Heating baby's room?
melnericproper
member
What does everyone think of putting an electric space heater in the nursery, at least for this winter when LO won't be able to get out of the crib?
When we bought our house 2 years ago, we didn't realize the only heat in the upstairs comes from a small vent in the hallway. I'd really like to keep the nursery door shut to keep our cats out, but then LO won't get any heat. Even with the doors open, the bedrooms still cool down into the 50's at night.
We'll insulate the room and replace the windows when we gut & remodel it this fall, and DH has talked about piping heat into it from the main vent in the hallway. What if that doesn't work, though? And how do we keep LO warm in our room at night, when it's going to be colder than the nursery? A space heater is my only idea. Any other solutions?
Re: Heating baby's room?
We don't even leave a space heater on (or plugged in) with grownups in the bedroom while we're asleep. Too many fires start that way that don't always have to do with people knocking them over.
If anything, you may want to take an overall look at your heating and cooling efficiency of the entire house (and add the vent). You never know when addressing one escape route for heat fixes a whole battery of issues in the entire house, including baby's room. You could temporarily replace the door to the nursery with a cheapo wooden screen door. Allows for whole house ventilation and will keep the cats out (we're planning on doing the same thing).
If you absolutely HAD TO do a space heater, leave it running only while you're awake, or get it good and warm before LO goes to bed. If you insulate the hell out of the room and get some really good, thick, insulating curtains, and maybe turn it on while nursing or tending to baby, there might be enough residual heat to take off the worst of the chill.
Our house is the exact same way upstairs, the heat is just in the hallway. We just don't feel comfortable with using space heaters so a few things we did that help are to keep the crib on an interior wall, the interior walls are warmer so it's not quite as cold there. When ds was an infant we put him in a fleece footed sleeper then swaddled him in a fleece blanket on really cold nights, on nights that weren't as cold we swaddled him in a cotton blanket. We also use flannel sheets in ds's crib in the winter as they are not cold to the touch, so he doesn't wake up by rolling over onto cold sheets.
ETA: we also leave all the bedroom doors open upstairs but close the doors to the rooms that no one sleeps in so heat goes to the rooms that need to be warm.
A space heater is fine to use as long as you follow all of the safety guidelines included in it (on a stable surface, at least 3 feet from walls all the way around, etc.) My dad is the chief of the local fire department and has no problem recommending them for use as long as they are used properly.
We just purchased new ones that have a thermostat built in so that it is easier to control the temperature.
Sorry, but IMO it's a terrible idea.
Space heaters can be a fire hazard. Plus, the room should be kept no warmer then about 68 degrees.Too warm of a room is thought to be risky for SIDS. Typically you can either swaddle the baby or put it in a warm outfit - no blankets in the crib.
Could you consider using a bassinet/pack and play and putting baby in your room (but not in your bed) when it's cold or for the first few months?
Thanks for the ideas, everyone, and sorry it took me so long to get back. Didn't have the comp over the weekend.
For those of you who suggested redoing the heating system: It was completely redone in 2006, 2 years before we bought the house. So we don't really want to do a total overhaul since ours is pretty efficient, at least downstairs. And since the heating system is all forced air, we can't do baseboard w/out redoing the entire heating system.
For the space heater, I'm just thinking worst-case scenario. Our house was built in 1910, and last major remodel was circa 1940. It "looks" like it's in nice shape, until you tear into the walls/floors/ceiling. Then we usually have a mess on our hands. We haven't been able to do as much remodeling as we'd like b/c of the costs of redoing the previous homeowners' existing work.
BTW, the space heater I'm thinking of is a small electric one that shuts off when the room is at the right temp. MIL & FIL keep one running in their bathroom throughout the winter so their pipes don't freeze. There's no fumes or open heating element or anything like that. I'm guessing it's a lot like the one danigirl described. Hopefully we won't have too cold a winter and won't need it, but I just want to be ready so LO doesn't get cold at night.