Do I need to heat my baby's room?

Adding to the endless list of parental worries is how warm your baby’s room should be, particularly in the middle of winter when temperatures drop. It’s important to try and maintain a safe and comfortable temperature in the nursery as much as possible, not only to help your baby sleep better, but to help reduce the adverse health effects, in particular respiratory illnesses that can present as a result of homes which are too cold.  

Whether you heat your baby’s room at night will depend on a range of things, including how warm your house is and of course, how costly it may be to heat a room all night.

How warm should a baby's room be?

Knowing how cool your nursery is arms you with information about how to best dress your baby for sleep, but it need not become something to obsess over. Trying to keep your baby’s room at a consistent temperature, especially at the cooler end of the scale, can be challenging. Even more so if you have limited funds for electricity or buying a heater.

The World Health Organization Housing and Health Guidelines (2018) recommend a healthy room temperature of 18 degrees which “should be high enough to protect residents from the harmful health effects of cold”, however for “vulnerable populations, such as babies or the elderly, a temperature of 20 degrees is recommended.”

There is growing evidence that sleeping in a cold bedroom can lead to increased illness for those more vulnerable groups of society, such as children and the elderly. Cooler than 16 degrees can lead to a greater risk of respiratory illness for those who are more vulnerable or who already suffer from Asthma or other respiratory conditions.   However, it’s also important to note that a room that’s too hot can make it hard for a baby to sleep and can also elevate the risk of SUDI.

How do you heat a nursery or children's bedroom?

If you do choose to add heating to your nursery in winter, there are a number of options, some of which are safer than others. As a parent, it’s your responsibility to be confident in the safety of your preferred heating choice. Things to remember when making a choice:

• • Make sure the heater is at least 1m away from anything else
  • Make sure your baby can’t reach the heater
  • If you have a toddler who may get up and walk around at night, don’t choose an oil heater or similar which could be tipped over.
  • Are you able to set a timer so that the heater switches off at an appropriate time? Heaters most likely aren’t needed all night long, so a timer can be used to prevent the room becoming too hot whilst you’re in bed.
  • Does the heater have a built-in thermostat? Using a thermostat or a device like a heatermate can allow you to control the actual room temperature with the device switching the heater on and off to maintain the temperature you have set.
  • Avoid gas heaters - hazardous carbon monoxide can build up which can make you very sick. The open flame is also a very real burn and fire risk.
  • Never use hot water bottles or wheat bags for babies

How can I keep my home warmer & drier, without spending too much on power?

Heating a home can be expensive in winter, especially when you have more than one child (more bedrooms to heat), live in a poorly insulated home (as many are in New Zealand) or are on one income. The good news is that the NZ Healthy Home Standards became law in July 2019, meaning rental properties must be insulated in the floor and ceiling, have an appropriate form of heating in the main living area and have appropriate extractor fans to remove moisture as well as openable windows in certain areas.

But there are other ways to make your home warmer and drier without needing to spend precious money on electricity. These take the form of changes to our habits and also small changes to our homes.

Here’s a few tips to keep your home warmer and drier:

Properly ventilate your home:

• When cooking or showering use an extractor fan, open the window slightly and keep the doors shut to prevent steam escaping into other rooms.
• Open doors and windows daily for at least 10-15 minutes.
• Keep furniture away from walls in winter - a small gap allows better airflow and therefore reduces the chance of mould.

Reduce moisture:

• • A damp home is harder to heat and can cause mould, so try to reduce moisture by using an extractor fan when cooking. Ensure it’s cleaned regularly to prevent build up of dust and dirt which will make it less efficient.
  • Cook with pot lids on to reduce additional moisture escaping.
  • Dry clothes outside on a clothesline as much as possible.
  • If using a hairdryer, open the window to ventilate and reduce humidity.
  • Vent your clothes dryer to the outside of your home.
  • Use an extractor fan when showering and keep the door shut so the steam doesn’t escape to other rooms

Other ideas:

• Close the curtains before it gets dark to reduce the amount of heat lost through the windows (and open them during the day to allow the sun to warm the room naturally). You could also add a curtain pelmet to prevent draughts rising from the windows.
• Block draughts from windows and doors. Roll up an old towel to draught-proof your doors and install window draught excluders, which are available quite cheaply.
• If you have wood / vinyl / tiled floors, add a rug to keep the heat in and toes warm.