I was so looking forward to summer on maternity leave and, three days in, I have officially had enough! Graham and I both struggle with hot weather and it looks like Dulcie has inherited that trait. The poor wee lamb is just miserable today. She has a bit of eczema at the moment and, at the doctor's explicit instruction, we are turning her into a "grease ball", smothering a thick layer of gloop all over her arms and legs. Even the feeling of having the stuff on my hands is unbearable, so I don't know how she is coping as well as she is. She's been breaking out in a heat rash today too and it's hard to tell which red patches are down to that and which are really eczema. Last night we smothered the gloop on her torso too and it seemed to make it worse so I'm reasoning that was heat rash after all, but I don't really know.
Breastfeeding while clammy is horrendous too. I've had Dulcie stripped down to her nappy half the day in an attempt to stop her overheating, but her naked flesh on my naked flesh just increases the clam factor and makes us both feel icky and grumpy.
I've been keeping her in the shade, fanning her, putting cold face cloths on her while she's feeding and have just put her to bed (where she's shouting grumpily) in nothing but a vest, but she still looks red and ragy and very, very upset. Anybody got any top tips for bringing up babies in extreme heat? I never considered, living in Glasgow, that this would be a problem!
Breastfeeding while clammy is horrendous too. I've had Dulcie stripped down to her nappy half the day in an attempt to stop her overheating, but her naked flesh on my naked flesh just increases the clam factor and makes us both feel icky and grumpy.
I've been keeping her in the shade, fanning her, putting cold face cloths on her while she's feeding and have just put her to bed (where she's shouting grumpily) in nothing but a vest, but she still looks red and ragy and very, very upset. Anybody got any top tips for bringing up babies in extreme heat? I never considered, living in Glasgow, that this would be a problem!
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I am not suggesting that your baby is an African Pygmy Hedgehog, but I used to wrap up an ice pack in a thin washcloth and strap it to the side of my hedgie's home (read: cage) in the dog days of summer. He'd sidle on over to it and sleep. I wonder if the same sort of thing would work for you so long as the pack was not actually touching Dulcie, of course?
ReplyDeleteI would be very flattered to think that you were comparing Dulcie to an African Pygmy Hedgehog :)
DeleteIt's so warm out there isn't it? I find that keeping one of those spray bottles of water around to spritz the girls with helps - especially if there is a light breeze. Also lots of water to drink and semi nudity works well. Also a great tip is that running your wrists under the cold tap helps as the blood there gets colder and then goes around your body - works for me even though it's probably a fake/rubbish thing! I know it won't be easy to get Dulcie to hold her wrists under the tap (!) but cold flannels there might help!
ReplyDeleteOh no, I am a firm believer in the wrist under the tap solution. I always did that when the office got too hot and I'm sure it worked. Today was another scorcher, but fortunately there was a breeze and it seemed to make a big difference to wee Dulcie's temperature and temperament. I might pack a wee water spritzer in the changing bag on hot days and see if it helps. Thank you :)
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