Keeping the family cool in the heat

Why heat hits families harder

Small bodies warm up faster than ours and cannot regulate their temperature as well, so a hot day that feels merely uncomfortable to you can genuinely unsettle a baby or toddler. Add broken sleep, a warm kitchen and the general effort of parenting, and the grown-ups feel it too. The aim is not to battle the heat but to work gently around it, shifting the busy, warm parts of the day into the cooler hours and keeping everything else slow and simple.

Signs a little one is too warm include flushed or clammy skin, being unusually grizzly or sleepy, and fewer wet nappies. Feel the back of the neck or the chest rather than the hands and feet, which often feel cool even when a baby is warm. If you are ever worried, move somewhere cool, offer fluids and seek advice.

Cook in the cool, eat in the heat

The kindest trick in hot weather is to keep the oven and hob off during the hottest part of the day. A working stove heats the whole room, and standing over it is the last thing anyone wants at four in the afternoon. Instead, do any real cooking in the cool of the early morning or after the children are down, then serve it cold or at room temperature when it is needed.

A short burst of cooking in the cool earns you a string of easy, no-cook meals later in the week:

• Boil a big pan of pasta for salads, and roast a tray of vegetables, first thing while it is still cool
• Make a frittata or a quiche that is just as good cold from the fridge
• Simmer a batch of tomato sauce to keep, so you are only reheating a little rather than cooking from scratch
• Hard-boil eggs, cook a pan of grains, and wash and chop fruit and vegetables to grab through the week
• Freeze fruit, yoghurt or smoothies into lollies for an easy way to cool children down and get fluids in

Cook once in the cool, and you can feed everyone for days without ever standing over a hot stove.

Easy food ideas for hot days

Hot-weather food wants to be light, cold and largely assembled rather than cooked. The classic is a good pasta salad: cooked and cooled pasta with whatever is to hand, dressed simply so it travels from fridge to table, or garden, or picnic, with no fuss.

• Pasta salads — pasta with cherry tomatoes, cucumber, sweetcorn and a little cheese; or pesto, peas and flaked salmon; dressed lightly and kept in the fridge
• A simple spread — bread, cheese, cold meats, hummus, boiled eggs and chopped raw vegetables, so everyone builds their own plate
• Wraps and sandwiches — made ahead and chilled, easy for small hands
• Cold soups — a smooth, chilled soup is surprisingly welcome, and an easy way to get vegetables in
• Fruit, yoghurt and lollies — chilled fruit, yoghurt pots and homemade frozen lollies double as pudding and as a way to keep fluids up

For babies on solids, the same ideas scale down: soft cooked pasta, well-cooked vegetable sticks served cool, plain yoghurt and soft fruit all work, alongside extra milk feeds. Keep an eye on anything that has sat out in the warmth and put leftovers back in the fridge promptly.

Keeping the home cool

You can do a great deal without air conditioning by treating the house like a flask: keep the heat out by day, and let the cool in when it arrives. The single biggest help is shutting out the sun before it warms the rooms, especially where children sleep.

• Close curtains and blinds on the sunny side of the house through the day, and open up the shaded side
• Open windows to create a through-breeze in the early morning and evening, when the outside air is cooler than in
• Keep bedrooms dark and ventilated for naps and bedtime; a darkened room is a cooler, calmer one
• Switch off lamps, screens and other appliances that quietly add heat, and dry washing outside rather than indoors
• A fan placed to move air across the room helps, but keep it well out of reach and never pointed directly at a baby

For sleep, dress babies in a single light layer or just a nappy on the hottest nights, use lighter bedding or a low-tog sleeping bag, and keep checking they are comfortable rather than hot. Our piece on getting blackout right goes further on keeping a room dark and restful, which matters even more in a heatwave.

Water, shade and a slower pace

Offer drinks far more often than usual, and more milk feeds for younger babies, without waiting for anyone to ask. Plan outings and active play for the morning and late afternoon, keep to the shade in the middle of the day, and do not be afraid to abandon the schedule entirely. A paddling pool, a cool bath, damp flannels and bare feet on cool floors all help, and a slower, gentler day is often the most cooling thing of all.

Common questions

Keeping cool, answered

How do I keep my baby cool in hot weather?

Dress them in a single light layer, keep them out of direct sun, offer extra feeds, and use a darkened, ventilated room for sleep. Check the back of the neck or chest for warmth rather than hands and feet, which often feel cool anyway.

What can I cook ahead so I am not at a hot stove?

Cook in the cool of the early morning or late evening and serve cold or at room temperature later. Pasta salads, frittata, roasted vegetables, grain salads and a batch of tomato sauce all keep well in the fridge for a few days.

What are easy no-cook meals for a hot day?

Pasta salad, a board of bread, cheese, cold meats, hummus and chopped vegetables, wraps, yoghurt with fruit, and chilled soups need little or no cooking and are easy to share across the whole family.

How do I keep the house cool without air conditioning?

Close curtains and blinds on the sunny side during the day, open windows to cross-ventilate when the air outside is cooler in the early morning and evening, and limit using the oven and other heat-producing appliances during the hottest hours.

How do I know if my child is too hot?

Signs include flushed or clammy skin, being unusually irritable or sleepy, fewer wet nappies and a warm chest or back. Offer fluids, move somewhere cooler, and seek medical advice if you are worried or symptoms do not settle.

This is general guidance to help you plan. Every family and home is different, so take what is useful and leave the rest. In very hot weather, keep an eye on how everyone is coping with the heat and seek medical advice if you are worried about a baby or child.

Written by the Bubba & Me team · Back to The Journal