Hands and Feet Cold When 2 Yr Old Wakes up in the Morning

It sounds like you have some solutions, but I just wanted to add that my 2 yr old daughter is nearly always in just her diaper when we go in to get her in the morning, and icy cold. She just loves to undress herself. I don't worry too much about it I guess, it seems uncomfortable to me, but she's always happy, and I know she's capable of pulling her blanket around her if she wants to. She however, as of a few months ago, refuses to wear any footed pajamas, she says they are itchy, so I'm guessing this will continue in the winter months for us as well.

Sounds like you've already received some great advice for keeping his toes covered.

You don't need to worry that he has a greater chance of getting sick. We don't 'catch a cold' because it's cold, that's an old wives tale :) We catch cold from viruses and what we're eating. So don't need to worry about him getting sick because he likes his toes out

We have always had the same problem with our boys. One tears his socks off the other refuses to cuddle in a blanket. We found a bunch of lightweight cotton footed PJs at Target. Also Carters has some nice ones. They kept his feet warm without him overheating in the summer months. Of course cold feet aren't really harmful and he won't get sick because of them. But if you want to keep them toasty look into some of the lightweight footed pjs.

Both of my girls had the same issue. I discussed it with the doctor and he said as long as the trunk(body) is warm then they are fine. Not to judge how cold or hot they were by their appendages, that their body conserves energy while sleeping and their arms and legs are going to receive less blood. So this is not harmful to them and you can relax and stop exhausting yourself trying to cover them back up.

I would get him footed PJs. You can get them in both thin-cotton versions (I love Children's Place's ones) and thick blanket versions (they have these at Costco right now at a GREAT price!). Also, maybe he would be happy in a sleep-sack. They do make bigger ones now for toddlers and older kids. They have foot holes for walking, but they can pull their feet in to sleep:
http://www.inventiveparent.com/cgi-bin/shopper.cgi?preadd...

To answer your questions, no, it's not harmful and he won't get sick from getting cold. Maybe he just gets really hot when he sleeps and needs his feet out (I know I do).

As for a space heater, I would really recommend against it. I thought about one for our little girl's room (her room is freezing when it's cold out and it seems to get the least heat in the house). Well, I found out that according to the National Fire Protection Association, space heaters are a leading cause of home fires during the winter months. And that according to Consumer Product Safety Commission, there are more than 25,000 residential fires and 300 deaths caused by space heaters each year. I found this research online, so if you want to look into it more, please do. :-)

he is kicking them off because he is hot......
as long as your core (chest) is warm your fine, I bet he warms up right after waking.

My twins are a little over the age of two, and my hubby and I are LUCKY if they're both still wearing their diapers first thing in the morning! The little imps strip off their clothes at every opportunity. They are definitely smart enough to know what to do when they get cold though - they get "snuggly" in their blankets. If your son is cold enough that it disturbs him, he'll wake up and pull the covers back over himself.

I don't believe being cold has anything to do with getting sick. (When you catch a cold, you've caught a contagious virus from someone else who had a cold. It's not because you got too chilly!) Additionally, it's completely normal for the body's temperature to decrease during sleep. So, it's normal to kick off the covers when you're sleeping - it's a natural response to being too warm.

as a child, i could not sleep with the footie pajamas. eventually my mom just cut the feet off. my feet get really hot when i sleep to this day and my daugher is the same way. she would toss and turn when i put her in footie pajamas so we just gave up on them.

as long as his core is warm, he's doing fine.

Hi C......My 3 yr old did the same exact things your child is doing. We started dressing him in the pj's with feet in them, it worked great. As far as the hands go can't really answer that one. Good Luck.

C.,

We use the footed pj's almost year round in our house for two reasons: 1) it keeps the feet warm of my two roaming-while-sleeping children, and 2) they like them.

Hope this helps,
Melissa

Hi C., we have the same problem with our 3 year old, since she was a baby she kicks off her blankets off at night. Never got sick because of it, but except those extremely hot days in the summer, I always keep her in those footed warm fleece one piece pj with the zipper in front. That gives me piece of mind that I know her body is all covered up in at least one layer.

My son did that. I got him the Gerber blanket sleeper with feet. In the winter, I put socks and a shirt under, that way, he is wearing a blanket if he kicks the covers off.

I did for a while and just made sure I had pj's with the feeties...

I know this sounds silly, but if you get pj's that are too big for him, then the legs and arms would be longer than his limbs and keep them covered.

Cold feet really can make a difference in your child's health. My suggestion is to use feety PJ's (the ones with slippers built in).

Hi,
All the other moms have the same suggestions I would make - footie sleepers or just put on cotton socks. Another option, depending on how large your baby boy is, are the sleepsacks. They do have larger sizes and even some toddler ones with foot openings. My daughter always dumped her covers too. And I just used the sleepsacks over PJs. Just add socks to the toddler ones.
While being cold at night is not a health risk, I do believe that the extra energy the body generates to warm itself will impact one's immune system - e.g., it's good to bundle up in cold weather right?

Okay, I see you recieved many messages regarding the footie pajamas and that is where I would start. My daughter is a hottie like my husband and when I go to bed they are the ones giving off the most heat. This may be your child too. Cold feet/hands are not health threatening, but more a comfort thing. My girl slept better when she was covered, but I also found flannel sheets which made a huge difference in her Winter sleep too. Even in the Winter though (now she's 6yrs) she sleeps in summer PJs. I give up, but she will eventually ask or start wearing the Winter pajamas, I make sure to include, in her wardrobe anyway. Good luck.

I also prefer to sleep with my feet and hands bare and uncovered, so they can breathe, it just feels much better to me - so I can understand why he kicks the blankets off - and I would suggest to just leave him be, unless he says he's cold.

It is fine, 10yr old did it, and not my 10 month old does it, as long as you keep there bodies cover at night (since the temp getts cooler) the baby will do just fine, but if yo feel you need to do more put some thin sock on there feet. I usually do that with his jammies and will not cover him up, I notice he sweats alot more if he is cover. Once and awhile i will cover him will a thin recieving blanket. Just as an added comfort.

I always put my kids in footie pajamas. Both of them slept hot and uncovered. Their hands would be cold but I was able to keep their feet warm.

C.