10 ways to Keep Babies Cool in Hot Weather


It’s been a lovely sunny few days and I’ve got a touch of sunburn. The first bit of sunny weather always seems to catch me by surprise. I’ve now shaved my legs, found my skirts and dug out the suncream. All ready for the cooler weather to return1 At least I will be ready when the warm weather comes back.

Before I hear another comment asking “Is that our Summer over?” I would like to point our it’s only April and there will be even warmer days to come this year (or I’ll eat my sun hat). If you have a little person like me it will be really important to protect their delicate skin and keep them cool when the warm weather returns so here are 10 suggestions to keep babies and toddlers cool on hot days.

Picture of a baby in pink sunglasses and title text of "10 ways to keep babies and toddlers cool"


1. Buy a gentle sun cream. Sun creams generally aren’t recommended as suitable for babies under 6 months because you should keep them out of direct sunlight, but that’s not always possible. I recommend getting a good quality cream suitable for sensitive skin. My 5 year old comes out with a rash with most suncreams, but the creams I have found best for both my girls are Child’s Farm and Sunsense.


2. Stay inside when the sun is strongest. The strength of the sun will vary depending on where you are, but is in the UK it is strongest between 11am and 3pm. It won’t necessarily be the hottest part of the day and remember that cloud cover might make things cooler, but the sun can still be strong and burn skin through it.

3. Pop on a hat. Unfortunately with most children the hat will come straight off again so it might just be easiest to…

4. Embrace the shade. Use the hood on your pushchair, a sunshade or a SnoozeShade



5. Water play. My children have both made beelines to the cat’s water bowl from the moment they could move;children seem to love splashing in water. A water table is great, but you can improvise with a washing up bowl or tupperware. Use slightly warm water so it’s not quite so shocking when they pour it on themselves (or you).

A baby playing with a spoon a tupperware box on decking with a slide in the background and a cat sitting underneath it.
Water, a spoon and plastic boxes. A surprising amount of fun
6. On really warm days a paddling pool is great for a splash and you can get small ones for around £5  in the supermarket. Babies and toddlers get cold quickly if wet all over so be ready with a warm towel.

7. Dress in loose clothes. Light cotton clothes with long sleeves are good to keep children cool and protect them from the sun. This material won’t block out all the UV rays in the height of summer so suncream and shade will still be needed.

8. Ice Ice (for) Baby. An ice lolly is a great way to cool down, but they are often full of sugar and artificial colours. I love these ice lolly moulds which are the perfect size for little hands. I have used them with frozen breastmilk before my daughters were weaned and blended fruit mixed with water or milk when they were older.



9. Keep them hydrated. If breastfeeding expect you baby to want to feed more often than normal otherwise make sure they have access to water in a sippy cup or bottle (this should be cooled boiled water for children 6 months and under).

10. Get fruity. For weaned babies watery fruit and salad from the fridge will cool them down and keep them hydrated. Melon, tomatoes and cucumber are all great. If the fruit is sweet it might be worth eating inside to avoid attracting wasps.


To help you be ready for summer with your little person I am giving a way this UPF50+ sunshade which clips to pushchairs or car seats and folds up small when not in use. To enter use the Rafflecopter widget below. Closes Sunday 23rd April 2017 at midnight. All normal T&C’S apply (available in the widget).

My BuggyBuddy Sunshade with pink stars
Win this sunshade from My BuggyBuddy



***Disclosure: This post contains Affiliate links to Amazon because they are a great way to show you the current price of the items I recommend. If you click through and purchase the item I get a small percentage of the total amount of valid items at no extra cost to you. Thank you if you do buy anything.
I was kindly gifted the sunshade enabling me to run this giveaway.***

66 comments

  1. I love to keep cool with a glass of homemade lemonade plenty of ice

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  2. I don't have any children but would love to win this prize for charity, to go to Romania.

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  3. Sit in the shade, with a cold drink

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  4. Have the hosepipe up at an angle spraying a fine spray. Makes my hair go into a curly frizz but I'm nice and cool.

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  5. I like to keep cool by having a cool shower.

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  6. Having an ice cold drink - ahhh!

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  7. Sitting in the shade with a drink with plenty of ice

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  8. A nice cool spritz what I keep in the fridge nice just to spray across you :)

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  9. SIT UNDER A SHADY TREE BY A BABBLING BROOK

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  10. i love when its hot sticking my feet in a bucket of ice dcold water, cools me down straight away

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  11. Homemade ice lollies with fresh fruit!

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  12. a little hand fan

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  13. I love rocket lollys.

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  14. Sitting in the shade in the garden

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  15. My best trick for keeping cool in hot weather is to run cold water over my wrists to cool my body down.

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  16. Plugging in my air con, best thing I ever purchased :-D

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  17. My favourite way to keep cool is sitting having a nice bowl of ice cream and some chilled beer too

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  18. Iced drinks and a hand held fan

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  19. ice lollies and a paddling pool

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  20. Cold showers and ice cold drinks.

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  21. I couldn't live without my fan in the summer! EJ Dunn

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  22. A wet towel that has then been put in the freezer :)

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  23. Cool drinks and sitting in the shade.

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  24. A mini fan (@PeanutHog)

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  25. I like a cool shower or if it's really hot.... paddling pool!

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  26. Gotta be an ice cream for me! :)

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  27. jumping in the paddling pool

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  28. My favourite way would be in a swimming pool with a nice cocktail in hand ;)

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  29. I keep a bottle of eau de toilette in the fridge and spray it on my forehead and on the back of my neck. Surprisingly cooling.

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  30. Cold shower then go sit by a fan with an iced drink

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  31. Would have to be a nice swimming pool for me!

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  32. A nice big fan and a cocktail! If the opportunity allows!

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  33. sit/walk in the shade and drink plenty

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  34. At the moment my favourite way to keep cool is by eating a red ice pole, the old school mr freeze long ones are my biggest pregnancy craving!

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  35. My favourite way to keep cool is drinking iced drinks

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  36. swimming with kids or cold shower

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  37. Sitting with my feet in the children's paddling pool!

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  38. Having a pint of ice cold lemon water helps to cool me down and stops me getting dehydrated when its hot

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  39. A big fan and cold drinks or icecream/lolly

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  40. My favourite way to keep cool is to drink delicious fruit flavoured slushies!

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  41. I like to wear vest tops and shorts

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  42. An ice cold soda with plenty of ice!

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