Infants, toddlers and young children need outdoor activity to build strong bodies and minds, but they also require extra care in the heat.
In the summer months, those twin imperatives can make parents anxious. How long should kids be out? How do I know they're OK? What should I avoid?
Human-caused climate change is making heat waves longer, stronger and more widespread. Much of the U.S. sweltered last week under a heat dome.
That shift makes questions about keeping babies safe more pressing, said Dr. Katherine Williamson, a pediatrician with Rady Children's Health in Orange, California.
“We talk about drowning and choking with toddlers, and now we’re starting to add in heat," she said. “It’s become something that’s more commonplace as a potential injury.”
Here is why children are more vulnerable to heat-related illnesses, and some do's and don’ts to keep them safe:
Children sweat less than adults and have a higher metabolism that make them hot faster. In extreme heat, their higher surface area-to-mass ratio increases heat absorption.
Kids also tend to spend more time outdoors.
On hot days, parents need to be vigilant about the signs of heat illness. A lack of tears or regular wet diapers could indicate your baby is dehydrated. Parents should feed infants in smaller quantities more frequently to make sure they are getting enough fluid.
Though not necessarily signs of illness, fatigue and flushed skin likely means your child needs a break to cool off. Williamson said increased irritability could also indicate your child is too hot.
Avoid going out during the hottest parts of the day, dress kids in loose, light-colored clothing, apply sunscreen and make sure they are getting enough fluids. Water-rich fruits such as watermelon and strawberries are great snacks in the heat.
“If you’re hot, your baby sure is going to be hot,” said Dr. Debra Langlois, a pediatrician at the University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.
Langlois said parents and other caregivers should limit the amount of time infants and toddlers are outside in hot weather, but she doesn’t advise remaining strictly indoors at any point.
That advice seems counterintuitive. After all, doesn't it make sense to shield children from the sun?
But blankets and other coverings, even thin ones, prevent air from circulating and trap heat that can raise the temperature in the stroller. Instead, use a canopy for shade.
Williamson also advises parents to check metal parts that can heat up and burn children.
Even in the shade and with open windows, car temperatures can rise dramatically in a short amount of time. In 2025, 31 children died of heat stroke in vehicles, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The agency recommends caregivers leave a purse or other personal item in the back seat, write a note or place a stuffed animal on the passenger seat to ensure they don't forget a child inside.
If you return to a parked car with your baby on a hot day, ensure the metal parts of the car seat are also not too hot. For extra comfort, use a sun shade to keep the interior cooler and turn on the air conditioning in advance.
To cool a hot car, experts recommend opening the windows for 10 to 20 seconds while running the air conditioning.
Lexis Aubile watches her son, Atticus, play in the water as they try to beat the heat at Ramona Park in Portage, Mich., on Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (Devin Anderson-Torrez/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)
NEW DELHI (AP) — Supporters of India’s youth-led Cockroach movement said Tuesday they will continue their protest in New Delhi, refusing to leave their sit-in site a day after police used tear gas and batons to disperse thousands of them as they tried to march toward Parliament.
Hundreds of protesters camped at Jantar Mantar, a designated protest site, under heavy police presence, saying they would stay until Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigns over alleged failures in India’s examination system.
“We are going to continue our protest,” said Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party, which emerged just two months ago.
The movement, drawing students, professionals and families, marks a rare public challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi ’s government in its third term, reviving criticism over its handling of dissent and its use of force to respond to protests.
Also Tuesday, opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and dozens of his Congress party lawmakers staged a sit-in protest outside Modi’s residence, marking a dramatic escalation. Several were seen fastening zip ties around their wrists.
They are there to “demand answers from him for the brutalities against young students yesterday,” Gandhi wrote on X. He urged ”every patriotic Indian who believes that our students should get justice" to join the sit-in.
The Cockroach movement began as a satirical protest but quickly evolved into a nationwide, youth-led movement focused on exam leaks, unemployment and government accountability.
It gained momentum over the weekend after prominent activist Sonam Wangchuk, whose three-week hunger strike has become a symbol of the protests, was forcibly taken to a hospital by police.
Video of police beating protesters and dragging them away spread on social media, fueling public outrage. Footage showed young protesters crying and pleading with officers not to hit them, while others stood their ground and endured blows.
Delhi Police said nearly 180 people were injured, including 118 security personnel and 60 protesters.
Sona Bisht, a 20-year-old student who was part of the protest, said the confrontation strengthened her resolve.
“If the government thinks that doing this with Gen Z, they can stop us, then that won’t happen. We are here talking about education, talking about securing our future. And till the time our demands are not met, we will not move from here,” she said.
After nearly a month of silence, the government made its first apparent move to engage with the protesters Monday, when a senior minister held talks with movement representatives. The outreach failed to ease tensions.
Movement leaders said they wanted action rather than assurances, including Pradhan’s resignation, examination reforms and compensation for families of students who died by suicide after alleged exam irregularities.
Dipke accused authorities of breaking their word, saying police resorted to a baton charge after protesters were invited for talks.
Rights group Amnesty International said in a statement late Monday that the police action showed “how peaceful dissent is being suppressed in India," noting that the right to freedom of peaceful assembly is recognized under the Indian constitution.
More people have joined the movement after seeing the confrontation.
Rabina Kashyap, a 26-year-old working professional, said she joined the protest on Tuesday.
“I have nothing to do with this protest," she said. “But this is India, this is my country, and these are my people. So I will stand by them.”
Associated Press video journalist Piyush Nagpal contributed to this report.
India's opposition Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, center, with his hands tied, participates in a sit-in protest with his sister and lawmaker Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, center right, outside the residence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, July 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Shekhar Yadav)
Supporters of the Cockroach Janta Party scuffle with police as they attempt to march toward India's Parliament, demanding the resignation of the education minister, in New Delhi, Monday, July 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Vipin)
Security officers stand guard at the camping site of the Cockroach Janta Party at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, Tuesday, July 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Shekhar Yadav)
Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party, sits by a portrait of hunger-striking activist Sonam Wangchuk during a protest in New Delhi, Tuesday, July 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Shekhar Yadav)
A supporter of the Cockroach Janta Party holds posters of Bhagat Singh, an Indian revolutionary freedom fighter, at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, Tuesday, July 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Shekhar Yadav)
Supporters gather at the camping site of the Cockroach Janta Party at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, Tuesday, July 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Shekhar Yadav)
