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We all know Aussie summers can be brutal when you’re trying to keep a home cool and calm with little ones. And when hot weather makes sleep harder, helping kids stay cool and rested can feel like another nightly battle. Here are some simple ways to create a cooler, safer sleep environment when the bedroom stays hot.

There is something about extreme weather that makes you notice your home differently.

A bedroom that normally feels perfectly comfortable suddenly feels like an oven at 10pm.

The room downstairs that nobody particularly likes becomes the best place in the house.

You discover that one side of your home stays cool while another seems to hold onto the day’s heat for hours.

And suddenly you are standing in the hallway wondering whether your toddler is simply miserable because they are hot — or whether they are becoming unwell.

For parents, this is where extreme weather becomes much more complicated than checking tomorrow’s maximum temperature.

The weather outside is only part of the story.

What matters is the interaction between the weather, the building, the room your child is in, what they are wearing, how active they have been, whether they can drink, whether they can sleep and whether their body is getting an opportunity to recover.

And increasingly, Australian research is giving us a more sophisticated understanding of that relationship.

The most useful question isn’t:

“How hot is it?”

It is:

“What is the heat actually doing to my child, and what is my house doing with that heat?”

That is a much more useful question.

The part of heatwave science most parents never hear about

Most of us think about a heatwave as a run of very hot days.

But Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology uses something considerably more sophisticated.

Its heatwave assessment considers both daytime and overnight temperatures, as well as how unusual those temperatures are for that location and how hot or cool the preceding 30 days have been.

This is captured in the Excess Heat Factor (EHF).

In simple terms, the system is trying to account for two things:

How unusual is the heat?

and

How much heat has the body already been dealing with?

That second question matters.

A sudden jump from relatively cool weather into several hot days can place a different physiological demand on the body than arriving at the same temperature after weeks of progressively warmer conditions.

And there is another part parents often underestimate:

The night is part of the heatwave.

A hot afternoon followed by a genuinely cool night gives the body an opportunity to recover.

A hot afternoon followed by a hot night doesn’t.

The Bureau specifically notes that high overnight temperatures make it harder for the body to recover from daytime heat and can mean the following day heats up more quickly.

So when you are deciding whether your child’s room is “too hot”, don’t just look at the afternoon maximum.

Look at whether the house is actually cooling overnight.

A child’s bedroom can be the wrong room even when the thermometer says the same thing

Here is something that is surprisingly easy to miss:

Two rooms at the same air temperature can feel different.

That is because human thermal comfort is not determined by air temperature alone.

It is influenced by factors including:

  • humidity
  • air movement
  • radiant heat from surrounding surfaces
  • clothing
  • bedding
  • physical activity
  • acclimatisation
  • the person’s individual physiology.

Research from the University of Sydney examining thermal comfort among Australian school students found that children showed considerable adaptability to different indoor temperatures. The research also found that the students’ preferred and neutral temperatures were not simply a single universal number.

This is why the idea that every child needs a particular magic bedroom temperature is misleading.

It also explains something parents have probably experienced themselves:

A room can say 27°C on the thermometer and feel completely different from another room also reading 27°C.

If one room has a hot west-facing window, warm walls, a ceiling radiating stored heat and little air movement, it can feel substantially more oppressive than another room with shade and moving air.

So don’t ask only:

“What does the thermometer say?”

Ask:

“What does the room feel like at the level where my child actually sleeps?”

The surprising new research about children and heat

There is an important scientific nuance here.

We are often told that children are automatically much less able to regulate their temperature than adults.

Recent Australian research suggests the picture is more complicated.

A 2025 study involving researchers from the University of Sydney, University of Canberra, University of South Australia and The Children’s Hospital at Westmead compared 68 children aged 10–16 with adults during exercise in temperatures reaching 40°C.

The researchers did not find that children universally experienced greater rises in core temperature or dehydration than adults under the tested conditions.

That does not mean children are safe from heat.

It means the old blanket statement that children simply cannot regulate heat like adults is too simplistic.

The researchers highlighted other reasons children can still be particularly vulnerable in real life — including their behaviour, activity levels and awareness of the need to drink.

And this research involved older children during controlled exercise.

It should not be extrapolated to babies.

Infants are a different physiological and developmental population, and Australian health authorities continue to identify babies and young children as groups requiring particular care during extreme heat.

That distinction is important.

The science is more nuanced than “children overheat faster”.

For parents, the practical lesson is actually more useful:

Don’t judge risk from age alone. Look at the child’s actual exposure, activity, hydration, environment and behaviour.

Your house is part of your child’s climate

We tend to think of weather as something that happens outside.

But once you have children, the building itself becomes part of the exposure.

Your home is constantly gaining and losing heat.

Heat can enter through:

  • windows
  • roofs
  • walls
  • doors
  • skylights
  • poorly insulated areas
  • gaps and draughts.

And it doesn’t necessarily disappear when the sun goes down.

This is where thermal mass becomes particularly interesting.

Concrete, brick and other heavy materials can absorb heat during the day and release it later.

Used well, thermal mass can help stabilise temperatures.

Used badly — particularly in a poorly shaded or poorly ventilated room — it can become a heat store that keeps releasing warmth when you are trying to get your child to sleep.

Australian Government guidance specifically warns that poorly positioned thermal mass can radiate stored heat during a summer heatwave, and that upper-level bedrooms can be particularly problematic because they can remain warm overnight.

That gives parents a useful explanation for something many have experienced:

“The sun has gone down. Why is this room still boiling?”

Because the sun isn’t the only source of heat anymore.

The hottest room may tell you more than the hottest day

If one room repeatedly becomes unbearable, don’t simply accept it as “the hot room”.

Investigate it.

Ask:

Is it west-facing?

Afternoon sun can produce substantial solar heat gain.

Is it directly under the roof?

The roof can transfer heat into the ceiling space and then into the room below.

Is it upstairs?

Warm air rises, and upper levels can retain heat differently from lower floors.

Does it have large areas of glass?

Windows can be a major source of heat gain. Australian Government energy guidance notes that windows can account for a substantial proportion of household heat gain and loss.

Is there external shading?

Stopping solar radiation before it reaches the glass is generally more effective than trying to remove the heat after it has entered.

Is the room poorly ventilated?

A room that cannot purge accumulated heat overnight may remain uncomfortable long after the outdoor temperature falls.

This is why the coolest room in your house is not necessarily your child’s bedroom.

During a heatwave, the “right” bedroom may temporarily be somewhere completely different.

Don’t cool the house in the wrong order

One of the biggest mistakes families can make during extreme heat is thinking only about mechanical cooling.

The instinct is:

It’s hot → turn on the air conditioner.

But good building science starts earlier.

The first question is:

How much heat can I stop from entering the house?

Australian passive-design guidance recommends reducing heat gain through measures such as:

  • external shading
  • appropriate window design
  • insulation
  • thermal mass used correctly
  • ventilation
  • air movement
  • thoughtful orientation and zoning.

That creates a useful hierarchy.

First: stop unnecessary heat entering.

Second: remove accumulated heat when conditions allow.

Third: mechanically cool the spaces that need it.

Fourth: move people if the building cannot maintain a safe environment.

That order can make a surprising difference.

The window problem parents often don’t realise they have

Windows are beautiful when you want sunlight.

During a heatwave, they can become one of the home’s biggest heat pathways.

Australian Government guidance says windows can be responsible for almost 90% of a home’s heat gain in some circumstances and up to 40% of heating energy loss. External shading can be particularly effective because it blocks solar radiation before it reaches the glass.

That means there is a significant difference between:

closing an internal blind

and

preventing the sun from reaching the window in the first place.

If you are thinking about longer-term improvements to a home that overheats, external shading deserves more attention than it often receives.

Awnings, shutters, pergolas, appropriately positioned vegetation and other forms of external shading can reduce solar heat gain before the heat enters the building.

For renters, you may have fewer options, but even understanding which windows are causing the problem can help you decide where curtains, blinds or temporary measures will have the greatest effect.

The “open every window” rule isn’t always right

This is one of those pieces of advice that sounds sensible until you think about the physics.

If it is 36°C outside and 28°C inside, opening every window because “fresh air is good” may simply bring more heat indoors.

But if it is 22°C outside and your house is still holding 29°C from the afternoon, opening windows and creating cross-ventilation may be exactly what you need.

Australian passive-cooling guidance recommends using ventilation strategically, particularly when outdoor conditions are cooler than indoors.

So instead of following a fixed rule:

Compare inside with outside.

Then decide.

That sounds simple, but it is one of the most useful pieces of information a parent can have during a prolonged heatwave.

Think of your house as having a heat budget

This is a more useful way to think about extreme heat.

Every day, your home is accumulating heat from somewhere.

Some comes from the sun.

Some comes through the building envelope.

Some comes from cooking.

Some comes from appliances.

Some comes from people.

Some comes from warm outdoor air entering the house.

And some remains stored in the building itself.

Your job during a heatwave isn’t simply to “make the air cold”.

It is to keep the total heat load manageable.

That means:

  • shading before the sun reaches the room
  • reducing unnecessary indoor heat
  • closing up when the outside is hotter
  • ventilating when the outside becomes cooler
  • using cooling strategically
  • moving children away from rooms that accumulate heat
  • recognising when the building cannot keep up.

This is much closer to how building scientists actually think about thermal performance.

And it is much more useful than simply telling parents to “turn on the air conditioner”.

What your air conditioner is telling you

An air conditioner that runs continuously during a heatwave isn’t automatically broken.

Extreme conditions place a much greater load on a system.

But there is a difference between:

“The system is working hard because it’s extremely hot”

and

“The system is running constantly and something isn’t right.”

Warning signs worth paying attention to include:

  • unusual noises
  • significantly reduced airflow
  • one room remaining dramatically warmer
  • water leaking where it shouldn’t
  • unusual smells
  • repeated cycling
  • a system struggling to reach its normal set point
  • cooling performance that has noticeably deteriorated.

If your system has become less effective over time, it is worth having it assessed before the next major heat event rather than waiting until the hottest afternoon of the year.

For families who rely heavily on cooling, professional air conditioning maintenance and air conditioning repairs are part of extreme-weather preparation, rather than something to think about only after the system stops working.

But what if the air conditioner works perfectly and the bedroom is still hot?

This is where it gets interesting.

Sometimes the problem isn’t the air conditioner.

It is the room.

If the air-conditioning unit is cooling the main living area but the upstairs bedroom has poor airflow, receives afternoon solar gain and sits underneath a hot roof, simply lowering the thermostat may not solve the underlying problem.

You may be paying to make one part of the house colder while another continues behaving like a heat reservoir.

Before assuming you need a larger system, look at:

airflow + solar gain + insulation + room location + doors + zoning + building envelope.

Australian Government guidance similarly recommends improving insulation, shading and draught control to reduce the heating and cooling load placed on mechanical systems.

The fan question is more complicated than “fans cool you”

A fan doesn’t magically make a hot room cold.

Its main benefit is moving air across the body, which can improve evaporative and convective heat loss and make a person feel cooler.

That distinction matters.

A fan can make a child feel more comfortable without substantially lowering the room temperature.

Australian Government guidance recommends fans as a low-energy way of improving comfort, while NSW Health advises keeping fans out of a child’s reach and not pointing them directly at babies or children.

So think of a fan as:

a tool for helping the body cope with the environment

rather than:

a replacement for cooling a dangerously hot room.

And if a child is becoming seriously affected by heat, don’t keep experimenting with fans and room arrangements. Heatstroke requires urgent medical treatment.

The room your child sleeps in may need to change

Parents often hesitate to move a sleeping child.

It feels disruptive.

But extreme weather is one of those occasions when routine should not automatically outrank environment.

South Australian health guidance specifically recommends choosing the coolest place in the home for babies and young children to sleep during hot weather, while ensuring appropriate airflow around the cot or bassinet.

So if the nursery is the hottest room in the house, you don’t have to defend the nursery.

Move.

The coolest practical room may be:

  • downstairs
  • on the southern side of the home
  • away from west-facing windows
  • under a different part of the roof
  • better shaded
  • smaller and easier to cool.

Your child doesn’t care that the room wasn’t originally designated as a bedroom.

They care that they can sleep comfortably and safely.

Hot nights deserve their own plan

We often prepare for the hottest part of the afternoon.

But the overnight period can determine whether your child gets any meaningful recovery from the heat.

The Bureau of Meteorology explicitly includes minimum temperatures in its heatwave definition because hot nights increase physiological stress and reduce recovery.

This changes how I would prepare a child’s bedroom.

Don’t just check it at 3pm.

Check it at:

9pm.

Midnight.

3am.

You don’t need to turn this into a scientific experiment.

You are simply learning how your house behaves.

If the room is 28°C at 10pm and still 28°C at 3am despite a significant drop outside, you have learned something important:

the room is storing or receiving heat faster than it can lose it.

That is a building problem as much as a weather problem.

And this is why “sleeping in the coolest room” can work so well

The coolest room isn’t necessarily the room with the lowest afternoon temperature.

It is the room that gives your child the best combination of:

  • lower heat load
  • less radiant heat
  • appropriate airflow
  • safe sleep conditions
  • ability to cool overnight.

Sometimes this will be a small room.

Sometimes it will be downstairs.

Sometimes it will be the living room.

Sometimes it will be somewhere outside your home entirely.

The goal isn’t to preserve the floor plan.

The goal is to keep your child safe and comfortable.

For more ideas on helping children sleep comfortably through hotter weather, see our guide to keeping kids cool and rested during Australia’s extended summers.

Babies are different

This is where the article needs to become more cautious.

The recent Australian research on children’s heat regulation is valuable, but it doesn’t give us permission to generalise those findings to infants.

Babies have different physiological and behavioural capabilities.

They cannot independently move to a cooler room.

They cannot reliably tell you that they are becoming too hot.

They depend on adults for clothing, hydration, sleep environment and environmental control.

Red Nose recommends placing babies on their backs to sleep and keeping their head and face uncovered. It also emphasises avoiding overheating.

So during extreme heat:

cool the environment rather than compromising safe sleep.

Don’t cover a baby’s face with a cloth.

Don’t improvise with unsafe bedding.

Don’t add layers because you’re worried they might become cold without checking how warm they actually are.

And don’t create a “cooling solution” that introduces a new sleep hazard.

For more practical advice on keeping babies comfortable and safe in hot weather, see our guide to keeping babies comfortable in hot weather.

There is no magic baby bedroom temperature

This is another area where parents can become unnecessarily anxious.

Red Nose does not prescribe one universal room temperature that every baby must sleep in.

Instead, its guidance focuses on appropriate clothing and bedding, keeping the baby’s head and face uncovered and checking the baby rather than trying to hit one magic number.

That makes sense when you think about the science.

A thermometer measures the air.

Your baby experiences a whole environment.

So rather than asking:

“Is 26°C safe?”

ask:

“Is my baby appropriately dressed for this environment, is their head and face uncovered, and do they feel comfortably warm rather than hot or sweaty?”

Hydration is one place where age really matters

For older children, offering water regularly during hot weather is straightforward advice.

Infants are different.

For babies under six months, Australian health authorities advise not giving water simply because the weather is hot.

Instead, breastfed babies may need additional breastfeeds, while formula-fed babies may need additional formula feeds.

That is an important distinction because “drink more water” is otherwise such an automatic piece of heatwave advice.

With babies, more fluid does not automatically mean water.

And with toddlers, the challenge is often behavioural rather than scientific.

They may need regular opportunities to drink because they are too busy playing to notice thirst.

That means putting water within reach and making drinking part of the rhythm of the day can be more useful than repeatedly asking:

“Do you want a drink?”

Watch the child, not just the number

Heat illness does not begin at one magical temperature.

A child can become unwell through a combination of environmental heat, physical activity, dehydration and an inability to lose heat effectively.

Healthdirect describes heat stress as the body becoming too hot and heat exhaustion as a more serious condition that can include weakness, dizziness, headache, nausea and clammy skin. Heatstroke is the emergency state in which the body can no longer regulate its temperature effectively.

This is why a thermometer should be treated as one piece of information, not the entire decision.

Ask:

Is my child drinking?

Are they behaving normally?

Are they alert?

Are they becoming unusually sleepy or weak?

Are they dizzy or vomiting?

Are they becoming confused?

Are they coping with the environment?

If the answer is no, don’t stay focused on achieving the “right” room temperature.

Move them somewhere cooler and seek appropriate medical help.

The point at which heat becomes a medical problem

Heatstroke is not simply “being really hot”.

It is a medical emergency.

Healthdirect identifies serious symptoms including confusion, seizures and loss of consciousness, with immediate cooling and emergency medical care required.

If you suspect heatstroke:

Call 000.

While waiting for help, move the person to a cool environment, remove excess clothing and begin cooling according to emergency advice.

The important message for parents is:

Don’t waste time trying to diagnose the room. Diagnose the child.

The science of a “cool zone”

Instead of trying to make the entire house comfortable during every heatwave, families can think in terms of a thermal refuge.

This is particularly useful if you don’t have whole-home air conditioning.

Choose the room that performs best.

Then make that room work harder.

Think about:

  • shade
  • curtains
  • airflow
  • cooling
  • low heat-producing activities
  • accessible drinking water
  • safe sleeping arrangements
  • chargers and lighting
  • comfortable seating or bedding
  • access to the rest of the house when needed.

You are effectively creating a small climate-controlled refuge inside your home.

This can be more realistic and energy-efficient than trying to make every room equally comfortable.

What if you don’t have air conditioning?

There is no shame in this.

And importantly, there is no reason to assume that a family without air conditioning has no strategy.

Australian passive-design guidance identifies shading, insulation, ventilation, thermal mass and air movement as important components of passive cooling.

Energy.gov.au also recommends measures such as external shading, insulation, efficient window coverings and strategic ventilation to reduce cooling loads.

The strategy becomes:

Block → shade → ventilate at the right time → move to the coolest room → use air movement → leave if the home becomes unsafe.

And that last step matters.

A home without effective cooling isn’t a parenting failure.

If the building becomes too hot, leaving is a legitimate safety strategy.

Healthdirect specifically recommends seeking an air-conditioned public place such as a library or shopping centre when a home cannot be kept cool.

What if the power goes out?

This is where a heatwave becomes a completely different problem.

AIHW has specifically noted that power outages can amplify the health consequences of heatwaves because they can disrupt air conditioning and refrigeration.

So your emergency plan should not simply say:

“If the power goes out, use the fan.”

Ask:

Where is the coolest room?

How long can we reasonably stay there?

Where can we go if it becomes too hot?

How will we get there?

What happens if the whole neighbourhood is affected?

What happens if someone needs refrigerated medication?

What happens if a child relies on electricity-dependent equipment?

That is a real Plan B.

Extreme heat and bushfire smoke create a particularly difficult problem

This is one of the scenarios parents should think about before they are in it.

Normally, when the house becomes too hot, opening windows and doors can help.

But if the outside air is contaminated by bushfire smoke, opening everything may be the wrong move.

Victorian health guidance recommends keeping windows and doors closed while smoke is present and says that split-system or refrigerated air conditioners can be used in recirculation mode where available. It specifically advises against evaporative cooling during smoky conditions because it can draw outdoor air inside.

So the normal heatwave strategy can suddenly collide with the smoke strategy.

You can end up with:

“It’s too hot to close the house, but the outdoor air is too smoky to open it.”

That is precisely the kind of situation where a pre-planned alternative location becomes important.

Air quality changes the meaning of “ventilation”

Parents are often told that ventilation is healthy.

Generally, yes.

But ventilation means bringing outdoor air inside.

If the outdoor air is contaminated by bushfire smoke, the priority changes.

Your home’s ventilation strategy therefore needs to respond to what is happening outside, not follow a fixed rule.

This is one reason a good emergency plan includes checking:

  • heatwave warnings
  • air-quality information
  • bushfire warnings
  • emergency warnings.

Your home is not an isolated environment.

The outside atmosphere becomes part of your indoor environment whenever you open a window.

Winter is the other half of the problem

Extreme-weather preparation shouldn’t become synonymous with heat.

Cold can also become a health issue.

Healthdirect notes that babies and young children are at greater risk of hypothermia because they can lose body heat more quickly than adults. Hypothermia can occur indoors if conditions are sufficiently cold.

So winter preparation should ask a different set of questions:

Which room stays warmest?

Where does heat escape?

Are there significant draughts?

Is the heating system actually maintaining the temperature?

Is condensation becoming a persistent problem?

Is the heater safe?

Australian Government guidance recommends sealing gaps, using appropriate curtains, improving insulation and setting heating efficiently.

A serious winter warning for families with gas heaters

There is one issue that deserves much more attention in parenting articles about winter.

Carbon monoxide.

Victoria’s Department of Health warns that faulty gas heaters can cause carbon monoxide poisoning and that children are among those at increased risk from air pollutants including carbon monoxide.

This is particularly important in more tightly sealed homes.

The Victorian Department of Health advises that gas heaters should be serviced and tested by an appropriately trained and licensed gasfitter at least every two years.

And don’t ever use an outdoor gas appliance, barbecue or camping stove to heat an indoor room.

Warm is not worth trading for poisoned air.

After a flood, don’t simply turn everything back on

Flooding creates a different kind of home-health problem.

A heating or cooling system that has been exposed to floodwater should not simply be switched back on.

Victorian health guidance says air-conditioning or central heating systems damaged or contaminated by floodwater should not be used until they have been appropriately cleaned and checked.

Flood recovery also creates moisture and mould risks.

That matters for families because a house can look superficially dry while moisture remains inside walls, flooring, insulation or furnishings.

So after flooding, “the power is back” does not necessarily mean “the house is safe to occupy normally.”

Extreme weather can change your child’s behaviour

This is the part parents often understand intuitively but rarely see explained properly.

A child who is uncomfortable may not tell you:

“My thermoregulatory system is struggling.”

They might become:

  • clingy
  • irritable
  • tearful
  • impulsive
  • restless
  • unusually tired
  • difficult to settle.

Heat can also disrupt sleep, and sleep disruption can make behaviour harder the following day.

So when a toddler is melting down over the colour of their cup during a heatwave, it may not be useful to treat the behaviour in exactly the same way you would on a normal Tuesday.

That doesn’t mean abandoning boundaries.

It means asking:

What environmental load is this child carrying right now?

Sometimes the best intervention is not another consequence.

Sometimes it is:

“You’re having a really hard day. Let’s get somewhere cooler.”

Don’t mistake discomfort for danger — and don’t mistake danger for discomfort

This distinction matters.

A child can be:

hot and grumpy

without being medically unwell.

But a child can also move from discomfort into heat illness.

Parents therefore need to watch for a change from their child’s normal behaviour, particularly when combined with physical symptoms.

Healthdirect identifies warning signs ranging from thirst, tiredness and dizziness through to severe confusion, seizures and loss of consciousness.

The more concerning the symptoms, the less time you should spend trying home cooling tricks.

What to do when the warning changes

A weather warning should change your behaviour.

Otherwise, it is just information.

When a severe or extreme heatwave warning is issued, ask:

What changes in the house?

Do blinds come down earlier?

Do windows stay closed?

Do you move activities downstairs?

What changes for your child?

Do you change where they nap?

Do you reduce physical activity?

Do you offer drinks more frequently?

What changes at night?

Do you move sleeping arrangements?

Do you check whether the room actually cools?

What changes if the power fails?

Do you know where you are going?

What changes if smoke arrives?

Can your home maintain cleaner indoor air?

What changes if your child becomes unwell?

Who are you calling?

This is the difference between having information and being prepared.

The 10-minute thermal audit every parent can do

You don’t need expensive equipment.

You need curiosity.

Walk through the house at different times of day.

At 9am

Which rooms are already warming?

At 1pm

Which windows are receiving direct sun?

At 4pm

Which room has accumulated the most heat?

At 9pm

Which rooms are actually cooling?

At midnight

Which room still feels warm?

At 3am

Where would you genuinely want your child sleeping?

You can even put an inexpensive thermometer in several rooms and compare them.

The point isn’t to obsess over numbers.

It is to discover your home’s thermal pattern.

You may learn that the room you assumed was coolest isn’t.

You may discover that closing one blind dramatically changes an upstairs room.

You may discover that your living room cools quickly while the nursery remains warm for hours.

That information is far more useful than generic advice telling you to “keep the house cool”.

If you own your home, think beyond the air conditioner

If a room repeatedly overheats, consider the building envelope before simply buying more mechanical cooling.

Depending on the home and climate, useful improvements can include:

  • external shading
  • ceiling insulation
  • wall insulation
  • improved glazing
  • draught control
  • reflective or appropriately designed roofing
  • better window coverings
  • ventilation improvements
  • zoning
  • landscaping that provides appropriate shade.

Australian Government guidance says appropriate insulation can substantially reduce heating and cooling requirements, while shading and window improvements can reduce unwanted heat gain.

YourHome’s passive-cooling guidance similarly recommends reducing heat gain and improving heat loss rather than relying entirely on mechanical cooling.

The best long-term cooling system may therefore be a better-performing house.

If you rent, think strategically rather than helplessly

Renters obviously cannot redesign the building.

But there are still things you can learn.

Identify:

the hottest room

the coolest room

the worst windows

the best ventilation path

the best sleeping location

the places where draughts enter

where you can go during extreme weather.

Australian Government renter guidance includes practical measures such as well-fitted curtains, temporary glazing where permitted, draught control and making use of cooler natural airflow.

And if a property has a persistent heating, cooling, mould or ventilation problem, document it and raise it with the property manager or rental provider.

What does “climate-ready” actually mean for a family home?

It doesn’t mean installing every possible technology.

It means having options.

A climate-ready family home has:

A passive option

Shade, insulation, ventilation and the ability to reduce heat gain.

A mechanical option

Heating and/or cooling that works when needed.

A behavioural option

Knowing which room to use and when to close or open the house.

An emergency option

Knowing where to go if the home cannot cope.

A health option

Knowing what symptoms require medical attention.

A power-outage option

Knowing what happens when your mechanical systems stop.

That is much more useful than a giant emergency checklist.

Plan A, Plan B and Plan C

Every family should be able to answer these three questions.

Plan A: We stay home.

What do we do?

Which room do we use?

How do we keep it comfortable?

How do we keep the baby sleeping safely?

How do we manage food, water and medication?

Plan B: The house isn’t coping.

Where do we go?

A family member’s house?

A library?

A shopping centre?

Another air-conditioned building?

Somewhere with cleaner air?

Plan C: We need to leave the area.

What do we take?

How do we travel?

Where do we meet?

What happens to pets?

What happens to medication?

What happens if mobile phone networks are disrupted?

The best emergency plan is not the most complicated.

It is the one you can remember when you are exhausted and your child is screaming.

The things parents should not improvise

There are some situations where “trying something” can create another risk.

Don’t:

cover a baby’s face or head while sleeping.

give a baby under six months water simply because it is hot.

leave a child in a car, even briefly.

use outdoor gas appliances indoors.

use a damaged heating or cooling system after flooding until it has been assessed.

assume that a fan makes a dangerously hot environment safe.

wait for a child to become obviously confused before taking heat illness seriously.

And don’t let pride make the decision for you.

If your home is not coping:

leave.

Myth vs Fact

Myth: “If it is only 28°C, my child can’t be at risk.”

Fact: There is no single room temperature that determines whether a child is safe. Heat exposure depends on the whole environment, including humidity, air movement, clothing, activity, hydration and duration of exposure.

Myth: “Children cannot regulate their temperature as well as adults.”

Fact: Recent Australian research found that children aged 10–16 did not universally show greater rises in core temperature or dehydration than adults during controlled exercise in heat. Children can nevertheless remain vulnerable because of behaviour, activity, hydration and other circumstances. Babies require separate consideration.

Myth: “If the air conditioner is on, the house is cool.”

Fact: A room can remain hot because of solar gain, poor insulation, inadequate airflow, building orientation or heat stored in the building.

Myth: “Opening every window cools the house.”

Fact: Opening windows helps when outdoor conditions are cooler and suitable for ventilation. When outdoor air is hotter — or smoky — opening windows can make indoor conditions worse.

Myth: “The baby’s room needs to be exactly 22°C.”

Fact: Red Nose does not prescribe one magic room temperature for infant sleep. Safe sleep, appropriate clothing and avoiding overheating are central.

Myth: “A hot night is less important than a hot afternoon.”

Fact: Overnight temperatures are an important part of Australia’s heatwave assessment because hot nights reduce the body’s opportunity to recover.

Myth: “Extreme-weather preparation means buying expensive equipment.”

Fact: Some of the most effective interventions are building and behavioural: shade, insulation, window management, ventilation, choosing the coolest room and knowing when to leave.

What would you actually do?

Because this is where all the science becomes useful.

The air conditioner stops at 10pm

Don’t start by staring at the appliance.

Look at your child.

Look at the room.

If the room is becoming too hot, move your child to the coolest practical safe-sleep environment.

If your home cannot remain cool, activate Plan B.

If your child is showing signs of heat illness, seek medical assistance.

The nursery is 29°C but the living room is 25°C

Don’t ask whether your baby “should” stay in the nursery.

Ask which environment can be made safest and most comfortable while maintaining safe sleep.

The cooler room may be the better room.

It is 35°C outside but your house is 26°C

Don’t automatically open every window.

You’ve already achieved something valuable.

Keep the heat out while the inside remains cooler.

Ventilate later if and when outdoor conditions become favourable.

It is 25°C outside but your house is still 29°C

Now ventilation may be useful.

Open strategically.

Create cross-flow where possible.

Use fans to move air.

Your house has become warmer than the environment outside it, so the goal is now to remove stored heat.

The house is hot and there is bushfire smoke outside

Now the decision becomes more complicated.

You need to balance thermal comfort against air quality.

Close windows and doors where appropriate.

Use compatible refrigerated or split-system air conditioning in recirculation mode if available.

Avoid evaporative cooling during smoke events.

If the home cannot be kept both cool and reasonably protected from smoke, consider leaving for a cleaner-air location.

The power goes out at 3pm during a heatwave

Don’t wait until everyone is distressed.

Move to your coolest practical room.

Keep refrigerators and freezers closed.

Use safe battery-powered equipment.

Monitor children.

Then make the decision:

Can this house remain safe?

If not, leave.

Your child is asleep but the room keeps getting hotter

This is one of those parenting moments where instinct can fight logic.

You may think:

“If I wake them, I’ll never get them back to sleep.”

But sleep is not the priority if the environment is becoming unsafe.

A sleeping child still needs a safe thermal environment.

Move them if necessary.

The bigger issue: we are preparing for a different climate

This is not simply about becoming better at surviving one hot summer.

Australia’s climate is changing, and extreme heat is already having measurable health consequences.

AIHW reports that extreme heat accounted for 78% of injury hospitalisations related to extreme weather over the decade 2012–2022, making it the dominant extreme-weather injury hazard in that dataset.

More recent AIHW data also show that exposure to excessive natural heat remained the leading cause of injury hospitalisation among the “forces of nature” category in 2024–25.

And the Bureau of Meteorology’s 2026 guidance makes clear that heatwaves are not simply defined by a single hot afternoon. The interaction between daytime heat, night-time temperatures, local climate and recent weather matters.

That means the way we think about the family home needs to evolve.

The question isn’t:

“How do I survive a 40°C day?”

It is:

“Can my home provide a safe thermal refuge across several days of extreme conditions?”

That is a very different question.

The most useful thing you can learn about your home

You don’t need to know the star rating of every window.

You don’t need to understand every building-science term.

You need to know:

Where does heat enter?

Where does heat accumulate?

Where does heat leave?

Which room recovers fastest?

Which room stays hot overnight?

What happens when the air conditioner is running?

What happens when it isn’t?

What happens when the windows are closed?

What happens when the windows are open?

Once you know those things, you can make much better decisions.

You stop reacting to the weather.

You start operating your home according to the weather.

And that is a surprisingly powerful shift.

A better 10-minute extreme-weather check

Before the next major heatwave or cold snap, walk through your home and answer these questions.

1. Which room gets hottest?

Don’t guess. Observe it.

2. Which room cools fastest?

That may become your thermal refuge.

3. Which room stays hot after sunset?

That room may have a heat-storage or solar-gain problem.

4. Which windows create the greatest heat gain?

Look at orientation and afternoon sun.

5. Where is the best airflow?

Identify the natural ventilation path.

6. What happens if the air conditioner fails?

Have an alternative room and alternative location.

7. What happens if the power fails?

Know where the torches, chargers and emergency supplies are.

8. What happens if smoke arrives?

Know how you will protect indoor air.

9. Where will your child sleep?

Have a second safe sleeping option.

10. Where will you go?

Name the place before you need it.

That last question may be the most important.

The bottom line for parents

Extreme weather preparation isn’t really about having a bigger emergency kit.

It is about understanding the relationship between your child, your home and the conditions outside.

A thermometer can tell you the air temperature.

It cannot tell you whether the room is storing heat.

It cannot tell you whether the air is moving.

It cannot tell you whether your child is coping.

It cannot tell you whether your home will still be comfortable at 3am.

And it certainly cannot make the decision for you when your child is becoming unwell.

So learn your home.

Find its coolest room.

Find its hottest room.

Work out why.

Notice what happens after sunset.

Know how your heating and cooling systems behave.

Understand when opening the windows helps — and when it makes things worse.

Know what happens when smoke enters the picture.

Know what happens when the power disappears.

And most importantly, know when your house has stopped being the safest place for your child.

Because sometimes the most sophisticated extreme-weather plan isn’t another piece of equipment.

It is recognising the moment when you look at your child, look at the room and say:

“This isn’t working. We’re going somewhere safer.”

Frequently asked questions

What temperature is too hot for a child?

There is no single indoor temperature that determines whether a child is safe. Heat exposure depends on the broader thermal environment, including humidity, air movement, clothing, activity, hydration, age and duration of exposure. Watch the child as well as the thermometer.

What temperature should a baby’s room be?

Red Nose does not recommend one specific room temperature for infant sleep. Focus on safe sleep, appropriate clothing and bedding, keeping the baby’s head and face uncovered and avoiding overheating.

Should I move my baby to another room during a heatwave?

If another room is substantially cooler, moving a baby’s sleeping environment can be reasonable, provided safe-sleep recommendations continue to be followed. South Australian health guidance specifically recommends using the coolest place in the home for babies and young children during hot weather.

Should babies under six months have water during hot weather?

No. Australian health guidance recommends additional breastfeeds for breastfed babies or additional formula feeds for formula-fed babies rather than giving babies under six months water simply because it is hot.

Do children really overheat more easily than adults?

The answer is more nuanced than commonly stated. Recent Australian research found that children aged 10–16 did not universally demonstrate greater physiological heat strain than adults during controlled exercise in hot conditions. Children can nevertheless be vulnerable because of activity, behaviour, hydration and their ability to recognise and respond to heat. Infants require separate consideration.

Does a fan actually cool a room?

A fan primarily moves air and can make people feel cooler by increasing heat loss from the body. It does not necessarily lower the actual room temperature. Fans can be useful for comfort, but they should not replace appropriate cooling or medical care during dangerous heat.

Should I open my windows during a heatwave?

It depends. If outdoor air is cooler than indoor air, ventilation can help remove stored heat. If outdoor air is hotter — or contaminated by bushfire smoke — opening windows may make conditions worse.

Why does my child’s bedroom stay hot all night?

Possible reasons include solar gain, roof exposure, insulation, thermal mass, poor airflow and the location of the room within the house. Upper-level rooms can be particularly prone to retaining heat overnight.

What should I do if my child seems seriously affected by heat?

Move them somewhere cooler and seek medical assistance. If heatstroke is suspected, call 000. Heatstroke can involve confusion, seizures or loss of consciousness and is a medical emergency.

What if we don’t have air conditioning?

Identify the coolest room, reduce heat entering the house, use appropriate ventilation and air movement, and have a plan for accessing an air-conditioned location if the home becomes too hot.

What if bushfire smoke arrives during a heatwave?

This is one of the more difficult scenarios because opening windows may increase smoke exposure. Victorian health advice recommends keeping windows and doors closed when smoke is present and using suitable refrigerated or split-system air conditioning in recirculation mode where available. Evaporative coolers should not be used during smoky conditions.

What should I know about heating in winter?

Young children and babies can lose body heat more quickly than adults. Make sure the home can be adequately heated, reduce unnecessary heat loss and use heaters safely.

How often should gas heaters be serviced?

In Victoria, the Department of Health advises that gas heaters should be serviced and tested by an appropriately trained and licensed gasfitter at least every two years because of the risk of carbon monoxide exposure.

Australian evidence and references

Australian Bureau of Meteorology. (2026). What is a heatwave? Bureau of Meteorology.

Australian Bureau of Meteorology. (2026). Heatwaves and cold snaps in Australia. Bureau of Meteorology.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2024). Extreme weather related injuries in Australia over the last decade. Australian Government.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2026). Injury in Australia: Forces of nature. Australian Government.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2026). Injury in Australia: Thermal causes. Australian Government.

Smallcombe, J. W., Topham, T. H., Brown, H. A., et al. (2025). Thermoregulation and dehydration in children and youth exercising in extreme heat compared with adults. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 59(16), 1151–1159. Research conducted by Australian institutions including the University of Sydney, University of Canberra, University of South Australia and The Children’s Hospital at Westmead.

University of Sydney. (2025). Hot weather causes children to sweat at the same rate as adults, study shows.

de Dear, R., Kim, J., Candido, C., & Deuble, M. (2015). Adaptive thermal comfort in Australian school classrooms. Building Research & Information, 43(3), 383–398. University of Sydney.

Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Passive cooling. YourHome.

Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Thermal mass. YourHome.

Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Windows. Energy.gov.au.

Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Insulation and draught proofing. Energy.gov.au.

Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Heating and cooling. Energy.gov.au.

Healthdirect Australia. Hot weather risks and staying cool. Australian Government.

Healthdirect Australia. Heatstroke. Australian Government.

Healthdirect Australia. Hypothermia. Australian Government.

South Australian Department for Health and Wellbeing. Babies, children and teenagers during hot weather. SA Health.

NSW Health. Beat the heat — Heat and health: Babies and young children. NSW Government.

Victorian Department of Health. (2026). Simple steps to stay safe during extreme heat this summer.

Victorian Department of Health. Smoke and your health. Better Health Channel.

Victorian Department of Health. (2026). Carbon monoxide poisoning.

Red Nose Australia. Safe Sleeping Guide.

Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Renters. Energy.gov.au.