10 ways to Keep Babies Cool in Hot Weather

Monday, 10 April 2017

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).

Win this sunshade from My BuggyBuddy

a Rafflecopter giveaway

***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.***