Our pick of summer essentials to keep your baby or toddler cool in hot weather

Summer nights

One of the trickiest things in the summer is dressing your babies correctly at night. As soon as the temperature goes above 24c (a regular occurrence in my house), the 0.5tog sleeping bag comes out - and this John Lewis Stripe Giraffe Baby Sleeping Bag (£24) is a firm favourite.

Not only is it made from good-quality soft and breathable cotton, but it zips from top to bottom, meaning it confounds escape artists of the wriggliest variety! I found once my babies got a bit more active they could Houdini their way out of most sleeping bags - but not this one, so it comes highly recommended. You can buy it up to 18-36 months so it will see you through until your toddler is in their own bed with a lightweight duvet.

John Lewis also has a pack of two zip-up sleeping bags for £40 if you wanted to double up.

Of course, if it gets much hotter than 27c in baby’s room then you can lose the sleeping bag altogether. But how do you know how hot it is? Meet the Tommee Tippee Groegg...

If you want to monitor the temperature in your child’s room, the Tommee Tippee Groegg (£29.90) is a must for all-year round - but it’s particularly useful in the hotter months so you know how to dress your baby or toddler and what tog sleeping bag to use. There’s a great guide by Tommee Tippee here with a chart on how to dress your little one at night according to the temperature.

The Groegg also works as a nightlight and turns red if it’s too hot and blue if it’s too cold - with an ambient orange glow when the room temperature is just right.

Out and about

A great way to keep your baby or toddler cool when you’re out with the pram or buggy is with the SnoozeShade (£20). This product was the brainchild of a British mum who wanted to create a safe and effective solution to keep babies shaded and cool in their prams without draping muslins or blankets over the buggy - which isn’t recommended. This will help your baby sleep safely anywhere, and fits most buggies and prams. There’s even a double buggy version.

Another nifty invention made for buggies is the LittleLife Buggy Cooling Pad (£24.99). This is a great product for really hot days and allows you to keep your baby cool on the move with this gel cooling mat. It will cool your baby down for up to an hour, and adjusts to the temperature of your child. It has a soft cotton fabric cover so is nice and comfortable - and it recharges itself after an hour. It fits most buggies and strollers and is available to buy from Mamas & Papas.

Home comforts

You can create your own popsicles with these Nuby Fruitsicles – Frozen Puree Moulds with Easy Grip Handle (£9.24). Just pick a favourite fruit puree or baby’s milk, add it to the mould and pop it in the freezer. These homemade lollies are a great treat, and they’ll cool your baby down on a hot sunny day.

And a great way to keep cool with babies and toddlers is by investing in a paddling pool for the garden and letting baby have a dip, under constant supervision. And a pool or splashpad for your energetic toddler is a great way to spend a hot day. This Sprinkle Splash Pool is £23.12 from Amazon, and for more active youngsters this Pecute Sprinkler Pad (£17.99) is a great option.

Hopefully that’s given you some ideas to keep your youngsters cool in the hot weather - and you can also check out this NHS advice on keeping your baby safe in the heat here.