This might seem like an odd request, but how to I get my 3 yr old son to sleep with a blanket or some covers on him at night. It gets cold in his room at night even with the heat cranked up, yet he refuses to cover up. I have tried putting a blanket on him when he is sleeping, but he quickly wakes up crying and takes it off. I have let him pick out a blanket from the store, I've tried dressing him in warmer & cooler pj's at night and nothing has worked. He wakes up before 6am every morning, he says he isn't cold but I feel his skin and he IS cold. I have shared a bed with him on vacation and thought he might keep covers on if I have them on, but he still kicks them off. I feel bad because I know he has to get cold. Is this normal?? Any suggestions to get him to keep covers on??
Hi Kelly.. all these responses are very good. My son did the same thing. I was thinking, for the winter you could get a sleeping bag with his favorite cartoon charactor on it. Make a game out of zipping him in. :)
Kelly,
Don't worry about it. My son rarely sleeps with covers-- he is 2 1/2. I stopped putting sheets on his bed b/c he won't use them. He sleeps with a blankey-- but holds its. I have a down comforter on his bed, but he almost always pushes it off. I dress him in really warm PJs and socks at night. Sometimes I sneak in in the middle of the night and cover him up-- but the covers are always off in the am.
- N.
I wouldn't worry about it. My 7 year old very rarely uses covers when he sleeps. For a while when he was younger, I was having him wear both footed and footless blanket sleepers with fun characters on them, but then I found out later, after he crawled into bed with me, he is sweating alot in the middle of the night and his hair is soaked. He still does. He seems to radiate alot of body heat, even when his room is cold and his skin feets cool/cold to the touch in the morning,
I still have a habit of covering him with a light weight blanket or sheet, but, it never fails, he kicks it off not even 2 minutes later.
I never really worried about it with him and he is doing fine.
If he says he isn't cold, then maybe, inside, he doesn't feel cold.
If you are really concerned about illness with getting cold in the night, maybe you could ask his pediatrician about it.
My 3 year old is the same, I just put him in blanket sleepers. He rolls around so much that even if he did want to be covered up, the first time he rolls it would come off anyway. All I can say is invest in some footie jammies :) I also let him wear his Mater slippers over his footies so his feet stay extra warm :)
Our biggest problem is getting him to keep his clothes on thru the night. I keep having to go in there and redress him! LOL
My son is the same way. I try to cover him up but he just kicks the blanket off. If he gets cold he usually covers up. I wouldn't worry too much about it. I would just put him in warm jammies, and sock if there are no feeties in them.
Hi Kelly,
My 3 year old is the same way although he does like the warm fleece footy pjs. I put those on him and call it good. I always put plastic on his windows in the winter so that it stays a little warmer in there. It helps. I wouldn't worry to much about it.
Chris
Try dressing your son in layers when he goes to bed. This way he stays warm w/o blankets. Also kids have better cirrculation then us adults and although thier skin is cool to touch he may really be comfortable. I wouldn't let it bother you to much even though I know its hard because you don't want your baby to be cold.
He is at that age where he is old enough to know if he is cold. Make sure he is dressed warm so if he doesnt use the blankets he will be ok. Just put the blanket next to him & if he gets cold he will put it on himself. My three yr old does the same thing. It will be alright.
You know that's a really crazy thing about the toddlers. My Alex is the same way. When I think about it I don't turn my heat down at night and he's not cold during the day so I guess that's that. I don't know about anyone else but even in the summer when its freaking HOT I still feel like I need something covering me up at night. Its just what I think we have grown accustomed to. Comfy Cozy Covers(not necessarily to keep us warm if we are already dressed warm IE. footy PJ's, flannel PJ's etc, etc...
My son does the same thing, I was worried also, but I realized that 1 its normal. If your child gets cold enough (for him) he will cover up. Its hard as a parent b/c you think your child is freezing, but believe it or not his body temp. could be diff. from yours. As long as he is not getting sick from it, I wouldn't worry to much. My son to this day hardly ever used a cover, even when its freezing, but as long as he is not getting sick I let it go. Also I went to the doctor and asked about it and he gave me the same advice. Just b/c there is a standard temp. that people have, dosen't mean everyone has the same temp. For example when my daughter gets sick and has a fever, 101% is high for her, but with my son, if his temp is 101% you wouldnt even know it, he gets up to about 104% before he shows any sighs of being sick....now thats scary. I'm not saying that your son has that same condition, just that everyones body temp. is a little different.
Also he could just be uncomfortable with a cover on, and that is ok also, just as long as he is not getting sick from it.
I hope that my rambling on will help you. :)
My son is almost 4 yrs old and he too will never cover up at night. He will not wear socks or pj's with the feet in them. He will roll over and push a blanket off every time I try to cover him during the night, so I'd say I do not have any solution, but try not to worry about it. I think my little one is just hot blooded - and maybe yours is too.
I wouldn't worry about it. He'll cover himself up if he gets cold. He knows his body best!
My 5 year old son usually starts out in pajamas, but by morning, he's in just his underwear with no blankets on him and he sleeps with a fan blowing right on him!
Good luck!
Hi Kelly, My son is 2 1/2 and he did the same thing. What we did is got a bed tent, he loves Thomas the train so thats what we got for him they come in all types. At night when we pray I get my head and shoulders in there with him and it is really warm. Plus he loves to go to bed now is like camping every night for him. Hope this helps!! Good Luck!!
Everybody has different tolerances for cold. Even if his skin feels cold to you, he seems to be perfectly fine with it. I would just dress him in blanket sleepers, and be done with it. There was a time our son went through a similar phase. At the time, if it seemed VERY cold in the night, we dressed him in a set of long underwear and socks, covered with a blanket sleeper. Otherwise, I doubt he'll suffer from hypothermia, so try to relax.
Also, you might take a peek around the house, and make sure you are not blocking any of you cold air returns for the furnace, and make sure nothing is blocking the heat vents in his room. If his room is genuinely cooler than other rooms of the house, when you go to bed at night, you might consider opening his bedroom door, so the warmer air can cycle in.
