Rising temperatures may be a rare treat in the UK, but it looks like the country is going to be buzzing in July.
With more and more of us also heading for a sun-filled vacation abroad or simply planning to get some vitamin D in the garden it is essential that you know how to protect your children – and yourself – from the heat.
Parents spend a lot of time worrying that their babies and young children are too cold and piling up on the layers. But at high temperatures it is essential to remember that the dangers of overheating can be more serious.
In warm weather conditions, babies and children are at risk of dehydration, sunburn and heat stroke, where the body can no longer cool itself and the body temperature becomes dangerously high. Heatstroke can put stress on the brain, heart, lungs, liver and kidneys and can be life-threatening.
Babies and children are more susceptible than adults to the effects of heat and should be carefully monitored during hot weather.
Use the following checklist to remind yourself of ways to keep your babies and children cool and safe.
Keeping your child cool in hot weather
1. How To Keep Your Baby Cool In Strollers
A common mistake parents make is covering a buggy or pram with a blanket to protect their baby from the sun, or acting as a blackout curtain on clear days. Even the thinnest cloths or blankets can have an oven-like effect on the inside of the buggy, Swedish researchers say.
“It gets extremely hot in the stroller, kind of like a thermos,” Dr. Svante Norgren, a pediatrician in Stockholm, told the newspaper Svenska Dabgladet.
Covering the 2014 study, the paper did its own testing on the sun’s effects on a buggy’s temperature, leaving it in the sun between 11:30 AM and 1:00 PM.
Without cover it reached a temperature of 22C but when a thin cover was placed over the pram for 30 minutes the temperature inside the buggy reached 34C.
Follow these tips how do you stay cool during a heat wave?.