Hot days, balmy evenings, bright mornings – summer is wonderful… until kids come along, that is.
If you're anything like me, then once you become a parent, you suddenly realise all the things you love about summer are the same things that are stopping your children from sleeping. And therefore, stopping you from sleeping too.
As a mum of three, I've spent almost a decade figuring out how to help my kids stay cool in bed so they can sleep during hot summer nights – and with a heatwave in full swing, I’m here to share my three top hacks.
The best thing about these tips? They're easy to do, and you likely already have almost all the kit you need to put them into practice tonight.
Tip 1: Ditch the duvet
Children are more likely to overheat in bed than most adults, so they don't need that thick of a duvet at the best of times. That means that during a heatwave, even the thinnest duvet is going to be too hot for most kids.
However, I’ve found my kids still like to have something over them while they sleep. This makes sense. We don’t move much while we sleep, and, as the temperature lowers through the night, we can get chilly. A thin layer, like a blanket, can also give a sense of security to your child whilst they sleep – the pressure of a blanket mimics being hugged and helps our brains relax.
However, there's no need to run out and invest in new blankets. Instead, I take my kids’ duvets out of the duvet cover, and then my children sleep inside the duvet cover like a sleeping bag. They think this is fun, and they won’t kick the sheets off while they sleep and wake up cold.
In the summer, it’s particularly helpful to opt for bed linen that’s going to keep your child cool. Avoid synthetics like polyester or polycotton (often dubbed a hidden sleep thief) and opt for a duvet cover made from natural, breathable fibres, such as pure cotton or linen instead. These are three of my favourites.
This 180 threadcount pure cotton duvet cover is super affordable and perfect for hot summer nights. It's also available in over 30 colour options.
Cotton muslin bedding has an open weave that makes it super lightweight and breathable, ideal when there's a heatwave on the horizon.
This cotton bedding is made from sustainable sources and OEKO-TEX certified to ensure it's free from any harmful chemicals and dyes.
Tip 2: Actively cool the bed down
When it’s boiling hot, I do everything I can to cool down my children’s bedrooms ahead of bedtime. This involves closing the curtains and windows throughout the day to stop warm air coming in – this alone makes a huge difference – but I also try to cool down their beds.
Some people suggest putting bed sheets in the freezer, but this sounds like a massive faff to me – and I can’t find space for three sets of bedding among the ice lollies and peas in my freezer anyway. Instead, I freeze ice blocks, and then wrap them in tea towels and put them in my kids' beds before they get in. I find it works a charm – just remember to remove it from your child’s bed before they get in.
I use these ice blocks, which are £8.99 at Amazon, and pop them back in the freezer every morning for the next night. I have also deployed this £6.99 Amazon gel cooling mat in the past when it’s been very hot. I stick these under the children’s fitted sheets, and it gives them something cool to lie on. However, the mats take up a lot of space in my fridge, and I’ve found the ice block trick works just as well.
Tip 3: Block out the light
Much like a vampire, sunlight is any parent’s number one enemy, at least when it comes to getting your child to sleep. If you’re finding your child is wide awake at stupid o’clock yet struggling to fall asleep in the evening during the summer, you’re not alone. You’re going to need to block the light out of their room every night.
To do this, in my desperate, sleep-deprived state as a mum of twins who never seemed to sleep at the same time, I tucked a thick blanket around the roller blind in their room. This covered all the gaps, and hey presto – my early riser child started sleeping longer in the morning.
Now, you can go for this makeshift blanket approach, or you could invest in a portable sleep blind for the summer months. This Tommy Tippee blackout blind is a game changer – and it tucks into a tiny bag, so you can take it with you on holiday or to grandparents’ houses. It attaches to the window using suckers, so you can block out all the gaps.
Or this super affordable temporary blackout blind from Dunelm is great – you can cut it to size as it’s just made of paper and stick it across the top of your kids bedroom window to darken the room.
Why do kids sleep less in summer?
We’ve all had sleepless nights when it’s unbearably hot, but the hot summer evenings can be even worse for kids. This is because children’s ability to regulate their temperature is not fully developed, so they find it harder to stay cool in the heat. That can lead to discomfort and restlessness.
Put that together with the long evenings and early mornings in summer, and it’s a recipe for terrible sleep. Light helps set our circadian rhythms – our natural body clocks. The long days and exposure to daylight for longer disrupts this natural cycle. As adults we can make sense of this, but for kids you will probably find they take longer to drop off to sleep and are awake at 5am and asking for breakfast.
But regardless of what time sunset and sunrise is, we all need the same amount of sleep year round. Hopefully my hard-won heatwave tips will help both you, and your child, to get that.
