Would you point a fan towards a sleeping toddler all night?

[dancerose]

We can’t seem to agree on this, I have read that you shouldn’t point a fan directly at them as it’s dehydrating but Dh thinks he needs the fan on him at night in this heat.
I have shown him all the information on line advising against it.
Ds was at the hospital yesterday as he had viral wheezing and he asked the doctor as we were discharged if it was ok to put a fan on him and she said yes you could do so now Dh is convinced that despite all the advice I’ve found discouraging this that a doctor has said he could so it’s fine.
Do you/ would you put a fan by the cot all night?

The air flow from the fan? 🤦‍♀️

vortex made me laugh!

I'd direct it at their legs

Most fans only move warm around and are pretty pointless anyway

I have a fan rotating between my toddler and my 4 year old as they share a room. Yes they can’t stop it but it is a distance away that it’s not full blast so if he wanted to, he could turn and face the other way and not feel it much at the other side of the cot.

in weather his hot (I’m in the south) I also have a ceiling fan on them too (not super strong and can’t really reach the toddler)

can’t see how a fan is more dehydrating than sweating

I have mine on oscillating usually but sometimes do point it directly at DD at least for a few hours during the hottest part of the night, when it’s 30 degrees in the room I really feel she needs it. She has a drink she can reach too which she does guzzle down overnight. Isn’t this weather just hellish? Gah

My son has slept like this for years so definitely from three at least. Never had any issues. If the doctor has said it is fine then surely that's the best advice to go with?

A fan does not cool the air.

Air moving over your body cools you down as it increases the rate at which sweat evaporates which is what cools you down.

Having a fan on in a room but not pointing at you will only make a very small difference unless it's a very powerful fan.

Yes .. if the Toddler isn’t happy or is uncomfortable they will soon let you know.

My point still stands that I wouldn’t leave a fan constantly on a toddler that can’t move it! 🤷🏻‍♀️

I have an oscillating fan in the corner of my 9yr olds room on the low level speed, enough to move the air around but not too much

We have it oscillating so it passes over him, during the last heat wave I did have it directly on him during nap time as it was mega but kept it oscillating over night it’s close enough he can feel it but far enough away too. I think it also depends on how old your toddler is and how well they communicate, my son would tell me if he was cold/uncomfortable

I’ve lived in a very hot country where every room had an extremely powerful ceiling fan. It was on all night, blowing air on all of the kids. I didn’t think anything of it and they were fine, never dehydrated.

I have a personal space cooler. It has a water tank which you fill up and a fan which then gently blows out cool air - a choice of three settings but none of them very strong. It is supposed to last up to 6 hours but doesn't in my experience.
It just cools a small area near to where you are - it doesn't reach into the whole room. I would consider using it near a toddler but careful about placing it not directly in a small child's face yet bearing in mind its limitation of affecting space only in a small area close to and around the person, hence the 'personal space' name.

In average heat i may have it a bit far away and not on full but in current heat i think you need it on you full to be comfortable engough to sleep and not be sweating so yes i would and have and haven't had any issues.

I had no idea this was even a thing, so I've always used fans and my children have both been fine - certainly much more comfortable falling asleep than without one! If you're concerned, you could always switch it off once they've fallen asleep. Or you could buy a bladeless fan with air purification, which are less harsh in terms of airflow and remove allergens and dust.

Absolutely not. Would you like a fan pointed directly on you all night? Most people wouldn't.

A ceiling fan is different, I have them too. They're quite far away from a sleeping person being on the ceiling and also they move a lot more air at once. So it's less uncomfortable, you don't have a very powerful small amount of cold air pointed at you like with a plug in fan.

Edited to say I really recommend installing ceiling fans. They are amazing.

One thing I have done now which I found has helped is move my toddler's bedtime to much later. He goes to sleep at 10.30pm now, has done so since the last heatwave. I find this gives time for the bedroom to cool down before I put him to sleep. I have flexibility with work and nursery is round the corner so he wakes at 8.30, I take him to nursery around 9, and I'm at work by 9.30. Appreciate not everyone can do this but even a 9pm bedtime would help.

I know British people think this is child abuse but it's what we do in my (very hot) birth country too.

At the moment there isn’t a chance I’d be sleeping without a fan on me all night. It’s hot all night. We had a power cut during the night a couple of weeks ago in the mega heat, room was unbearable.

My 5 and 3 year olds also have fans on them all night. Because it’s very hot.

Fair enough. But I absolutely hate it and my toddler consistently pushes away any fan that is pointed at him directly so I'm sure he hates it too.

Fair. That is just you rather than ‘most people’ though. My 5yo pulls his towards him so it’s pointing at his head.