We have been advised to keep the child's bedroom cool and humid. Are there any specific guidelines on the correct ranges of temperatures and humidity?
Currently, we are using a humidifier and have some concerns about possible mold growth.
Also, is it ok to use a conditioner when the outside temperature is hot?
The temperature part of this question is tricky, because different children are comfortable with different temperatures, just like adults.
For example, each of our children have been different as far as getting too hot or too cold. We have 18mo twins, and we have to dress our boy more warmly than our daughter. My 3yo sweats considerably during the first part of the night, then he seems to cool off; so he needs to be uncovered at first, then covered. My 5yo will pretty much sleep with any temperature setting. My 15 yo is always warm, so he blasts the fan in his room.
In general, we try to keep our house at 71-72F(22Celcius) at night, and this seems like a good average temperature for everyone.
I'm not sure about humidity. We've never tried humidifiers for the kids, but we live in Houston which has a humid climate. With the high humidity, mold is definitely an issue in Houston in general. So long as you have painted walls in the room you're using the humidifier in, the areas to watch out for mold growth are typically near vent hood covers.
I would say a good room temperature is less than 20 degrees Celcius (68 F), but not below 17C (62.6 F) unless the child has a blanket and does not remove it while sleeping. We do this at home by simply not heating the sleeping rooms in the winter. Summer is a problem, and we don't have air conditioning.
As for humidity we don't monitor it and we have no humidifier, but then perhaps none is needed as long as there is also no air conditioner.
We keep all rooms' doors open at night to make sure the air doesn't get stuffy in any room. That also helps keeping the temperature down, and probably also evens out and reduces the humidity in the sleeping rooms.
We don't heat our bedroom in the UK at all and leave a window ajar. Our two kids sleep in the same room with us on a separate bed. A cold snap recently when the temperatures outside didn't rise above freezing even during the day encouraged me to make some temporary 'four poster' canopies for our beds and they seem to make a huge difference.
http://blog.lolyco.com/sean/2012/12/31/save-on-winter-heating-with-cheap-diy-four-poster/
I used some temperature sensors towards the end of the cold snap and room temperature fell to about 10°C towards the dawn and only a few degrees warmer under the canopies. I suspect draught reduction and humidity maintenance play a large part in the sensation of comfort at night. In the winter we sleep under thick duvets, which are sufficient for us adults and our older child but our 'little eskimo' sweats in all weathers.
We lived in Malaysia up until a couple of years ago and slept naked under thin sheets in an air-conditioned room with a ceiling fan. We had the thermostat set for 24°C which the 1kW unit would only achieve for a couple of pre-dawn hours. When the ceiling fan failed in the frequent power cuts it just wasn't worth stewing on the bed: we got up and did some light chores. It's definitely a balance between temperature, humidity, draught, clothing and covers.
My research has leveled the temp at (16-20 degrees CELSIUS or 62.6-68 Fahrenheit) for "babies" (Visit http://www.babycentre.co.uk/x1050952/whats-the-safest-temperature-for-my-babys-room) The sites all inform me, against my concerns, that an infant's room should be kept cooler (about a degree) as they are hotter. VERY, VERY import on this topic is SIDS! All authorities say NEVER use quilts or blankets or duvet. And the site I've given says NOT to use lots of layers but a vest under a footy type of sleep suit. If you must use blankets or such to shield baby from drafts it also tells you how to safely do this. Humidity is recommended at 40-50%; less encourages viruses and breathing/sinus problems and more encourages mold, bacteria, and consequentially those problems of low humidity; but viruses thrive in dry environments. IMPORTANT: Mold, bacteria will thrive in a humidifier and be dispersed into the air if not properly and frequently maintained!(Visit http://www.livestrong.com/article/232306-do-humidifiers-help-babies-sleep/ advice from doctor)
This is really age dependant.
The first year I would try to keep the temperature around 15-18 degrees celcius (70ish Fahrenheit) as a minimum. Add extra blankets/clothing to keep the baby warm.
Where we live the temperature won't rise much over 25C(77F) so whe have to keep some very light clothing on and make sure the baby drinks enough.
In general I just make sure the temperature is a bit higher then what we're having in our sleeping room or I'd make sure the kid is wearing enough clothing not to get cold.
The colder the better! Ever wonder why hospitals keep the temperature inside so low? If you have ever been in an operating room they keep those rooms several degrees lower than the rest of the hosp. Answer: It reduces the spread of bacteria and infection. So it would just make common sense to keep your house as low as possible or it just becomes a big petri dish.
For those people who grew up needing or developed a need for a lot of heat (myself included) it is also environmentally irresponsible to be wanting the inside of our houses to be like the tropics year round. I live in Missouri (extreme cold and extreme heat) and kept my thermostat at 72-74 in winter and 68-70 in summer. We have slowly over past several years lowered/raised those temps by one to two degrees per year. We are now perfectly confortable @ 66-68 in deep winter and at 72-73 in August. So it can be done it just takes commitment.
Myself and my husband had a huge problem with jumping from too hot with low humidity and then from too cold and high humidity. We had a heater in the room and also a humidifier. We got into lots of arguments over what was best as our son was coughing intermittently. I believe this was down to low humidity at times.
We ended up getting a room thermometer that records to our phones. It was a wifi one called babytempnet. It was brilliant as we could look back through the night to see what we we where doing wrong. Id encourage anyone to follow the basics of 16 - 20 degC and a humidity level agreeable to your child. Often the problem is that your device is giving incorrect readings. I also believe in actually cleaning the room walls etc as mold will build up no matter what.
