And this wasn't even early because I was very, very late (9:00 am).
It is FREEZING in Johannesburg as we're smack bang in the midst of a cold spell.
Normally I love the cold weather but it's another matter altogether with babies.
Although we took them out yesterday because it's better to be in our warm car (with the sun streaming through the windows) than in our cold house!
South African houses are not made for the cold so that means we have a heater in each bedroom.
Last night we gave the babies hot baths and then dressed them in a gazillion layers of clothes:
- long-sleeved body vests
- normal long-sleeved vests over that
- plus leggings
- inside babygrows
- and then inside their sleepsacks
And still they have these cold little hands.
Cute, but cold.
We had the heater on in the babies' room the whole night with a bowl of water to keep the air moist.
D and I slept with our electric blankets on...
We have a lovely, open plan living area that's COLD in winter normally and now is positively freezing.
We can't leave the heaters on when they're awake because of course, it's dangerous to little fingers and exploring, curious minds (as you know, Connor loves lights).
So it's going to be interesting...
What do your babies sleep in, in winter?
P.S. I didn't allow myself to post last night as I'd already exceeded my 2 hours because of some things I had to do for the business (will reveal new website soon!).
P.P.S. It's like a morgue today at work because South Africa lost 3 -0 to Uruguay last night :(
Ava is currently sleeping with her humidifier going full blast, as well as a 6 fin oil heater on full, a baby grower, with sox, an awesome polar fleece sleeping sack that covers her arms as well and then a weighted baby blanket and a warmed bean bag against her back. I check on her every evening before going to bed and she's as snug as a bug in a rug! :-)
ReplyDeleteIt was minus 5 driving to work in my car this morning! Its so damn freezing!!
ReplyDeleteIn the US, lots of us have central air. We're used to needing to be prepared for the cold, but it's also frowned on to put too many heavy clothes or blankets on babies. They usually sleep in the winter in polar fleece one piece pajamas with a onesie on underneath. That seems to be all they need. But then again, it's usually 70 degrees in their room in the winter. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteWhere I grew up we had a coal boiler and radiators in every room for our heat. It used to get to be like 80 degrees in that house in the winter. It was warm!
Awwww...those cute cuddly little babies with cold hands. The cold hands kill me...my kids' hands are always cold.
ReplyDeleteMine sleep in footie pajamas with a blanket that they usually kick right off.
Does your house not have heat?
ReplyDeleteIn the US almost all homes have both heat and central air. My house is old so I have traditional radiators that are WONDERFUL!!! They are made of cast iron and stay warm forever so I don't have to run the furnace so much. Plus since they don't blow air like force air heat they save on allergens! We have them in almost every room, we had to take the one out of our bathroom because it just got too hot. It's run by a thermostat so I set the temperature and forget it. It shuts itself off at certain preset times to conserve energy too.
We have those eco panel heaters in the house - they work excellent with babies - you can actually touch them and they do not burn you, but the air heats up. Try them!
ReplyDeleteWe live in TX and the high yesterday was 101, so it's gonna be a HOT summer here! Right now Emery just sleeps in her footed pajamas and we'll add a cotton sleep sack once she actually stays in her bed the whole night (she is 8 months old and winds up in our bed w/o fail around 1ish every morning... so bad, I know). Her big brother was a winter baby and slept in his footed/long sleeve pjs and then a fleece sleep sack. Both always woke up w/cold hands too. I don't know how you avoid that??? Of course, we have central air/heat, so that helps because it's never below 70 in their rooms! My twin sister passed from SIDS, so I'm still too scared to give her a blanket.
ReplyDeleteOh my, that IS cold! I was amused when one of the Scottish commentators said, "I'm slightly embarrassed, as a Scotsman, to admit that I'm cold." I know what he means, having grown up in Scotland myself.
ReplyDeleteI have nothing to say about children and cold, since we only spend a few days below freezing here yearly, if that, and the entire city shuts down when it happens!
Wow. It's amazing how you read people's posts feel so close, but don't realize how far away they really are... It's been 100 degrees here in Tennessee for the past couple of weeks. It's SOOOO HOT!!!
ReplyDeleteSo: About the winter.... We have central heat and air so the boys just slept in footie PJ's with their blanky. Sorry! It sounds like you guys are miserable!
Oh, Lucas LOVED the heating in Korea. They have heated floors, so that the heat rises to heat the house, and your feet are always toasty.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't get too terribly cold here in Alabama, but during the coldest months (actually more like weeks than months!), my girls slept in onesies, warm fleece pajamas with feet, plus socks. I am actually still dressing them warm right now. With 100 F temps, I like the house pretty cool and I worry about little feet getting cold. I usually dress them in either cotton footed pajamas or long-sleeved onesies and pajama pants.
ReplyDeleteI like Sadia's mention of heated floors...wouldn't that be great?!
Yikes, this cold is quite a thing! We also have one of those eco wall panel heaters but I think my son's room is too big for it - an old house with huge rooms and high ceilings, looks lovely, impossible to heat! 7 deg Celcius INSIDE my house this morning :(
ReplyDeleteHe looks like the Oros man going to bed - long sleeved vest, footed baby grow with mitten things on the sleeves for his hands, hooded polar fleece one piece thingy over that and under a blanket and duvet!
Those heaters are going to cost you!!! We have snow on the surrounding mountains!!! Isn't weird how as South Africans we are so unprepared fro the winter... we have hot water bottles to see us through... AND as for the post game morgue. Our streets are quiet after weeks of partying and vuvuzelas... Q.U.I.E.T. - awful!!!
ReplyDeleteWow, that IS cold for you.
ReplyDeleteLike your lovely city, our houses aren't built for the cold either. No central air/furnaces/central heating/radiators yaddah yaddah. We do have those eco panel things but truthfully on a cold night they're pretty hopeless.
D sleeps in a cotton vest, then wool vest, then thick flannelette pj's and socks. Then she actually sleeps in a merino wool sleeping bag designed for <18 celsius and maybe a blanket or 2, plus the big oil fin heater (stays on 24/7). The angelcare keeps us up with what the temp's doing in her room, which is handy.
Sorry about the footie - did you see that our team drew the game in the last nano second of the game??
I had Kendra mid winter and Vannan mid summer in Colorado Springs - long coldish winters. Joel was mid summer and LaRue beginning of winter in our very cold and short East Texas winter's. (You would think it was the other way around with the cold!)
ReplyDeleteFirst, My babies sleep with us until they are past 2. No cold hands, because they will tuck themselves against us - usually me, but LaRue (and Kendra did it too) have been known to snuggle up to Tim instead. (Right now, they do the summer sprawl - and we let them sleep in a nearby but separate bed after they are 6 months old).
Our house is a poorly insulated trailer. We have central heat, but the floors are still usually close to 58 deg F. Yeah, COLD hands. I've been known to rub lots of olive oil, vasaline, lotion, anything with a oily texture onto their hands - helps trap in their warmth.
Sleep sacks. Blanket PJ's over a summer PJ. A hat on the head that fastens under their chin or tuck long ties way down into their PJ's. The hats keep them so much warmer. I try to dress them a size too big - so the hands stay inside of the arms while they sleep.
Hard to think about warming up when it's 78 deg F when I woke up this morning and pushing 95 - 100 every day!