heating?!!

nats3006

hello all well i live in a council house with my 2 children i am on income support and a full time mum a lone parent my children are 2 and a half and the other is 11 weeks! my problem is in my house i have central heating in the kitchen a small one in the bathroom and one on the landing which are very small. i have a gas fire in my front room and loads of air vents throughout the house in bedrooms etc etc i was just wondering as i obviously dont have the money to pay for my own central heating installed if i could get any put in the bedrooms as i am having to buy electric heaters and keeping them on all night in both bedrooms as my childrens hands are like ice blocks with the weather and they keep being ill and yes i cover them up but they are ones who wont keep their hands in the quilt, so before i go to the council and ask does anyone know or have any idea if they have to fit some kind of heating in the bedrooms as they are so young and its costing me so much money on electric and with being on income support i cant afford to spend all my income on electric which i have been doing throughout this winter.
sorry for the long post
nats
x

Oldernotwiser

Have you checked how much insulation you have in your house? If it's not up to current standards the council may be able to improve it for you or else you can get grants to improve it if you are on benefits. It might also be worthwhile checking that your house isn't damp, as this can cause health problems.

Are you sure about how cold your house is? It's been such a mild winter this year. Perhaps you're in a really cold part of the UK? Personally I think that it's really unhealthy to heat bedrooms unless there is some medical condition that requires it and always sleep with an open window unless it's absolutely freezing. I never understand how (or why) people heat their houses at night; we certainly couldn't afford to do this, even with two incomes. I really don't think that chilly bedrooms cause illness but check with your doctor as you're worried.

zoezoe_3

I heat mine 24 7 as I have two babies under 2 and I am always up and down during the night to feed/settle them.

To the OP, my only suggestion is that you all sleep in the same room. You can just heat that one then.

Oldernotwiser

zoezoe wrote:

I heat mine 24 7 as I have two babies under 2 and I am always up and down during the night to feed/settle them.

To the OP, my only suggestion is that you all sleep in the same room. You can just heat that one then.

There are obviously different views on this but perhaps you're doing this for your comfort rather than their health?

http://www.askbaby.com/topic/reducing-risk-cot-death.htm

http://www.fsid.org.uk/your-baby.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3211297.stm

nats3006

no it really is cold not just a bit it is absolutlely freezing its not fair to my children at all and i just wondered if i can get this done or not?
thanks anyways
nats

iceicebaby

Hiya

I dont personally heat my bedrooms. Your children could sleep with gloves on if its just their hands that are cold and extra blankets?

Just a thought, My nan's house didnt have central heating, I wonder how she managed with all her kids ?

tanith

I have always found it strange that councils put in heating in houses but not in bedrooms and sometimes not even in an upstairs bathroom... when the boilers they install are perfectly capable of heating more radiators... they seem to be catching up and when upgrading they now install upstairs as well... I guess if and when your property is due for an upgrade it will get done... my daughter did what you are doing and bought electric radiators for early morning and before bedtime but she didn't have them on all night....
I prefer a cold bedroom too , what about buying the kids heated underblankets ... some of them are good to leave on low.....

nats3006

thanks for your replys. it is just their hands that are cold more the baby's as he keeps them still all night and obviously doesnt roll about like the other one so i am putting gloves on him! will just see if they will install anything when they do upgrades!
thanks again all
nats
x

zoezoe_3

Oldernotwiser wrote:

There are obviously different views on this but perhaps you're doing this for your comfort rather than their health?

http://www.askbaby.com/topic/reducing-risk-cot-death.htm

http://www.fsid.org.uk/your-baby.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3211297.stm

And how dare you send me links about cot death. I heat to about 20 degrees I have a thermostat in both bedrooms. My cousin died of cot death and am very angry that you can even suggest that me heating the house 24 7 is a factor when it is not.

OVER heating is not the same as HEATING. I suggest you edit your post.

Yes I heat the house partly for my comfort, without it the house would drop to around 14-15 and you try breastfeeding 3/4 times a night in the cold.

Oldernotwiser

Sorry to have upset you but it's really not my fault if overheating babies is a contributing factor in cot death. If I had small children then I'd be happy to know this so that I could change my practice. 14-15 degrees is not freezing by anyone's standards whereas 20 is very hot for a child's bedroom.

Obviously they're your children and you choose the risks you let them run; the OP was worried that she couldn't afford to heat the bedrooms and I was trying to reassure her that she had no need to worry and these levels of heat aren't necessary. (My links specifically mention the fact that cold hands are nothing to worry about.)

As somebody else posted, how on earth do you think that people's children managed before central heating; they didn't all die of hypothermia you know and rather fewer died of cot death.

zoezoe_3

Oldernotwiser wrote:

Sorry to have upset you but it's really not my fault if overheating babies is a contributing factor in cot death.

Why do you keep talking about overheating ??? This thread is about simply heating teh rooms.

Oldernotwiser wrote:

14-15 degrees is not freezing by anyone's standards whereas 20 is very hot for a child's bedroom.

No actually you are wrong, the reccomendations are between 16-20 so no 20 is not VERY HOT !

Oldernotwiser wrote:

As somebody else posted, how on earth do you think that people's children managed before central heating; they didn't all die of hypothermia you know and rather fewer died of cot death.

OK get me some figures on how many people died of hypothermia before central heating and how many dies after.

Again, you see to be missing the point. heating a childs room to 20 degrees is not at all risky. Please beware before scaring people with your missfacts about a very serious issue. Cot Death is not caused by heating a childs room to the reccomended limits.

Your post quoting me suggested that I was putting my own comfort before my childrens health and you are very rude and thoughtless to write such a post,

Edited to add - we do much more than sleep in my childrens room. We play, read stories, dry them after a bath and spend a great deal of the day there. It would make no sence to me to heat the rest of the house but not the rooms my children spend their time in !!