House temperature and clothing, need to know YOUR way! - Page 3

[spruce]

Oh, and I'd also recommend tights for your 15mo. Doesn't matter if he's a boy, tights are awesome for keeping kids warm at night.

love, p

[quiverfull]

Originally Posted by Centura

Thank you all! Very much!
After reading all the responses I feel alot more relaxed about the kids, that I should trust their judgement and not feel so bad for them. I will just make sure there always is options around to put on shoes or clothes when they need them. Maybe I can make them a little "I feel cold" drawer with stuff they can just go get when they want to
However, i am really a bit worried about myself, maybe something is wrong with me since I really just CAN NOT deal with being cold... I turned the heaters down to the lowest setting today, and after a while I was honestly and really FREEZING, I was shivering, had goose bumps and my hands and feet were stinging. I looked at my thermometer and it was 72 degrees...
I mean, 72 is a WARM temp, not cold... I put on a thick sweater and double socks, the temp went down to 70, and my nose started to feel cold even! I mean seriously, this is not normal!? Either, my thermometer is just WAY broken, or I have a health problem, I'm really worried now

Have you had your thyroid checked lately? That's one of the biggest symptoms of having a low-functioning thyroid is the inablility to deal with the cold. I always know my is whacked out when I start to freeze when it's not even cold (let alone when it is!). It's very hard for my body to aclimate to cooler temps, like when it's hot outside and I walk into an a/c'd building, I freeze. Classic symptom... you may want to just make sure it's functioning well (oh, and the norms of a TSH is said to be between 1 and 5, but if your's is above 2, I'd request being put on meds to see if it helps. My dr. insists that women do much better with a tsh of between 1 and 2, but most drs. just go off the lab's norm levels listed).

[sewchris2642]

Even when the temp outside dips into the 30s, the bedroom window is at least cracked open. Dh sleeps in the nude (you asked) and I wear a thin cotton chemise. There are one sheet, one thin cotton summer blanket, one thin quilt, and a heavy comforter on the bed. Dh sleeps under all of them and I sleep under all but the comforter. The heat is turned off at night. Dh turns it on to 70 degrees when he gets up in the morning around 5 am. I turn it off when I get up around 7 am. And it stays off until the next morning. Dylan has worn boxer shorts/pajama pants to bed every since he learned to take off his blanket sleepers or pajama top. In the winter, he uses more blankets. When he slept with us, he was in a sleep/play outfit (infant) or 2 piece pajamas (toddler). When he moved to his own bed in our room, I tried to put blanket sleepers on him but he soon learned how to remove them to sleep in just a diaper. So I put 2 piece pajamas on him. If he wanted to, he would remove the top but leave the bottoms on.

I don't know what we would do in a colder climate. We live in San Diego where the temperatures rarely get below freezing at night, let alone during the day.

[velochic]

Dh is from a "sunny" country and I'm from a cold US state. He likes it warm and I like it cool. We supplement with wood in our wood burning stove. In the living room, with the stove, it can be in the mid-upper 70's with the central heat off. The rest of the house is around 68, with one unused bedroom in the low 60's. If I'm in the living room when the stove is burning, it's usually too hot for me and, I sit near a window that is cracked open if it's not too cold out. Otherwise I stick to the cooler parts of the house. During the day, I am home by myself and my mother is in her rooms that are separately heated. Mom keeps her rooms too warm for me, but she is old and on blood thinners. I keep the heat off in the main house and prefer it to be around 18C-19C (65F) or lower during the day. The central heat is set at 17C (62F) at night. It rarely kicks on at night, but I warm it up in the am for dd and showers with more wood or central heat at 19 (66F - 67F). When home, dh layers up with an undershirt, long-sleeved T-shirt and a sweatshirt, then maybe a fleece over that if he's in a cooler part of the house. He wears a couple of layers at night with sweats. I wear t-shirt and shorts or if it's cooler, sweats and sweatshirt. We have flannel sheets, a blanket and German eiderdown comforter on the bed.

Not only do I prefer it cooler, but I think that using a lot of energy to heat a home in the middle of winter to the point where you can run around like it's summer is a waste of our natural resources. The person who delivers our wood cuts and splits only naturally felled wood and we try to use that as much as time permits. We think a lot about our carbon footprint and this is a factor in the temp we keep our home. I hadn't seen it mentioned here and was wondering if anyone else also keeps this in mind when they are heating their homes? Even though dh would like it warmer, he is mindful that he can easily layer up rather than kick up the thermostat. I'm just surprised that carbon footprint hasn't been part of the discussion at all.

[Just Kate]

Originally Posted by velochic

Not only do I prefer it cooler, but I think that using a lot of energy to heat a home in the middle of winter to the point where you can run around like it's summer is a waste of our natural resources. The person who delivers our wood cuts and splits only naturally felled wood and we try to use that as much as time permits. We think a lot about our carbon footprint and this is a factor in the temp we keep our home. I hadn't seen it mentioned here and was wondering if anyone else also keeps this in mind when they are heating their homes? Even though dh would like it warmer, he is mindful that he can easily layer up rather than kick up the thermostat. I'm just surprised that carbon footprint hasn't been part of the discussion at all.

DH and I feel the same way. We keep the heat at 62*, day and night (except for a two hour period in the morning and in the evening when it goes to 65* to allow for baths/showers) and its not really for frugality because we already have insanely low electric bills, even in the bitterly cold months. Our highest electric bill ever was $250 the February we had temps around zero for days on end and we had to keep the heat at a minimum of 70* due to DS2's prematurity.

We're more concerned about the amount of coal burned to create the additional electricity it would take to keep our house between 68* and 72* and feel it would be irresponsible to heat our house more just too avoid the realities of living in a temperate climate.

To cope with the cooler indoor temps, the boys wear pants, a long sleeved shirt and a sweatshirt/sweater. They also have slippers they can put on if their feet are cold (and they often are as we have a ventilated, unheated crawlspace, so the floor is usually about 55* no matter the room temp.) I wear tights of leggings under my long skirts, wear a long sleeve shirt and a sweater or sweatshirt as well. DH is a furnace to he can still be comfy in a t-shirt and shorts at these temps. We also keep blankets and throws on the couches and chairs to snuggle under when we are sedentary.

At night we all wear sweats,long johns or fleece pjs and have several blankets on the bed as well as flannel sheets. On really cool nights I'll tuck a heated rice sock between the sheets 10-15 minutes before bed.

My biggest struggle at the moment is getting the boys to keep their pajamas on at night and to keep their blankets on. I'd love to go down to 58* at night, but I don't feel safe doing so until I reliably don't find my oldest in nothing but undies and blanket-less in a ball on his bed at 2 in the morning.

[ChinaDoll]

Originally Posted by Tjej

Do you wear long underwear? That can make a HUGE difference if you run cold.

Tjej

you know, I really should dig them out; used to wear them all winter in China ...

[mistymama]

We keep our temp at about 65. We live in a mild climate so most days I am able to cut off the air totally and just open up doors and windows. At night the heat runs a little bit. We all wear PJs and have warm blankets. Dh, ds and I all have sinus issues and running the heat/keeping the house warm seems to make them worse. We all prefer to sleep under warm blankets and have the heater run as little as possible.

[limabean]

I hate having the heater on at all -- fortunately we live in a climate where it doesn't get very cold, and our house is insulated well enough that we don't ever need to run it. I like to be cool, and I hate breathing the hot dry air of a heater -- it dries my nose/throat out something awful and I feel like I'm suffocating. Luckily DH is on the same page. On very cold nights (like when it's in the 30s outside) we turn on the gas fireplace in the living room, which does a great job of warming up the downstairs. The bedrooms get fairly cool on those nights, but we just bundle the kids up before bed.

DS doesn't like to wear socks, and when it's really chilly I'll encourage him to wear slippers or get under a blanket, but if he declines I don't push it -- I figure if he were uncomfortably cold he'd do something about it.

Setting the thermostat at 75 is kind of shocking to me. I can understand liking to be warm (even though I don't like it myself), but that's a crazy amount of energy to use.

[metis]

We have storage heaters so I am not sure what temp our house is as we don't have a thermostat. I like it warm enough to have just a vest and leggings though, and I am always barefoot indoors - I only put sock on when I have to for shoes, not sure why but I just don't like socks!

Ds doesn't like to wear many clothes inside either, he strips off soon as he gets indoors!

So yeah, we like it on the warm side!

[dogretro]

Although I prefer it warmer, I keep the thermostat at 65 during the day. Our house is old w/ old windows. We have radiators and a brand new high-efficiency boiler & it runs a lot (it's supposed to, but still messes w/ the mind!). I keep it down b/c of money and wasting energy. I bought dd a set of 100% wool long johns (shirt and pants) and she wears those under her clothes. She also wears a thick wool diaper cover. Sometimes she takes her socks off, but w/ the wool, I do NOT worry about her getting cold! It keeps her nice and toasty warm, love it! I put on more shirts & sweaters. If I am really cold (usually b/c it is V cold or windy outside), I will bump the heat up to 68 for the day. We also cover the windows in plastic.

At night, it is set for 58. Dh and I have an electric blanket and dd has an electric mattress pad. Dd hates blankets & I have sometimes left her wool undies on under pjs. Using those really keeps the bills down (they cost barely anything to run) & you can be toasty warm even if your room is freezing cold.

I agree w/ others that I would get checked out if I were feeling as cold as you are. Having kids messes w/ the thyroid, it's true!

[becoming]

Our house is 68 in winter, 72 in summer (day and night). I'm cold-natured & sleep in a t-shirt, pajama pants, and socks year round. All three kids tend toward being hot-natured, especially our 4-year-old DD -- she sweats profusely all night long, even wearing nothing but a tank top. They are all very sound sleepers, though, and the temperature doesn't seem to affect their sleep, so they just wear whatever -- currently all three of them are wearing long-sleeved pajamas every night.

[Megan73]

The bedrooms in our 1912 house are 59F (15C) unless we crank up the heat - despite spending $$$ on insulation and draft-proofing. Our heating bills aren't bad but I don't want to waste energy when an extra blanket will do.
DS (17 months) wears a long-sleeve onesie, a footed sleeper, usually light-weight fleece, and a sleep bag that's like a light comforter. He never seems cold.
For a mama who runs cold, I'd suggest these great silk longjohns - top and bottom - made by Eddie Bauer or LL Bean. I have both and they're great.

[TXmom2]

I keep the thermostat set at 68 during the winter and 76 during summer. Mostly with the ceiling fans running. When it's cold we spend most of the time upstairs because its warmer and in the late afternoon we'll head downstairs and light a fire.
DH is from Montreal and wears shorts/short sleeves all the time.
I wear layers in the winter, usually sleep pants or sweats with a nursing tank and long sleeve flannel shirt over it. If I'm still cold I'll put on socks, slippers, or a robe as needed. Usually I prefer bare feet though and can't leave anything on my feet for long. I also sleep with a foot or legs out of the covers to regulate my temp
DS sleeps in boxers and sometimes a t-shirt with a comforter
I put DD in a fleece sleeper with socks underneath just because she was waking up with ice cold hands and legs & feet when she was in regular sleep & plays.

Definitely get the thyroid checked. When mine is low I get chilled really easily and can't shake it