I don’t know why, but everywhere you go where you have two adults who have to work together, whether that be husband and wife, or your work colleague that you have to work with, there’s always, and I mean always the debate of whether the room is too hot, or too cold, or whether windows should be cracked open in the dead of winter or not, or whether to put on the radiator in spring and sometimes even in summer, while it’s still nippy outside (the latter preference is mine and I’m not ashamed of it. All windows should be shut too!). This discussion and occasional tug of war of the thermostat dial and the window pane handle had lead hubby and I to discuss what is the best temperature to have in our home once baby arrives.

While pregnant, I enrolled in a few short courses, attended some antenatal classes and read articles, as you do, and I kept coming across the advice that babies are generally happy and most comfortable in rooms with temperatures ranging from 16ºC- 20ºC¹. I thought this was on the colder side to be honest, I’ve always known room temperature to be around 24ºC, so I’m guessing room temperature would be okay for baby too, surely? Anyway, stick with the NHS advice! I’ve linked the NHS page here where this temperature range of 16ºC- 20ºC is advised. Trigger warming, the article linked talks about SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) . A room that’s too hot or too cold, as you can imagine, could be very detrimental for baby so it’s important to monitor this. Also in the early newborn phase, babies can’t regulate their body temperature, so when you are giving them a wash, you have to insure that the room is warm enough, free from cold draughts, etc, so having a room thermometer just gives you that piece of mind…..

We bought Mr Seal, as I dubbed him, 🦭(who knew there is a seal emoji by the way, I never noticed before??) here to navigate this issue in order to insure that the room baby was in was the optimal environment for her, heat wise. Also, we used it for her bath water to check that it wasn’t too hot for her when we gave her, her initial baths. Once we got used to what the temperature should feel like for her baths, we stopped using it, but it’s still good to have around just in case.

What we like is that you can use it straight after you’ve removed it from it’s packaging, after it’s been given a rinse, as it comes pre-loaded with a coin CR2032 battery. Up until now, about 8 months after purchasing, we haven’t had to replace the battery, but in the event where you may need to, I find the best ones are the Duracell ones.

All you have to do to switch it on is to shake the device. Once rattled, you will see the digital display populate with the temperature of the room or water (if you’ve placed it in a body of water). It will also indicate whether the water is too hot or cold. If it’s too hot and unsuitable for baby, you’ll see a flashing red warning light🚨 emit from the device, and it will display “HOT” on the top-right hand corner of the LED display. If it’s too cold, you’ll see “COLD” written on the top-left-hand corner.

As I always say, I love a gadget that is multi-purposed, meaning I can buy the one thing that can kill two or more birds with the same one stone. Here, we have a room thermometer, a water thermometer, and a little play toy for baby while she’s bathing!

To compare, we got her the Munchkin “White Hot Bath Ducky” a few months after buying the seal, because although Mr Seal also serves as a toy, I felt that baby didn’t engage with it that much during bath time. The duck we purchased only really serves us (the parents/ caregivers) to tell us whether the water is too hot and that’s it, as in it doesn’t tell us if it’s too cold. But for baby, we thought this toy is more colourful, with it’s bright eye-catching yellow coloured hue, it’s lighter in terms of weight than Mr Seal, so if baby drops it, it won’t harm her, or it won’t splash as hard in comparison to an light-weight rubber duck. As I felt that Mr Seal was a grey toy that works very well functionally, but it may not engage baby as much during bath time.

If you want a functional piece of kit to tell the temperature of a room or bath water, this is a definite must-have! In the UK, where we can experience all the four seasons in a day, let alone during in an actual year, not matter what time baby is born in a year, be it winter or summer, you can trust this thermometer to inform you that the room/water temperatures are accurate, and that you’ve created the optimum environment for baby.

I forgot the mention that the aimed water temperature for baby’s bath is 37- 38ºC² or body temperature.

Additionally, for new mums, washing a delicate and even a fragile newborn can be a feat, so here are some tips regarding washing a baby. Again this is from our trusty NHS’s page.

You can use an elbow or a wrist to check the water’s a lukewarm temperature, but honestly having a thermometer saves you that time to roll up your sleeve, albeit for 2 seconds, so you can get the job of washing baby done, so you can then feed her, and then for her to drift off to sleep, only a sleep deprived parent could dream of, as our’s does when she’s had a warm comforting bath.

It just takes the guesswork out of the whole temperature gauging exercise for bathing baby. Honestly it’s good for the first few times bathing baby if you are doing it yourself. Also it’s good to consider getting one if your partner or other caregiver like, grandma most-likely, who may not usually bath baby has to bath baby in your absence, they can also have peace of mind when taking on this task.

I also think this thermometer will become useful again as we enter the autumn/ winter season. Mainly to check that the room isn’t too cold if we don’t the heater on and also to check that it’s not too hot when we do put the central heating or electric heaters on.

Afia 💜

Footnotes

1. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/caring-for-a-newborn/reduce-the-risk-of-sudden-infant-death-syndrome/ ↩︎
2. https://www.pampers.co.uk/newborn-baby/care/article/your-babys-first-bath ↩︎