It cools your baby the way a breeze cools you, by drying the sweat on the skin. Most babies manage without one. Shade, one light layer and a walk outside the hottest hours keep a baby comfortable on most warm days.
A fan is worth having where summers are long and hot, and for warm days out that can't move to the morning, such as a day at the zoo.
- For ages0–4years
- You'll need1
- Use it at24–31°C75–88°F
Do stroller fans work?
On a warm walk, yes, from about 24°C (75°F), when your baby is already down to one light layer and has nothing more to take off. A fan cools the skin, not the air. In a hot-day test, a fan on its own left the air in the seat about as warm as before, so it works under the canopy or a sunshade, with the sides of the seat open.
When it feels like 32°C (90°F) or more, don't point it at your baby, because a stream of hot, dry air can dry a baby out. That is also the heat at which a long walk is better moved to the morning or the evening (hot weather guide).
Are stroller fans safe?
Yes, if no finger can reach the blades and your baby can't reach the fan. It only takes a gap in the housing. One clip-on fan with bendable tripod legs was recalled after six children reached through it and cut their fingers on the blade.
Types of stroller fan
Fan with a grill
The most common kind. Plastic blades turn inside a round grill, on a clamp or on bendable legs that wrap around the frame. It gives the strongest breeze, and how fine the grill is decides whether a finger can reach the blades.
- Good: The strongest breeze
- Not good: Only as safe as its grill
Bladeless fan
A small drum turns inside the base and pushes the air out through narrow slots, so there is no blade a finger can reach. The breeze is usually gentler.
- Good: No blade to reach
- Not good: A gentler breeze
Soft foam blades
The blades are foam, so they bend instead of cutting when a finger gets in. These fans are often simple, with one speed and AA batteries, and the foam tears easily.
- Good: Blades bend, don't cut
- Not good: Foam tears and breaks
Misting fan
A small water tank sprays a fine mist into the breeze. The mist cools as it dries, like sweat, so it cools more than air alone. It dampens the clothes and the seat, so aim it at the legs, away from the face.
- Good: Cools more than air alone
- Not good: Damp clothes and seat
How to choose a stroller fan
1. No blade a finger can reach
Look at the grill from the front, the sides and the back, where the gaps are often wider. If a gap is wide enough for a small finger and the blades show behind it, choose another fan. A bladeless fan or soft foam blades avoid the problem.
- Good: Fine grill all the way round
- Good: Or no hard blade at all
- Not good: Wide gaps at the back
2. A grip that holds over bumps
Bendable legs wound tight around the frame, or a clamp that screws shut, keep the fan pointing where you set it over curbs and cobbles. A heavy head on a thin arm droops toward your baby.
- Good: Legs wrap the tube twice
- Good: Clamp you screw tight
- Not good: Head that droops on its arm
3. A battery that lasts the walk
Most fans charge from a USB cable and run for hours on the lowest speed, but much less on the highest. Check the hours on low against your longest walk. On a long day out, a small power bank in the diaper bag keeps it going.
- Good: Hours on low on the box
- Good: Charges by USB cable
- Not good: No battery hours given
How to attach a stroller fan
Clip it high on the canopy, on its frame or its front edge, above your baby's head and beyond the reach of hands and feet. Turn it to face down, so the air runs past the face and down the chest and legs.
Where to clip a stroller fan
Not good: On the bar in front
Right in front of your baby, a fan is the first thing small hands grab and feet kick, and its air blows straight into the face.
Not good: High, but at the face
Up on the canopy's edge, it's out of the way of hands and feet, but the air hits your baby's face the whole walk long.
Good: High, aimed down the body
The same spot, turned to face down. The breeze runs past the face and down the chest and legs, so your baby can look around or nap without wind in the eyes.
Start on the lowest speed, which is quiet and enough on most walks, and feel the back of the neck now and then. Warm and dry is right. Hot and damp means it's time for deep shade and a feed or a drink.
Between walks, charge it indoors and keep it out of a hot car, because a lithium battery that gets too hot can catch fire.
Questions parents ask
Can I use a stroller fan for a newborn?
Yes, the same way as for an older baby: out of reach, on low, and pointed past the face, along the carrycot or the seat. A newborn can't tell you the breeze is too much, so feel the back of the neck more often.
Will a stroller fan wake my baby?
It can. Small fans hum, and some buzz loudly enough to wake a light sleeper on the highest speed. Listen to one on low before you buy, and keep it on low while your baby naps.
Can I put a muslin over the stroller and use a fan?
No. In a hot-day test, a clip-on fan under a dry muslin still left the seat hotter than no cloth at all, because the cloth stops the breeze. Keep the front open (why a muslin is not a sunshade).
Can I take a stroller fan on a plane?
Yes. A fan with its battery built in can go in either bag, switched off, while spare lithium batteries and power banks may only fly in the carry-on. Some airlines add limits of their own, so check before you fly.
Can I clip a stroller fan to the car seat?
Not for the drive. A fan clipped to the car seat or its handle is a hard object that can come loose in a sudden stop. A car window shade keeps the sun off the seat instead.
