.org/cot.htm

The idea is not to have anything that might end up over the baby's head/face,
or otherwise impede airflow. No hats, for example, Anne! It seems that
keeping babies too warm is also part of SIDS; keeping the head bare allows the
baby to keep its temperature down. Plainly, this implies that most of us tend
to overheat our babies.

If a baby is too cold, it wakes up and yells :-)

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"Parenthood is like the modern stone washing process for denim jeans. You may
start out crisp, neat and tough, but you end up pale, limp and wrinkled."
Kerry Cue

"cjra" wrote and I snipped:
How warm do you keep your house?
How do you bundle up your kid?
DO you have any issues once you start using big duvets?

In the winter, we have our house between about 65 and 68 degrees, although
it was near the upper end with an infant around. I always put my kids in
blanket sleepers to avoid using blankets. I would even put them in pajamas,
then the blanket sleeper over that. So, in essence, they were wearing their
blanket. No other blanket is needed in that case. If you did the same, you
could even put A in a onesie under the pajamas.

Co-sleeping was tricky, especially when it was for only part of the night.
If the baby had the blanket sleeper on, s/he would be too warm with my
blanket anywhere near, so they slept up between the pillows.

-Patty, mom of 1+2

wrote:
I love gro-bags and so does ds. You can get 3 different togs, so if
your dd does like them in winter you can still use them for the next
summer. We found they were good because ds is a huge wriggler. We used
a cellular blanket for the first 3 months when he was in a moses
basket. He was well wrapped and tucked, so even with a wriggler like
him he rarely came unwrapped, and then the blanket always ended up at
the bottom of the basket. Because he was feet to foot he couldn't
wriggle under.


What's a gro-bag?

Tucking in would work if she was in her bassinet, but she's not.....she
won't sleep in there. I've even tried moving her after she's asleep and
she wakes up. She likes being next to mommy and daddy I think . Maybe
we'll go back to the snuggle nest thing and use that to tuck the
blankets. We do have a baby sleep sack, it's thick fleece, just didn't
seem warm enough since DH and I use down duvets. I don't know why it
feels so cold at times, the temp is rarely *that* low, but there tends
to be a dampness when it's cold.

Of course, last night we turned the a/c back on since it was a steam
bath here.

Chookie wrote:
In article ,
"Anne Rogers" wrote:

surprised to see this, where is it you've got your information from? it
seems that what chookie has seen in Aus is the same as what I've been told
in the UK, I know different recommendations are given in different places,
but I suspect I know enough americans with babies to have picked up on this
difference, but I've not heard of it. If loose bedding is a no no, then what
on earth do you use, does everyone use baby sleeping bags?

'Loose' bedding means 'not tucked in'. Here's our standard advice:
http://www.sidsandkids.org/cot.htm

The idea is not to have anything that might end up over the baby's head/face,
or otherwise impede airflow. No hats, for example, Anne! It seems that
keeping babies too warm is also part of SIDS; keeping the head bare allows the
baby to keep its temperature down. Plainly, this implies that most of us tend
to overheat our babies.

Interesting about the hats. My instincts would have been to put ahat on
her!

If a baby is too cold, it wakes up and yells :-)

Maybe that's what happened last night. Not really, I know she wasn't
cold last night as her head was sweating like crazy (tho she didn't
feel particularly hot and she had on light clothing), but she awoke
with a scream I've never heard before. I can't describe it, but it was
the worst thing I've ever heard. Maybe she got a mosquito bite....now I
have to watch her for any fever.

Chookie wrote:

I know blankets are a no-no but this has worked, only now
I'm getting a little nervous about that.

Surprised to see this -- here, duvets are the no-no. The issue is that the
child's face can sink into them. The theory is that this causes a pooling of
carbon dioxide around the face, and in vulnerable babies this leads to SIDS.
A well-made woollen blanket should not cause this problem (look for Australian
merino blankets ;-)).


I just realized maybe I wasn't clear, I was referring to a duvet for
*me*, not for DD. Once I use a duvet the bed gets more crowded with
more fluffy items.

Well, we rarely keep out nightime temps above 65 in winter.
What worked for us was a footed flannel sleeper for the baby,
and a single down comforter which we made sure never came up
over the babies waist. I don't ever remmember being cold, and
I don't think the baby was either.

Larry

cjra writes:
: How warm do you keep your house?
: How do you bundle up your kid?
: DO you have any issues once you start using big duvets?

: We live in South Texas, so it's not like we'll have subzero temps to
: worry about, but it does get cold from time to time, and dips below
: freezing. We do have central heat, but our house is old and drafty -
: pier and beam foundation w/no skirting at the moment which means all
: that's between us and the elements is a thin layer of wood floors.
: Walls are insulated and windows restored, but that means single pane
: and not perfectly sealed. 12 ft ceilings are great in summer (which is
: not quite over yet!), not so good in winter. On our first big freeze
: last December the temp inside never got above 64F. Not a big deal
: snuggled up in our duvets, but what about DD?

: We've done a lot to improve insulation since last winter, but it's not
: perfect yet. Do we just get one of those polar snowsuits to bundle her
: for sleep? Swaddle her with thick blankets? I confess I use a blanket
: with her now, I just tuck it around her body but not her arms so she's
: not swaddled. I know blankets are a no-no but this has worked, only now
: I'm getting a little nervous about that.

: About swaddling - how long does one do it? We finally got it to work
: for a couple of weeks, then stopped, She doesn't need it now (she's
: 3.5months). She doesn't roll over yet but she moves so much I'm
: paranoid she'll flip over and not be able to get back if she's all
: swaddled.

: And we co sleep. Hasn't been an issue yet since I've been sleeping with
: a very thin blanket (not much thicker than a sheet), but once I use the
: big fluffy duvet, how do I keep it off of her? She always scoots
: towards me. Do I just not use it? (DH has been using his all along, but
: he keeps it close to him and as long as I'm there, she doesn't scoot to
: him in her sleep, just me.

: She's still nursing all night so I want to keep her in bed with us,
: though even if we moved her we'd still have the cold issue. I know this
: probably sounds incredibly stupid, but am just wondering how people
: deal?

No hats, for example, Anne!

presumably depends on the hat, they certainly use hats on babies in NICU,
now I know they are being monitored and watched, but if it was really
thought to be a risk if they fell off then they probably wouldn't use it,
it's a case of compromise, I'm not suggesting hat as the first solution, but
I'd definitely try a hat before a thick snow suit.

Cheers

Anne