The Heat Debacle
Remember the days when you would see a weather forecast with heat in the 20 degree range and squeal with delight thinking of all the beach days out, garden parties and beer garden sessions you could plan…not anymore! When you have a newborn you fear the heat like the plague due to unsettled sleep…well I did anyway!
Our house seems to have no ventilation upstairs, we put an extra two vents in both the kids rooms last summer, as even in winter the house can be really stuffy with the central heating on. When it is sunny and hot outside, it is like living in the desert!
The front of the house downstairs only has a tiny opening in a big ceiling to floor window so it ends up like an oven. In the back we have a conservatory which turns into a green house, so much so I have to resort to opening the front door of the house to try and coax some breeze in through the house.
The heat in the house at night means the babies don’t sleep, especially if they are teething or there is something else bothering them and they are a bit unsettled anyway, and if they don’t sleep then you don’t sleep. It’s also a constant battle over the light / heat / sound ratio. You can’t open the bedroom door as the light from the hall will get in and the noise will wake them, you cant leave the window open as the noise from the older kids playing or Margaret behind having a garden party will wake them! We tried a fan and a humidifier, the fan to cool the room before we put the baby to bed and then the humidifier through the night to keep the room cool and not too dry as it was relatively quiet.
We put up a blackout blind on the window in the landing which did help as it meant we could leave the kids bedroom doors open once everyone was asleep and the noise problem was reduced. It also prevented them from waking at 5am thinking “Oh great, it’s daytime, here we go!”.
I was also nervous leaving the window open incase the baby got an ear infection as her cot was right underneath the window against the wall, so in the end during the heatwave we moved the cot to the other end of the room and could crack the window a little, get some air into the room and get some sleep with the baby not waking up every 2 hours or so!I was like the summer sun grinch at one point, checking the weather forecast praying for rain and cool weather so we could all get some sleep.
I mentioned it to one of my Mum friends who said “Oh ye, it’s even worse when you have a newborn in the summer months you are constantly seeking shade and worrying about their body temps”. I had always dreamed of having a summer baby as both of mine are winter babies, but I had failed to consider this element of it. I can only imagine the stress and also the struggle of trying to breastfeed in the heat. I also find the heat really hard to take when I am tired, I think that’s why I was such a Grinch last year when the heatwave came, I was getting so little sleep I just couldn’t enjoy it.
The nicest way to enjoy good weather with a young baby, I think, is out for a walk with a nice breeze, but sometimes the effort involved seems even more cumbersome than a beach day out, applying sunscreen, getting an appropriate hat on them (and trying to make sure they keep it on!), altering the buggy to remove the bottom pouch bit but then worrying that the babies legs will be too exposed, finding the little baby sunglasses and getting them to wear them to prevent them going bananas with the glare from the sun. Bringing plenty of water and fruit in the bag to keep them hydrated along the way….and all that before you have even sorted yourself out for the walk!
The heat struggle is real for mums and their babies!
