I’m a sleep expert – the six tips to help your baby nod off in the heat, and why a flannel could be your saviour
WHILE news of a heatwave is welcomed by many, there’s a group of people who groan at the mention of warm weather – new parents.
The reason being that it can be incredibly difficult for a baby, or even a toddler or young child, to get to sleep when it’s stifling outside.
However, Stokke sleep expert, Heidi Skudder, founder of Positively Parenthood, has shared her six top tips to help your children get to sleep, and to stay asleep, in the heat.
Her first suggestion is a fairly simple one – to “keep curtains and blinds down in the daytime so that sunlight doesn’t heat the bedroom”.
You can also use a fan in the evening, as well as opening windows to help circulate the air.
It’s not advised to leave a fan on overnight, however, and never point it directly at your baby.
If you do have a fan, you can put a frozen water bottle in front of it to ensure that the air it’s pumping out is as cold as possible.
In addition, it’s a good idea to keep a “cold or frozen flannel nearby too”, Heidi said, to act as a cold compress to wipe on your baby and keep them cool during the night.
If you have a young baby, offer them extra milk or breastmilk before bed and overnight when they wake up.
If they are older, however, you can give them water.
“It’s a go with the flow approach to sleep for the next few nights!” Heidi laughed.
And homemade frozen lollies, or even cold fruit to suck on, can also be useful to help toddlers deal with the heat.
Lastly, Heidi says it’s important to ensure your children are wearing appropriate clothes for bed in this weather.
“Which really is going to be very little, if anything at all – depending on the room temperature,” she added.