Can anyone suggest places to go in Zurich to keep my 4-month-old baby (and his mother!) cool during this heatwave? Other than swimming pools/beaches, since we're not really looking to swim. Any baby-friendly places with air-conditioning where we can spend a few hours chilling? and ideally not have to spend too many CHFs to do it? Baby gets really grumpy in the heat

If you're not up for swimming, try one of the shopping centers; I believe they're air conditioned. Or sit in Starbucks for a while

Baby will catch a cold if put in air conditioned space.

You do realise that colds are not caused by being cold don't you?

No, they're cause by endlessly recycled air.

If you have your own basement laundry room or cellar, set up a play or nap corner there. What one friend did was spend time underground with her baby!
Good luck.

Hi,

I also think you should not seek air conditioned places with a baby, rather be outside in the shade where there is some air movement.

Good places with kids and babies is "Park im Grünen" in Rüschlikon. It's a free park with playgrounds, sunchairs, a cafe/restaurant and the all important water play area with a small waterfall. The water is very shallow so babies can play as well (with supervision). And it's on a hill overlooking Zürisee..so there's always bit of air.

Wildpark Langenberg is quite nice as well as it is located in the middle of the forest..so it's a bit cooler then central Zurich and it's free as well..but less good for babies..more for older kids...but you can take a nice walk through the forest.

really? sorry but I never understand how a baby can catch a cold from drafts air con etc... surely catching a cold is from bugs? plus I've had our air con on over the past few weeks and baby has not caught cold

And the bus that goes there from Zurich is air conditioned

Baby would of course be dressed appropriately for air-conditioning. Plus, in my limited experience here, a/c seems to be used sparingly, not the arctic blasts one is too often subjected to in the over-air-conditioned States. I have yet to enter a space (in summer) where I would avoid taking my child because it was too cold. That being said, being outside in the forest shade or near water is also a very good alternative. Only problem with all of this is the commuting to/from said places with pram or baby carrier, in which baby gets too warm.

some museums are air conditioned... I had a friend who had a year pass just so he could hang out in some air conditioned space in the summer... Unfortunately, i've forgotten which museum. Some have a day where its free to get in!

One thing you might try is cooling your house or apartment overnight. I've noticed that most of my neighbors do not do this and I can't understand why! Fear of drafts and moving air perhaps?

Here is what I do and our apartment stays quite cool all day long! Granted our building is old and thick and insulated extremely well, but I do think that is the norm here in Switzerland.

1). After the sun has set and you're getting ready for bed, open all of the windows in the house with the LIGHTS OFF inside (unless you have screens).

2). With all the windows open, run a few fans and move the cooler evening air from outside IN.

3). If you prefer, switch off fans after 30 minutes or so. Otherwise, leave on all night with as many windows open as possible.*

*I tend to do steps 1 and 2 while I take a shower (also very cooling and refreshing at bedtime) in the bathroom with the door closed so that the light doesn't attract bugs through the open windows elsewhere in the apartment. If my husband wants to read, he will read in the spare bedroom with the windows closed.

FYI: With the lights off, we don't have trouble with bugs coming inside so we keep our bedroom window open all night long.

4). Go to sleep.

5). Wake up at 5 or 6 am FREEZING in your bed; reach for duvet. (This is only achieved by leaving the window open all night long.)

6). Get up at 6:30 or 7 am and CLOSE ALL WINDOWS and LOWER BLINDS or CURTAINS.

7). Leave house shut up like that until evening and then do it all again.

Works like a charm!! And it really means something coming from me: I'm 35 weeks pregnant in this heat!

I grew up in a high desert climate, so we could wait until 9 or even 10 am to shut up the house. But it's quite humid here, so it's already getting hot by 8 am. For best results, I recommend closing all the windows and drawing the drapes or blinds by 7 am to keep all the cool air locked inside. You can run one fan on low somewhere central in your apartment to circulate air throughout the day if you wish. But don't place the fan near a closed and covered window as heat still gathers there, particularly if the sun hits it, and you don't want to circulate that heat around your home.

Good luck! It's no fun being with a hot, grumpy baby.

We sleep with our windows open all night and have done since the start of summer and have NEVER woken up too cold at the moment i sleep with the fan full blast and window open. As nice as our apartment is, floor to ceiling windows all round is just not practical for the summer - I now live in permanent darkness as the blinds on every window are down and the air con is on!

Looking forward to moving to a more sensible apartment soon, hoping next summer will be cooler

But your apartment must be a dream in the winter with all that light streaming in... Glad you're staying cool for now, even if you are in the dark!

Babies are perfecty fine in hot weather. Just make sure the air is allowed to circulate freely around him in his pram and let him wear a thin top and his nappie and he'll be fine. And of course stay in the shadow.

Can't say I'm an expert but you could visit one of the centres for asylum seekers and ask some of the African ladies how they coped....

Sometimes, when I'm early for an appointment and don't want to wander around in the heat, I duck into a hotel lobby and waste some time there. They're usually air conditioned, have comfy chairs, and as long as you don't stay there for hours or make too much of a ruckus, don't ask questions. Today, I was 30 minutes early for an appointment and killed some time in the Crowne Plaza

... with generations of experience and a culture of dealing with the heat going back several hundreds, if not thousands, of years?

I don't think we can really blame the OP for asking, can we?

Try it mediterranean style:
-shutters closed
-windows open
-nap when baby does, 1 pm to 4 pm
-no AC
-ceiling fan
-cool humid towels to stay fresh

When I suggested that, I got a slap.