So I know it's coming in to winter where most of you are (and trust me, I would trade with you in a second) but it's coming in to summer here and we're in the midst of a brutal heat wave. We've been in the 90s F for a week straight and are going to hit 104 F (40 C) tomorrow with little in the way of a breeze and of course no cloud cover.

Unfortunately for us, we don't have air conditioning as it's generally not necessary where we are - this heat wave is quite unusual in its intensity and its duration. LO is 5 months old and has been coping ok with the recent heat, but I'm really worried about tomorrow's excessive heat. We have a little swimming pool that we've been spending time in and of course have the fans going nonstop, but any other suggestions on how to keep LO cool? I've got the shopping complex as a last resort as that does have air con, but I'd rather not spend 8 or 9 hours there tomorrow if I don't have to.

Also, LO is EBF, should she be feeding more often to keep her fluids up? She only feeds 5 times per day, about once every 2 - 2.5 hrs, but I'm wondering if that's enough to keep her hydrated?

Blah - I hate summer! And funny enough, we leave for the UK the day after tomorrow, where the temp is meant to be 3 C (37 F) when we arrive, talk about going from one extreme to another. Poor DD....she's not going to know what hit her!

Anyway, any advice on how you helped your LO cope through the hot summer days would be greatly appreciated!