Kid friendly space heaters?

[swmama]

I don't post here often but lurk quite a bit and know how helpful you all are, love it! Soooo, here's my situation..our heater needs to be replaced and has been deemed hazardous by the utility company so they shut it off. We are likely going to have to short sale our house and really don't want to spend thousands of dollars to replace the furnace in a house we won't be in for the coming winter. We are in CA so it's pretty mild, but the nights the house can get into the low 60's with no heat (again, not freezing, but some warmth would be nice). It seems like a bad idea to put a space heater in my 2yo room (he's in a toddler bed) but I want to get some warmth in there for him. Do they make "child proof" space heaters I could put in there? I know they make the cool to the touch and ones that will turn off if knocked over, but I still feel hesitant to put one in his room. Thoughts? What would you do and do you have any recs on space heaters for a kids' room?

Thanks in advance. Oh and we also have a nb that is still sleeping in our room so we would put one in or room too but doesn't need to be quite as kid proof since our 2yo isn't in there without our supervision.

[SnuggleBuggles]

There are no heat sources in my boy's rooms. The radiators are inthe hall so if we close the doors, not much heat gets in. Everytime I consider a space heater dh talks me out of it because of safety. In his research he doesn't really believe any kinds are safe overnight without supervision. Bummer

We just do layers and the boys have been fine.

GL!
Beth

[katydid1971]

I would also be afraid to put a space heater in a 2 yo's room. If he really needs something I would look at an electric blanket (they have problems too I know) but I would feel that it was safer than a space heater. With temps in the 60s I think just add another blanket or get those great sheets from PBK.
Crib size: http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/chamois-crib-sheeting-boy/?pkey=bboys-nursery-sheeting
Twin size: http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/boys-chamois-fitted-sheeting/?pkey=dboys-sheeting

[swmama]

Thanks for your responses. I'm sure he will be fine, but I hate not having access to heat but I hate to be out the thousands of dollars for a house we won't be in that long. Sigh. I think we might just use a space heater to warm up his room before bed and see how that goes. We'll take it out once he goes in for bed.

Can I get those sheets for my bed? :thumbsup:

[Smillow]

We use a space heater in my son's room, but he is still in his crib. It has a feature that turns the heater off if it tips or is jostled. I also set it to heat to a particular temperature & then it will shut off. We have 2 others in the house & he does like to turn them on, so I would not want one in his room if he could get out of bed & play with it. I would put him in fleece sleepers with socks & an undershirt. How cold are we talking?

[MontrealMum]

How many more months are you going to be there and how cold are we talking?

I regularly use space heaters in parts of our home because we live in an old home, I WAH, and sometimes the furnace just can't keep up in the dead of winter when it's -15 and the wind's off the water. Both our space heaters are the kind that turn off if they tip over or have water poured on them or anything like that, and neither one has exposed coils. But, I never leave them on when anyone is sleeping because you just don't know. Neither one has a timer either. I would not use them around my DS w/o supervision because he might fiddle with them.

If you're just looking at a few more months until true summer I'd be much more comfortable putting a down quilt in his bed or putting him in warmer pjs then having a space heater on all night. Our heat is regulated by a thermostat and I don't think it's gone on for several nights now and I'm in Quebec which is a very cold place. It's really only a few more weeks until open window weather for us barring any unexpected snowstorms, but for you in Cali? I think you should be fine with no heat at night at this time of year. I hope that doesn't sound harsh as I come from a place that's used to cold temps, but 60 is downright balmy to us.

[swmama]

Thanks again. I'm hoping we will be here for another 6 months and it's super hot here in the summer. The house has been around 62 or 63 at it's coldest lately, so I'm thinking we will just use warmer pjs. He isn't a fan of blankets much, kicks them off but if he gets cold maybe he'll figure it out :)

[MommyAllison]

We let our heat drop down to 65 at night, and could definitely go down a few more degrees. Especially since your house will only get warmer from here, I'd just use warmer pj's for another few weeks/month.

[candaceb]

Our heat goes down to 62 at night. After much experimentation, this is the combination that works to keep DS warm but not too warm: undershirt, cotton Hanna zipper, fleece sleeper, sleep sack. There is no way I would put a space heater in a room with a 2 year old, and I won't go to sleep with one turned on in my own room.

[okinawama]

We use one occasionally in the dead of winter when it's super cold. My son is still in his crib so he can't get out and mess with it, I'd never use it if he could get to it.

I made sure to find one that shut off when tipped (or even jostled slightly) and it also turns off when it hits a certain temp. so that it's not running constantly. I timed it once and it's rarely on for more than 2 minutes at a time.