Help with bringing temperature down in the house

CDaniels1987

So we have a new baby (11 days old), however we really suffer with the heat in our house, its usually around 23-25 degrees in the day currently, and our room where he sleeps doesn't go lower than 23 degrees on a night time, its quite uncomfortable sometimes and I can only imagine it must be a little uncomfortable for the little one, we dress him in a vest and a sleepsuit currently like the midwives advised us, and we have blankets at hand on the off chance he becomes cold.

I have tried everything to lower the temperature in the day so it can stay like it at night (it doesn't seem to budge at night from the day temperature, dropping .5 - 1 degree at most) I keep the curtains shut, I've had fans on in the room, I've tried having a fan pointing towards an open window as I have heard that helps with cool air flow, but nothing works (this house sucks!)

We currently rent so I can't really put proper AC installed, which I would do if we owned the house and just use it during the day to keep the room cool, but Ive seen you can buy AC systems for around £200 - £250 that don't have to be installed, so my question is has anyone used one of these?

I just want something to help bring the temp down during the day, as I know its going to get worse as the temp outside rises from next week once summer fully kicks in (According to the weather forecast)

We have been in this house for 4 years now so I know how uncomfortable it can get in the summer, we can't look at moving house until at least xmas time maybe just after so I really want to try and find a fix for this summer.

Thanks in advance.

Dollyrockerz

My son was born 2 years ago in the middle of the heatwave we had so I can sympathise. At the time we lived in a maisonette with the bedrooms in the roof almost which was just stifling

I used to leave the curtains closed and the windows open all day to keep the room cool, also putting a wet muslin on a fan is supposed to help but I never really noticed any difference. The best solution (though not very comfortable) was to sleep in the lounge with him in his moses basket as it was the coolest room in the house.

Seems a shame to pay out so much money for an A/C unit, could you look at renting one instead perhaps?

CDaniels1987

Thanks for your reply, yeah its quite uncomfortable, I mean he seems fairly content at the moment but I know its going to get much worse when higher temperatures hit, but it's also for me and my wife as we get quite uncomfortable in the house, we have just managed to put up with it for 4 summers, but would not one the little man to have to.

I mean yeah it seems a bit extreme to spend that amount of money on an AC system but if its good enough then I don't mind as we will more than likely use it in the future as well, just unsure if it will be as good as AC system that you physically install, dont mind spending the money if its not a waste of money.

Yesterday it was fully sunny and around 20 degrees, yet it was cooler outside than in the house, it was quite uncomfortable, we were glad to go for our first outing in the afternoon.

What also seems strange is that the temperature actually got worse on the night for the first few hours according to the GROegg we have.

This house just holds heat way too much, and in the winter its far too cold, never just right, but at least in the winter we can turn heating on to get it nice and warm, there's absolutely nothing we can do in the summer.

Gloomendoom

You could try opening the loft hatch and downstairs doors/windows. The hot air will rise into the roof space and draw cooler air in from outside.

Is it really a problem for the baby though? It's not that hot compared to other parts of the world, especially when you consider that he's spent the last nine months at 37 degrees ambient.

notanewuser

My daughter was born in winter and even in the deep of winter (it snowed) she never ever wore a vest under a sleepsuit. So ditch that. Cosleeping will help regulate baby's temperature and breathing.

Our bedrooms get very warm too. We have cold water coolers that we use in summer. You can add ice for them to be more effective. I'll
Try and find you a link to something.

CDaniels1987

Gloomendoom wrote: »

You could try opening the loft hatch and downstairs doors/windows. The hot air will rise into the roof space and draw cooler air in from outside.

Tried that we have had all windows in the house open, door open but nothing works, we have to be careful sometimes as we have indoor cats so can't open everything, but the other day we locked the cats up in one of the rooms and completely aired every other room with the windows and doors, and it did not go down, there's just nothing we can do with this house without the possibility of some kind of AC system.

carefullycautious

Dollyrockerz wrote: »

My son was born 2 years ago in the middle of the heatwave we had so I can sympathise. At the time we lived in a maisonette with the bedrooms in the roof almost which was just stifling

I used to leave the curtains closed and the windows open all day to keep the room cool, also putting a wet muslin on a fan is supposed to help but I never really noticed any difference. The best solution (though not very comfortable) was to sleep in the lounge with him in his moses basket as it was the coolest room in the house.

Seems a shame to pay out so much money for an A/C unit, could you look at renting one instead perhaps?

:eek: EEEEK a wet muslin on an electric fan is a recipe for disaster!!!

notanewuser

carefullycautious wrote: »

:eek: EEEEK a wet muslin on an electric fan is a recipe for disaster!!!

I've put wet towels over hotel bedroom windows to cool the room before now.

CDaniels1987

notanewuser wrote: »

My daughter was born in winter and even in the deep of winter (it snowed) she never ever wore a vest under a sleepsuit. So ditch that. Cosleeping will help regulate baby's temperature and breathing.

Our bedrooms get very warm too. We have cold water coolers that we use in summer. You can add ice for them to be more effective. I'll
Try and find you a link to something.

Ditch the vest under sleepsuit? We were told by midwives that they should always wear a vest and then sleepsuit over the top, if its far too warm then ditch the sleepsuit and use a long sleeved vest or something..... but then again we were also told by one of the midwives not to bath him for the first 6 weeks, and also not to give him more than 30ml of milk!!!!

CDaniels1987

Gloomendoom wrote: »

You could try opening the loft hatch and downstairs doors/windows. The hot air will rise into the roof space and draw cooler air in from outside.

Is it really a problem for the baby though? It's not that hot compared to other parts of the world, especially when you consider that he's spent the last nine months at 37 degrees ambient.

Oh and yeah it probably isn't really a problem for him, he seems content enough, but this has just spurred me on to sort the temp out in this house, mainly for when the really hot temperatures come, because we know first hand from the last 4 years just how uncomfortable it does get.

I just worry about him overheating poor little thing

Wilma33

Can't baby just sleep in a nappy? Vest and sleepsuit sounds too much for this time of year.