How to Stay Cool & Prevent Heat Exhaustion This Summer

Now that my toddler can run around and play outside, she can’t get enough of it. Unfortunately, Mommy is prone to heat exhaustion and heat stroke so I can’t be outside for too long in the summer without overheating and getting sick.

But all of that changed when I found a solution and now I’m able to prevent heat exhaustion and keep cool for longer periods of time outside in the summer sun. And bonus! I’ve got a giveaway for you!

{ Post contains affiliate links. Giveaway is sponsored by Nano-Ice }

What are Heat Exhaustion and Heat Stroke Symptoms?

So there are basically three levels of heat sickness or heat illness.

1. Overheating
2. Heat Exhaustion
3. Heat Stroke

Overheating is what I feel before I get full blown sick. Since I’m prone to heat related sickness, I have little alarm bells that go off before I actually get sick with heat exhaustion. This is mainly a feeling of “It’s hot AF and I need to go inside before I get sick.”

Heat Exhaustion and Heat Stroke have different symptoms and I’ve had both. Here is a handy guide.

I know when I need to stop what I’m doing when my cheeks start tingling. I don’t know if everyone experiences tingling, but I do sometimes especially during exertion induced heat exhaustion.

The main thing that happens when you get sick from the heat is that your internal temperature rises and your body can’t cool down.

Being prone to heat exhaustion is the worst

I’ve gotten heat exhaustion or heat stroke at least once a year since I was a toddler. AT LEAST once a year. Every vacation, trip to the zoo or amusement park, every STL Cardinals game, every time we ran the mile in gym class, every summer playing tag outside, every state fair. I got sick.

I even got sick from the heat just walking from the building where I worked to my car across the street because it was 110 degrees almost every day that summer.

I’ve thrown up on so many street corners of St. Louis after Cardinals games and Six Flags trips. I even threw up on a median.

Chichen Itza Mayan ruins in Mexico? They don’t have air conditioning there. So I got sick.

The problem that I have is that I don’t sweat like a normal human should. So my body can’t stay cool in the summer heat OR if I work out strenuously. There’s a reason I don’t do a lot of cardio. I can’t handle it even in 60 degree weather.

When I was pregnant with Toot, my doctor ordered me to not get overheated because it was bad for the baby. She told me I wasn’t allowed to be outside for more than 15 minutes in temperatures above 80 degrees. So that’s what I did. (I did get a little overheated at the zoo in Naples, FL though. Whoops.)

My toddler wants to play outside all day but I can’t

Toot is an outdoor girl. She loves playing outside, and during the spring I can take it. The summer, not so much.

I know my limits though. Over 75? I’m ok, if I’m in the shade mostly and don’t do anything strenuous. Over 80? Must stay in the shade and limit my time outside. Over 90? Nope. I can’t be outside for more than 10 minutes. Direct sunlight? FORGET IT.

I feel terrible when she doesn’t get to play outside, and I force her to come inside because I can’t take the heat. And she’s not old enough to play outside by herself yet. So I had to find a way to cool myself while I’m outside.

Need indoor low-prep toddler activities?

How I stay cool outside and prevent heat exhaustion during the summer

I found out that I have to cool my body either with water or ice.

I can make artificial sweat with water. When I would go out for a run, I would douse myself in water before every lap around my neighborhood. If we were at the beach or a pool, I just had to keep dunking myself in the water every few minutes.

Drinking water while I’m outside does help a little so I don’t get dehydrated, but I found out that hydration alone will not keep me from getting overheated.

But the most effective way I stay cool if I can’t be drenched in water is the Nano-Ice cooling necklace. It’s a handmade necklace with Nano-Ice technology. You throw it in the freezer and it feels like ice even though it’s not. It won’t melt or drip on you. It just stays cold for hours.

I wear it so that it cools the back of my neck, and I can bring it up to my carotid artery to cool my blood. It’s comfortable and it just looks like a funky necklace. The two that I have are purple, but it also comes in coral and gray.

The Nano-Ice necklace allows me to be outside longer in the summer heat. So more time to play without feeling sick.

Nano-Ice Giveaway

Enter the giveaway below to win a Nano Ice cooling necklace. You can prevent heat exhaustion and heat stroke this summer and keep cool!

Here’s more on how Nano-Ice got started and how it works:

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