Any mommies here have tips on how to take care of babies when it's hot out? We don't have central air, nor will we be getting it any time soon. Luckily, her room is right across the hall from ours, and since the rooms are small, we've got a cheap set up to keep us all cool at night - I have a sheet hanging in the hallway, a fan blowing to her room, and the AC in the window of our room. It really keeps the cool in there - go past the sheet, and there is a huge temp difference.

Anyway, sleeping quarters are figure out, but what about the rest of the day? We are supposed to have temps in the 90's, and even right now the humidity is 100% - without rain. She gets fussy when she gets warm, we have been taking her down to her diaper already. I don't like to run the AC in the rooms all the time - just before it's time for her to go to bed, and through the night.

Tips please? Concerns? She's 4 months old. I'm probably spazzing over nothing, but this heat/humidity makes ME miserable!

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When we brought Logan home last summer it was the first of July and we hit a heat wave! I was up all night long trying to make sure he wasn't over heating or was too cold. I have no advice other than I just got up a lot. They do have those cotton growns that cover them up but aren't as one warm fitting as the heavy ones. I know I used those a lot.

That sheet in the hallway? Make it wet - they did that in the old days here in AZ. In today's technology, it's called a swamp cooler. The air flows through and cools you. You can also wet his outfit, but in truth, he may get too chilled, especially w/ a fan.

Keep him hydrated, but NOT with water. Make sure it's only with breastmilk or formula, so you don't throw his electrolyte balance off. Cornstarch will help, especially in the creases where prickly heat can start. There are compacts of it these days, if you don't want to sprinkle it. I think I got mine from One Step Ahead or Right Start.

Consider a room A/C, where you can all retreat. You can also keep a blanket in the fridge, slightly damp, for bedtime, but again, watch for signs of chill.

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Do you have a pedestal, ceiling or box fan in the room you will stay in during the day?

We have ceiling fans in the living rm, kitchen & our bedroom. Some of our familly think it is tacky but I'd rather have them then constantly run the a/c.

At night, draw in cool air if you have it. Before it gets hot, shut all the windows and shades and keep the "cave" cool. I draw air up from the basement with a pedestal fan. I have a 2nd pedestal fan midway through the house to keep the air moving. I keep a small window fan in the bathroom turned to pull the air out and through the house.

We do not have central air but my husband put 4 window units in the upstairs, large one for the living rm and one in each bedroom. I use them conservatively. Yesterday it was over 90 and dreadfully humid, I set them on 77 and power saver mode. I close the kids doors at night and run their a/c on good sleep mode w/8hr shutoff so they won't be all sweaty for bed.

Good luck with keeping her and your family cool

This isn't quite an answer to your question, but something I was wondering. Is it ok to have a fan running in baby's room? DD is 11 months and I have a ceiling fan in her room. I don't think I ran it at all last summer becuase I didn't think a newborn should have it. Is she ok to have it running in her room with her in there?

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Ran into this same thing last year with DS. Good that you have the nights figured out...a good nights sleep is sooooo important to keeping his temperament through the day..

Daytime...
1) we gave him his naps in the packnplay that was downstairs in the "cave" (see-above)
2) from about 5am on we shut all the curtains, everything, and set up to block the daytime heat
3) I kept a couple of pillowcases to use as "blankets" for him to snuggle with (the material seemed to feel cooler than his rec blankets)
4) in the late afternoon/evening it would be hard to hold him and give him a bottle b/c then even I was so warm - so he would be in onesie only and I would have to have to be dressed enough that he wasn't sticking to my skin and I would get one of those pillowcases to put between us
5) on the truly hotest days (97+) i put the pillowcase in the fridge for a few minutes first before holding him with it - NOT COLD THOUGH JUST A LITTLE COOL
6) WINDOW SHoPPING!!! I'm telling you the CVS people new us by name. It's really close and I can wander for quite a while in their air-conditioning! Remember that after being acclimated to the air in your home that you don't want baby to get a chill in the store, though!I took *another* pillowcase with us and lay it over his legs if it was really cool in there

I should have registered for pillowcases! Now he is big enough he "helps" with the laundry folding - but only the pillowcases!

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we had the ceiling fan on in our room (dd slept in there also) 24/7, with no adverse affects. if your dd's 4 months, some wind won't hurt her, and the alternative would be to have her roast the whole night.

When I had my first DS I had not air and we lived in NC. I would schedule a bath in the heat of the day. Cleanest baby in town! On the days when it is just unbarable....set up camp in your bedroom and run the air a little while. Heat does make some babies so fussy!

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Illini Bob's wife....mom to 3 little chiefs

I grew up in the days before A/C was common. We didn't have A/C in our previous CA house and had many a grandbaby there during the summer. I'm very much aware that babies (and their mothers) survived for many generations before A/C was even invented. Here is what we did ...

~ Concentrate on activities early in the morning and later at night when the air was cooler. We slowed down a lot in the middle of the day.

~ Lots of baths and swimming.

~ Shade, shade, shade

~ Ate cool and frozen stuff, especially in the middle of the day.

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When my girls were born in the summer, I would wet a face clothe and just keep wiping them or hold it on their face/forehead for a while or thier backs. I would NEVER stay home, we would go out to the mall or walmart just for the ac break. LOL then MIL decided it was TOO hot in our little apt and bought us an AC.

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~Missy~Mommy
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