Five expert tips on how to get your kids to sleep in the heat

How did you sleep?

As the country continues to swelter under near thirty-degree temperatures it's not a question many of us can answer with a smile.

Thermometers across the UK have barely dipped below 17 degrees during the past week and with extreme heat warnings from the Met Office covering much of the country until Friday, we've got a few days left to go.

The heat may not just be affecting you though, you may notice it starting to affect your children too.

"The consequences of not getting a high-quality sleep could be that your child is going to become really overtired with time." Said Leanne Caddick a children's sleep specialist from Liverpool.

Her company Sleep-ly advises parents of children from 0 - 5 years old on how to best get them into good bedtime routines.

She continued: "That's when you can trigger sleep regressions. You'll notice a lot during the daytime that they're more grouchy."

"They won't want to play as much and they just won't be their usual self."

"That will have a knock-on effect to any daytime naps that you might plan or when you're coming to put them to bed, a bedtime routine, they may completely refuse."

So what can you do to help?

Leanne gave us some of the tips she gives to her overseas clients in warmer countries who have to deal with this constantly.

Windows: open or closed?

It may sound counterintuitive but having your windows open all day could actually make things worse. Leanne said:

"Keep the window shut, especially in sun-facing rooms because the circulating daytime heat will make the room much hotter in the evening time and that's when you'll struggle to put your child to sleep."

Use a wet flannel

Using a cold compress can also help to cool little ones down after a feed, Leanne said:

"Put a wet flannel on the back of your child's neck or on the front of their head, especially when you're about to give them a feed before bedtime."

"This is when the contact of two people can be really hot and that's when they can start to overheat before you put them down."

Get an accurate room thermometer

Before you can start to cool a room down, it's useful to know exactly what you're working with. Leanne added:

"Invest in a room thermometer to make sure that you get an accurate reading because sometimes when you read the reading from a monitor that you might be watching when your child is asleep, it can be less accurate than a normal room thermometer."

Use a fan wisely

How effective fans are at cooling down rooms can vary drastically on how you use them. Leanne said:

"Using a fan inside the hot room can make it even hotter."

"So one of my main tips would be to use the iced water bottle or a bowl of ice next to the fan to regulate the heat around it and keep the air cool."

Keep hydrated

Finally and potentially the most important, DRINK!

Leanne said: "Make sure your child has had plenty of fluids during the daytime."

"Also make sure that any waterproof mattress covers that you do use are removed."

"Some parents don't realise that that can cause excessive sweating that can also make them overheat in this really humid weather that we've got at the moment."

Hopefully, by following some of those tips you might be able to have a slightly more comfortable kip tonight.

For more information about keeping children safe in the sun visit the NHS website here.

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