Keeping Your Child Cool: Top Tips for Managing Heat

Keeping children with complex medical needs safe and comfortable during periods of extreme heat can be incredibly challenging. As the UK experiences increasing numbers of heatwaves, many parent carers report that they are struggling with managing the heat or that it is having a significant impact on their child’s health and wellbeing.

Many of children with complex needs have multiple pieces of equipment, additional health conditions, sensory needs, mobility challenges, or communication differences that can make staying cool much harder than it is for most families.

Buying a portable air conditioning unit to put in your child’s bedroom is often the most ideal solution. Unfortunately, this is not within everyone’s budget to buy or run. Members of the WellChild Family Tree have shared their suggestions on other methods for managing the heat during these periods.

Tip 1: Helping Your Child Stay Cool

There are a range of makeshift cool items that may help to cool down your child. You could rotate these items to lie them on your child’s forehead or eyes. Some suggestions include:

• Freezer packs covered in a tea towel
• Wet flannels kept in fridge in sandwich bag
• Reusable gel eye mask kept in the fridge
• Getting your child’s hair wet or wearing a wet hat or bandana

However, you should not keep an icepack on for longer than 20 minutes.

You may also wish to consider buying items that could help to create a more comfortable environment for your child:

• Natural sheepskin placed on your child’s bed, chair or beanbag can help with temperature regulation
• Cooling blankets are made from breathable fabrics and specialist materials designed to help regulate body temperature and improve comfort
• A bed canopy can be useful for keeping flies away from your child, particularly if they are unable to brush them away independently. Bed canopies are widely available and can often be purchased for less than £10

Tip 2: Keeping Your Home Comfortable

The sun coming into the room can dramatically increase the temperature. Parents suggest the following methods to keep the sun out of the room:

• Keeping curtains closed
• Buying blackout curtains
• Opening the loft hatch, if you have one
• Putting a gazebo by your outside door may help to keep your room cooler if you have glass or bifold doors that would normally amplify the sun

You could also consider using strategic placement to make your fans work more effectively:

• Place fans near windows or doors to increase ventilation
• Place a shallow pan of ice or a reusable ice block in front of the fan

Tip 3: Adjusting Routines and Activities

Some families won’t be able to go out at all during the extremely hot weather. It’s ok to adapt to that and save the outdoor places for cooler weather. If you need some ideas of fun activities you can enjoy at home with your child, click on this article to see some great suggestions.

Tip 4: Medications and Health Considerations

Ensure your medication is being stored within the correct temperature range. Some medications may be unsafe if they get too hot. It may be a good idea to check with your pharmacy if there is a maximum temperature that the medication can be stored at.

You should also be aware of medication side effects during the heat. Some medications affect the body’s ability to maintain body temperature. You may wish to discuss with your child’s clinician if their medication has any affect you should take into consideration. If you take antidepressants, you should be aware that these may also affect your body’s temperature regulation.

Tip 5: Planning Ahead and Supporting Your Care Team

Ensure you are on your electricity provider’s priority list. The Priority Services Register (PSR) is a free UK wide service which provides extra advice and support, including when there’s an interruption to your electricity, gas or water supply.

This can be particularly important if your child relies on power for medical equipment.

You can find your electricity and / or gas distributor here.

It is also important to consider your carers. Providing the necessary level of care during hot weather can be challenging. Many parents emphasise the importance of ensuring that carers are also able to stay cool and comfortable. Their suggestions include:

• Allowing flexibility around uniforms. Uniforms can make it more difficult to cope with high temperatures. Some parents found that not requiring carer to wear uniforms during hot weather helped them stay comfortable throughout the day.
• Providing fans for carers to help them stay cool while caring for your child.
• Making cold drinks easily available. Providing access to a fridge for storing food and water can help carers stay hydrated and comfortable.

If you have any comments, ideas, or suggestions about this article don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at [email protected].

Please don’t forget to leave feedback on this article!