electric blanket alternatives?

[mum]

Dd is super thin and is always cold. Because of location in house her room is colder and there is no alternative room. She wakes at 2 am, cold. I have read the health risks of electric blankets. She would sleep with it on all night if she had one, which I have read is not a good idea. I know lots of people have used them for years without any health consequences, but I would rather skip that potential risk. Anyone have any ideas for keeping her warm during the night? 

Thanks!

[VeteranMom]

My dd has a mattress pad that is heated.  It's box said that it had fewer risks than the electric blankets.  Dh and I have a heated mattress pad, too, but its packaging didn't indicate a lower cancer risk like my dd's did.  I usually turn the pad on before I get into bed, I warm up, and will turn it off right before I go to sleep.  I like the Company Store comforters, too, and I use those in the winter.

[WinsomeCreek]

How about a down comforter with a weighty afghan on top? I have been toasty warm in a good sleeping bag while camping in the snow so if blankets aren't working maybe try a quality sleeping bag.

[Tanaqui]

Electric heater? Hot water bottle in bed with her - it'll get it piping hot and maybe the heat will last longer? An additional non-electric blanket plus a hat? I used to sleep in an unheated attic with three blankets and was toasty warm under them. (I contend that my mother has no idea what the appropriate heat is for a human body. She says that I am a mutant yeti.)

[Sunshine State Sue]

Surely you have already thought of flannel sheets.  I like the sleeping bag idea.  We have a flannel lined sleeping bag and it is toasty..  I've been sleeping lately with a heating pad on my toes.  Perhaps it's a bit better than the full size electric blanket.  Maybe a hot water bottle?

[bettyandbob]

I get cold and will wake up cold.

 

What is your dd wearing to bed? I have to wear good socks and long john type pajamas. If I don't wear socks in winter, I wake everytime. Sometimes I need knit gloves too.

 

On the bed, I suggest flannel sheets and more than one blanket layer. I have an old ll bean wool hunting blanket topped with anther blanket of some synthetic material. If that was not enough I would use a down comforter. The down blanket I had as a child got hot.

 

Layers do help. When I was 12, I went to Hokkaido (I lived in Japan at the time) and stayed with a family that did not have central heat. The mother of the house would layer us in blanket after blanket before bed. So many layers that I remember my sister asking me if I could move. I stayed warm all night.

[Erica in OR]

We have a small electric oil-filled heater (it looks like a small radiator on wheels) in one of the bedrooms. The heat from the woodstove doesn't make it to that room very well, so we turn it on low at night with the door closed. It clicks on and off with its thermostat depending on the temp of the room throughout the night.

 

Erica in OR

[Anne]

Flannel sheets.  Wool blanket(s). Down comforter.

 

Flannel pjs.  warm bedsocks.  a hat?

 

With the exception of the hat, this is what I sleep in/under all winter.

 

Anne

[AmandaVT]

We have an electric mattress pad on our bed and it's wonderful on cold nights. DS sleeps hot, so he would braise in his bed if we put one in his room even though his is the coldest room in the house. On cold nights, he has fleece sheets (so warm - even warmer than flannel!), a down comforter with a knitted thick wool blanket on top. The weight helps. 

[ChristusG]

If we go camping during cold weather, I sleep in footie pajamas and a sleeping bag. Cold won't come through a good sleeping bag.

[Lawyer&Mom]

Have you put the plastic sheeting over the windows? Made a huge difference for our bedrooms.

[PrincessMommy]

Another person with an electric mattress pad.  I love it.  love, love, love it. 

 

Also, flannel sheets are a must.  A room humidifer (warm air) will heat up the room too and make it a bit more comfortable during those dry winter nights.  We also use a space heater for our daughter in our basement bedroom. 

[Elisabet1]

I have had to add extra blankets. And I do not usually use polyester, but adding an extra polyester comforter on top of my regular one works.

[Cinder]

I get cold too. If I'm too cold when I go to bed I can't fall asleep. So I take a hot shower to warm myself up before bed. If I get cold during the night I wake up and can't get back to sleep. So my pajamas are sweatpants and a cashmere sweater I got from Goodwill. Hey, when else would anyone wear a brown, fake argyle sweater? Sometimes I sleep with wool socks too. But what helps the most is 2 comforters. The second comforter is only on my side because dh doesn't get as cold and only needs one comforter. The double thickness helps so much I often don't feel the need to wear socks to bed. Last winter instead of 2 comforters I used my down sleeping bag under the comforter. The only thing was the sleeping bag is slippery and lightweight so sometimes it slid off me. (I had the bag opened up; I didn't sleep in it zipped up.) I find that a second comforter has more weight and stays on me all night.

 

ETA: I often wear a winter hat to bed as well.

[texasmama]

I dress in fuzzy socks, fleece pants, a tank, a long sleeved top, and a sweatshirt, covered by a sheet and two heavy comforters pulled up underneath my chin. Works pretty well. Also, a hot bath before bed raises your core body temperature. I often do this. You may try a space heater in her room.

[helena]

For hot water bottles, we like Fashy brand on Amazon. They make a great bed warmer. If she's waking up cold I'd use a Heat Wave heating pad from Amazon under the blankets. Boil it while she's getting ready for bed. Pop it under the blankets (when it's no longer scalding) to warm up while falling asleep. Then when she wakes up at 3-ish, have her click the activation button and it'll get hot all over again. Long enough to comfort her back to sleep I'm sure. They are awesome!!! They do get very very hot. For a kid I might sew a dish towel into a case for it to slip into. It could injure you maybe if you fell asleep on it at its hottest.

 

The good thing is that it's not electric... And I don't think its a health risk. I hope it isn't.

 

We also have some 1960's flannel sleeping bags and wool blankets. They work well.

And flannel sheets. We like Garnet Hill for that.

[KungFuPanda]

My daughter is in the corner room with the big windows. New windows helped, but plastic covering and heavy curtains would help just as much and cost much less. She also uses an oil-filled radiator. It's great. Don't let the oil freak you out. It's sealed and never needs to be messed with. It's a nice, steady heat that's safer than regular electric heaters. It maintains a preset temperature and has a timer.

 

Like others have said, warm pajamas, wool socks, and flannel sheets can make a huge difference. A light knit cap would help a lot if she'd wear it. If you own a decent sleeping bag, try using it instead of a comforter. I can't stand to sleep in socks, so. Skip that one, but the other tips really do help. Flannel sheets are the best, but it has to be below zero before DH can stand them :-/

[Garga]

Ok everyone! Stand back! I've got this one. I'm a professional. (Cracking knuckles)

 

BEDDING: I have puffy sheets I got at Kohl's. They're like blankets they're so thick and fluffy. I bought them last year, but can't find them again on the website. Then again, I only spent about 15 seconds looking, so there is that.

 

Then, on top of the sheets, is a blanket.

 

On top of the blanket is a comforter.

 

On top of the comforter is another blanket, to weigh down the comforter so there are not pockets of cold air. YOU MUST ELIMINATE POCKETS OF AIR IN THE BED.

 

It is crucial to pull the bedding up from the sides and bottom of the bed and have them tucked around her body. If they drape down too far off the bed, she will get pockets of cold air inside the bed. There needs to be no pockets of air. Do not tuck the sheets under the mattress. Everything should be piled up on top of her and tucked into the sides of her.

 

CLOTHING:

Three layers.

1st: Cuddl duds fleece. Tuck the shirt into the pants. Tuck the pants into the socks.

2nd: regular pjs of your choice, long arm and long legged. Tuck the shirt into the pants.

3rd: Insanely thick and soft robe. They're everywhere now.

 

To top it off: a hat.

 

THE HAT IS CRITICAL. It makes all the difference. Have her try on a couple. It needs to be a little big for her head, but not too big. If it's small, it'll pop off when she turns in her sleep. If it's too big, it'll slip off when she turns in her sleep. A nice fitted knit or cotton hat is great.

 

If it's super cold, she can also pull the sheet up and around her head. It takes some maneuvering, but it can be done. She'll need it around the top of her head and over her forehead, but not over her face or it gets too uncomfortable to breathe. Once it's in place, she'll need to tuck the sheet under her head to pin it down around her head--like a scarf, but with the sheet.

 

(Wait...a scarf...I never thought of using a scarf...now there's a good idea! A wide one can cover your head and neck and chest. Hmmm...)

[VeganCupcake]

I have a stone pig, which is a Scottish porcelain hot water bottle and stays warm all night if it's insulated under blankets with you. I got mine on eBay about 10 years ago. I just keep mine at my feet. I wear socks because it starts out so hot that it is uncomfortably warm for bare feet.

[gardenmom5]

2dd is always cold.  we have down comforters.  they vary in weight depending upon how warm you want it to be.  when there is no power or is particularly cold - we throw a single wool blanket on top, as it will really hold in the heat. (we have year round weight.)   normally - it's just a comforter in a duvet cover (which helps keep it clean.).  some of us use sheets - I've given up on top sheets for dudeling.  (the duvet cover is made from sheet material.)

 

do not get a down comforter with feathers and expect the same warmth  (there's a reason they're cheaper)  - you want down, you want 'fill-power', you want loft for air pockets (the down insults the air pockets which retain heat.  that's how it works on arctic birds) - and feathers don't loft.  Costco has a good comforter in a twin for around $100.  it lasts for years, and is warm.  I wash the kids comforters in my front loader - using hot water if allergies are a problem (make sure it is absolutely dry on low heat - and throw in a few tennis balls.)

 

incidentally - this is what the girls used at school in upstate NY. 1dd threw a single wool blanket on top of a year-round weight down comforter in a room in an old house with two single-pane windows.  she was warm.

 

 

eta: when I was struggling particularly to stay warm - I'd sometimes use a heating pad to warm up the bed before I went to bed.  I'd leave it there under the covers about 20 minutes, then pull it out and turn it off.  the sheets were warm so I wasn't expending body heat to warm the bed.  with the comforter - it stayed warm.

the other advantage I found was how I responded when running fevers.  I used to pile 10+ blankets on me to try to get warm and would still have a hard time.  with the down, I double the comforter (bad fevers got a wool blanket on top of that) - and that's it.  I heat up and break the fever faster than I ever did before - even with 10+ mostly-wool blankets on me.  it's the way down works to retain heat.

 

 

[Rosie_0801]

My aunt puts a sheepskin under the bottom sheet.

[Laura Corin]

I just got fleecy thick pyjamas for wearing when Husband is away.  They are really, really warm - maybe too warm for me.

[MeAndTheBoys]

I get creeped out by electric blankets too, but our house is cold.

 

We have an electric blanket that we turn on for about an hour before bed, and then unplug it when we go to bed.  And we use a space heater before bed, turning it off when we go to bed.

 

That's enough for us (and I am chronically cold)--it's so toasty when I go to bed that I usually sleep through the night.  We have a heavy quilt, the electric blanket, and a comfortor on our bed.  But it's so hot when I get in the bed that I sleep in a short-sleeved t-shirt, yoga pants, and fuzzy socks.

 

One of my boys has a cold, cold corner room.  We covered his window with a silver "emergency blanket" that you can get for $1 or so and a fleece blanket (we did the plastic seal stuff last year, but this seems to be working just as well) and he has multiple blankets.  And we heat the room with a space heater before bed.  It stays warm.

 

B

[Joyofsixreboot]

I am one of those cold people and have converted to the electric mattress pad that I set to " hot concrete " BUT in my pre-electric days I wore L.L. bean fleece velour pjs and fleece socks. And a hat. What folks who aren't cold don't get is that some of us never seem to make any body heat to keep in.

[MeghansMom]

okay now I have to google health risks with electric blankets.

My daughter and I are both snuggled up under one...she is very thin.

I have her wear long pjs, socks, slippers and even her robe to bed.

 

[Mergath]

Cats. Four or five of them ought to do it.

[MamaBearTeacher]

Personally, I think that microfleece is much warmer than flannel. I got microfleece sheets for the winter and they are super warm. Microfleece pjs, maybe with long underwear underneath and those super warm socks that make you retain all your body heat. Top that with all the warm blankets and comforters others suggested. Make sure cold air is not seeping through her window. A hot shower or bath before bed can also help. I would not do the electric blanket.