Tips for Staying Warm...

[Mom2Adam]

Here in Virginia we had our first cold night. (Is there a Brrrr...Smiley?)

We set the heat at 64 - dressed in warm pj's and had lots of warm blankets.

We co-sleep - two beds in our room - one for me and 1 yr old the other for dh and 4 yr old. Dh and 4 yr old were fine. 1 yr old and I were FREEZING! Despite blankets, socks etc. Especially our faces and noses were cold.

Hats are not an option (1 yr old will not wear...) and I am uncomfortable sleeping with them.

Any other ideas? We were hoping to keep the heat set even lower than 64 at night...but WOW - that was a shocker. :

I am hoping that as our bodies get used to cooler weather that we will be able to go lower (it has been in the 70's and 80's during the day and 50's 60's at night).

Thanks for any thoughts/suggestions -


Traci

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

Do you have flannel sheets? Those help.

[velochic]

When we were living in Germany, we bought these wonderful, very thin Eider Down comforters with flannel duvet covers. Our house can get down to the 50's fahrenheit and that one comforter and flannel sheet is all we need. It's really light, so snuggling down in it with it partially covering our heads isn't suffocating. Down is the best!

[Twinklefae]

We have the windows sealed with shrink plastic, that helps. Also, you can get insulators for things like your electrical sockets. Every little bit helps! Blankets against outside doors also helps. I agree with the PP who recommended flannel sheets.

[MommaGreenBean]

I wear a wool sweater that buttons up, with a sweatshirt on top if necessary. We also use a down comforter on our bed, with a large quilt over it. The quilt over it seems to be the key, when we've had the quilt under it, it's FREEZING.

[Starr]

Flannel sheets help.
Maybe install electric baseboard heat in the bedroom? Drop the house down to 64 but have your room set at 67?
Throw a blanket in the dryer right before bed to get it warm and snuggle up in it and go to sleep under the covers.
Wear socks, a few layers of clothes..
Add 1 more blanket.

[mnnice]

I truly think there is a getting used to it part. I spent the weekend with the thermostat at 60. My DP returned at 5:00 p.m.on Sunday and started bellyacheing about how could it was in our house and turned up the heat. He had just spent four days at some family that leave the heat at 75 all the time. Usually he's the one that hot and I'm the one that's cold.

I would gradually decrease the heat instead of going "cold turkey"

[absinthe]

Our master bedroom is over a poorly insulated garage (we plan to insulate but haven't yet) and no exaggeration in the winter you can sometimes see your breath in there. The thing that saves us is our electric mattress pad. We use that and a down comforter and stay toasty warm.

[ShaggyDaddy]

howabout pushing the beds together... feed off some of that DH+4yo warmth.

[ladyslipper]

we set the temperature to 58 degrees at night and co-sleep, and stay super warm. I used to work in the wilderness in the winter, temps go below 0. This is what I learned:
1) I would always make sure that ate somthing fattening before going to bed...like chocolate or something buttery. THis helped my body stay warm because it gave it good calories to feed off of. I would wake up sweating somtimes.
2) I also drank something warm before going to bed..hot tea, hot chocolate.
3) I would also take a hot water bottle to bed and this would help my feet stay warm on cold nights.
4) Putting socks on my feet never helped, I think feet stay warmer if both feet are together. You could try putting your feet in a fleece sweater and wrapping them without socks. Then you can rub your feet together.
5) Get a good down comforter. Oh my goodness this really makes me sweat.

I built a king size family loft, so we all sleep together, and because we are up high it's warmer. We are so warm at 58 degrees that we don't even use the down comforter. I do use a big fluffy fleece blanket though. good luck.

[phathui5]

I'd also push the beds together so it's the four of you together.

[akwifeandmomma]

We live in Alaska and keep our heat at or under 63 at night. Otherwise we all wake up sweating!

We have down duvets on every bed and heavy drapes on the windows.

[Nitenites]

Long socks have been the key for me - if I wear socks up to my knees, I stay warmer, because my pj pants ride up my calves at night.

Body heat helps. When it's just me and DS3 (he's 2 years old) in bed, we're definitely cooler than when DH is in bed, too. (He works nights, so only sleeps with us sometimes.) We have regular cotton sheets (I want some flannel!!) and two quilts. We wear long sleeves, pj pants, and socks to bed. And cuddle. A lot. When DH is home, I don't wear socks to bed. Of course, it doesn't hurt that I'm pregnant, either. :LOL

[amyamanda]

I agree that it takes a little while to adjust. We are in Vermont and we keep our heat at 55F (yes, you read that right). About two weeks ago I woke up and it was 65F and I felt sooooooo cold. This morning it was about 55F and when I looked at the thermostat I was actually quite glad because it felt comfortable enough to me and I'm glad it won't be going lower indoors.

We bundle up in layers. Long johns, always, under other clothes or fleecy footy pajamas. Slippers and wool socks for the kids (we love Smartwool socks) and I usually wear 2 pairs of socks around the house, plus slippers, or sometimes even three pairs.

Also cosleeping, warm food/drink, warm bathrobes/slippers, layering, and keeping blankets handy downstairs for when the kids first come down, all help us. Shrink wrap over the draftiest windows. We keep our bedroom set below 50F but when the heat comes on it kicks it up over that number. We keep it that low or otherwise it feels too hot, LOL.

I really think the getting-used-to-it part is crucial. When my DH worked at home, the winters bothered him less. Now that he's in a heated office all day - 70F! - he comes home and he's miserable. Poor guy.

Give it a couple of weeks and bundle up a bit, then see if you can gradually decrease the layers to get even more used to it.

We filled our oil tank last week for $550 and I would hate to have to do it again before I absolutely have to.

[kerc]

I tend to set the thermostat lower progressively:

67 at first.
next week 66
next week 65
next week 64,
etc.



That allows my body to get used to it.
I also tend to have my normal blankets and then I have a fleece throw I pull up over my shoulder, I get cold easily.

Someone recommended to me to warm up some water, stick it in a nalgene bottle and use that to help warm the bed.

[savithny]

We kept our thermostat at 58 at night all last winter. I like to sleep cold

Questions: Define "warm" as in "lots of warm blankets" and "warm jammies."

Some things that you'd think would be warm aren't so much, really. Fleece is not necessarily warm. Puffy comforters or are not necessarily filled with good warmth-trapping materials.

Good bedding is worth it. Wool, down or down alternative, flannel sheets. stack it on to trap the warmth coming off you - We've found that heavy wool over down/alternative is warmer than the same wool *under* the comforter.

I agree -combine the beds. The more people under the covers throwing off heat, the warmer you'll be.

[Nico DeMouse]

We have not turned the heat on yet. It was 59 in the house this morning when we got up. When it gets turned on, it's set for 55 at night and 65 during the day (when people are home).

I recommend cats. The colder it is, the more of ours join us in bed!

I also like to heat up one of those rice filled heat packs for sore muscles and put it down by our feet. That really warms things up. If it's really cold, I will layer legwarmers over sock but under pajama legs. They make a surprising difference!

Draft dodgers (or rolled up towels) at the bases of windows and exterior doors helps a lot. We also purchased insulated drapes for the windows where we ere feeling the most draft. Rugs on tile floors help keep cold rooms feeling a little warmer.

[achildofthe80s]

We actually didn't turn on our heat at all last winter. We have gas and it would be : to try to afford it every month. Instead we used space heaters that use ceramic heat (so the surface doesn't get too hot to touch....good to have with kids), and the swivel so if you put them in a room and close the door it heats up pretty well. We moved the boys' bed into our room and then we don't have to pay to heat the rest of the house during the night. I bought three so when I get up in the morning I start one in the living room, one in the bathroom so we can take showers and just tough it out until the house warms up a bit. I think the key is making sure that everything is well sealed. No air coming in through windows/doors, etc. The electric heaters only added maybe $20-$30 per month to the electric bill where the gas bill would've had about $100 added to it per month if we had heated the whole house. Also layers....with the boys I would put them in thermal pants/shirt and then a blanket sleeper over that.

[jimblejamble]

Sew up some flannel fabric like a pillow case and fill it with beans, then pop it in the microwave and put it under the blankets with you.

[kathirynne]

Originally Posted by Nico DeMouse

...Draft dodgers (or rolled up towels) at the bases of windows and exterior doors helps a lot....

I make draft dodgers out of old jeans material (usually just the pant legs are big enough) sewn into tubes and filled with dryer lint.