I’m not sure if this is an urban legend, but I’ve been told that you shouldn’t point a fan directly at a baby. But the 7-month old gets hot, and I want to do the right thing. I’m pretty sure that putting the fan on revolving mode is OK. But what’s the straight dope?
I won’t let my wife point a fan at me (dries out my contact lenses), and she says I’m the biggest baby she knows.
So long as the kid isn’t getting chilled, it shouldn’t be a problem.
Point of clarification: my point about letting the kid get chilled has to do with the air temperature dropping (I’m thinking of the case where a fan is running overnight, BTW), and is related to the kid’s comfort, not any of the ‘theories’ cited in The Great One’s column.
I can think of only one case where a fan would be the cause of death, and that would be where I strangled my wife for running the A/C and ceiling fans to the point that you could hang meat in the bedroom…
Perhaps an ocsillating (sp?) fan, so that the fan is not blowing on the child all the time, would be an appropriate solution?
Which of course you covered with the whole “revolving” thing in the OP, which for some reason didn’t make me think oscillating so much as “um, don’t all fans rotate?”
I should go back to bed.
No problem, Otto. Oscillating is the appropriate word since it doesn’t really revolve. But my main problem is that I got into a fight with my wife this morning because I told her not to have the fan point directly at the baby. She called BS on me, even if she didn’t know the real answer. Now I’ve got to eat crow. I don’t like the taste of crow.
There is a range of temperatures that babies are supposed to be kept at at night. Using a fan lowers the effective temperature, it’s wind chill. Therefore, you are subtracting degrees, at least from the viewpoint of the baby. I’m no expert, but I think you’re absolutely right. Using the fan lowers the temp, pointing it directly at the baby does it even more.
Heh. I think your wife and my husband oughta get together and they can sleep in the meat locker together. I swear I’ve seen icicles forming on the headboard…
A not-too-long-ago issue of Science News reported research that had been done on core temperature in infants. Apparently, sleep apneas (brief stoppages in breathing) get longer as core temperature goes up. The near-mania that hospitals and some parents have for keeping babies warm may go too far.
OK, that doesn’t seem as closely related as it did when I thought of it, but I think it ought to be out there.
Hey, J.J., what size fan are you using? When our boy was four to six months old we had a very hot and humid summer, and pointed a little six inch diameter fan directly at him, on low or medium speed. It was a good size for the lil’ guy–just enough to cool his skin.
Can the little fella sleep with a fan pointed directly at him? I’d be uncomfortable, but then, I think I’m a great deal pickier than most seven-month olds. 
I often sleep with a fan and I find if it’s pointed right at me, my eyes dry out a lot. (I wear contacts but I take them out at night) It’s usually less of an issue with the fan on oscillate. That’s would be my major concern with a baby since he won’t be able to movee out of the way of the fan.
Well,you could aim a fan at a sleeping baby,but I don’t see the point.Personally,I’d wait until he/she was crying to launch it at him/her. That way,with an accurate peg,you could stop the crying at once and get right back to sleep. Oh,and why use a fan in hot weather? You might break it and you’d just be angry at yourself. I’d use some other small,heavy appliance.
And of course I like children,if they’re properly cooked.
Just anecdotal, but I almost always get sick when I place a fan blowing directly at me when I sleep. I think it has more to do with the increased volume of dust, airborne bacteria, and allergens being blown my way.
I’d be worried about the kid developing Bells Palsy. I’m not positive, but I thought a constant breeze blowing in your ear can make the nerves go wiggy on ya. Anyone know if there’s any truth to that?
We keep a box fan pointed at the wall above Pinky. He gets good air circulation, but not a direct breeze, which woulf giv him a chill, since he sweats so much when he sleeps.
I would worry more about giving a 7 month old a chill, then I would about “evil fan rays”.
That’s exactly what we’re doing. Of course, yesterday, I bought an air conditioner for his room. I’m putting it in to the window this weekend.
I have slept with a fan directly on me for years, nearly 13 I think.
I rarely get a cold, flu, ear infection, alien brain waves, evil fan rays or other
problems.
Use a small enough fan that it only blows over the lower portion of the child, so that
the blankets are what is being blown over, not the head. I aim my fan at my booty,
fanny, not pirate’s treasure.
Also, if problems arrise from illness, it might be more about dust and mold than a
breeze. Check the humidity, it is around 50% in the room? If not adjust the A/C or
Heater settings if you can, or get a humid/dehumidifier.
I get super hot at night, anything above 74 F is sheet, shorts and fan on high for
me. I prefer a bedtime temperature around 40 F, great snuggle in the blankets
temperature.