A couple of years ago, I read an article about how Nordic parents have their children nap outside {in their strollers} in the dead of winter. It has stuck with me this entire time, so I thought it was high time that I go ahead and share it with all of you :).
The article explained how parents in Sweden line their “prams,” fully loaded with a sleeping baby, outside of a coffee shop and head inside to have a cup. They believe they are doing the baby a service by providing exposure to fresh air. If you were to walk by a daycare in Stockholm in the dead of winter during nap time, you would see a line of strollers outside full of sleeping children. They believe that exposing them to the elements, and keeping them aired out {rather than several children sleeping in one room} actually makes them healthier. {I should probably also mention that the kids are bundled up substantially. The weather is cold–they are not.}
This is nothing new–the Nordic people have been doing this for generations. It was even quite fashionable in London in the 1930’s as well. Remember the baby cages post from last year? I think there is probably something to children being healthier when they have regular outdoor time, instead of being cooped up in the house all winter with germs and poor circulation. I mean, at the very least, we have to activate that brown fat, right?
The article made me think about how differently things are handled here in the U.S. If a parent left their child out in a stroller and headed into a coffee shop, someone would call the police. People would shout “neglect!” It would be a debacle for sure, and probably make the evening news. Societal norms really are all about perspective, eh?
What do you think, should we be finding ways to expose our babies to the elements a little more frequently?
~Mavis
Vanessa says
We try to get our almost-2 year old out for at least 15-30 minutes of playtime everyday that the temperature is above 20. She seems to be much healthier and much happier with that little bit of fresh air and sunshine! Even if it’s just a walk up and down the street, it’s fresh air!
Kat says
To me as a Dane it’s completely normal having babies sleeping outside. Some people living in apartments even carry their baby, baby monitor, and pram down the stairs for a nap and back up again, when the nap is over.
This article from a Danish newspaper tells about a Danish and a Swedish mom being arested in the USA for letting their babies sleep outside of restaurants:
https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=da&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=da&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.information.dk%2F277348&edit-text=&act=url
This aritcle from a diffrent newspaper tells what happened in a case, where the police were called because of a crying boy:
https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=da&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=da&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fpolitiken.dk%2Findland%2FECE2441536%2Flille-dreng-fundet-i-baggaard-i-aalborg%2F&edit-text=&act=url
Amy says
Well, I’d flip out if I saw it simply because the risk of someone walking off with that child is FAR too high, regardless of the weather. I try to find a way to get my kids outside unless the weather is extreme but i definitely would not leave them outside like that unattended.
Ramona says
Almost 30 years ago I was a craft vendor at Pike Place Market. I took my then 2 month old down there with me a few days a week when I sold in December. He was bundled up and was in stroller or on me. He did just fine. Also at that time we lived in a 1904 house that had one central gas heater. The heat had to rise to the second floor to the bedrooms through a few air vents no blowing fan. So I guess he had some exposure to cold air and it didn’t hurt him.
Butterflyweed says
My mother in law did this with my husband and his siblings in Montreal in the late 50’s, early 60’s. They napped every day bundled up on the front porch.
Tanya says
My step-dad grew up in northern Maine and his mother always put him out to nap in the winter on the covered porch. I never worried about my babies being outside with me although I seemed to get lots of unsolicited advice against it from little old ladies!
Ashley says
OMG. They.Are.The.Worst. My first experience with the little old ladies was when my 1st was 3-4 months old. It was 65 degrees (plenty warm in WI standards) and I was thrift sale-ing with her. I got tssk tssked for not having a hat on her. Grrrrr…I went home and cried because she made me feel like such a bad person. My skin is much thicker now, but the multiple experiences I’ve had with these women still get to me a bit.
I always try to keep my babies/kids comfortable, but guess what? If they happen to get a little on the cold side- they will be okay! If I never took my kids out in the very hot or the very cold, they’d be stuck inside 8 months out if the year.
Andrea says
Wow such an open-ended question! My son and I try to get outside as much as possible, but in today’s world here in the USA, you would have to be outside with the child. There would be no way to leave the child outside alone without inviting trouble. Living with air conditioning and central heating have only been around less than 100 years. Before that people usually only heated with a fireplace, and those old-fashioned fireplaces did not hold in that much heat. I believe there is truth to the idea that babies need to be out in the elements if dressed appropriately.
Pam says
Comparing the two countries is practically irrelevant because temperature isn’t the issue here. Leaving your baby outside will get the cops called before you could order takeout. I’ve had a friend leave the baby in the car with a 12 year old, in sight of mom through a window, and someone still called the police.
Earlene says
I think its a great idea and I’m all for it! Though my children have children now, I would want them to spend as much time outside as possible. Granted we would need to make sure it was a secure area.
pam jacobs says
Absolutely, babies and children need to spend time outside. Back in the day, kids that were allergic were rare, because they spent lots of time outdoors. Playing in dirt and playing outdoors in winter protected us from a lot of diseases and allergies that are common today.
Jen Y says
We can’t even leave our dogs outside in the US without getting into trouble…let a lone our babies.
My mom used to lock us out of the house when we drove her nuts…summer or winter. I am a much more creative adult as a result & I would say I’m happier than those who worry constantly about where their children are or what they’re doing.
Lisa B. says
If we didn’t live in a paranoid, judgmental society with a heaping side dish of random crazies, it would probably work! I do like the idea of a community in which parents could meet at a coffee shop and leave the kids parked on the curb, though– it would probably be therapeutic for a lot of people and healthier for the kids.
Jeanie says
When my bigs were littles, I regularly walked them in strollers during their naps and we played outside in all conditions. They played in the yard endlessly when it was quite cold and the little one would nap in a stroller near by. In this day and age in the city I live in you would be a complete idiot to leave your child unattended.
lupe says
My husband is the worst with letting our kids be outside. We live in an area of California that gets to maybe 80F in summer and as cold as 60F in winter and he absolutely freaks out if they are not bundled up! On the other hand, I’m crazy and paranoid about leaving them unattended! Our poor kids!
Erin says
I am an American living in Denmark (married a Viking), and I had to get used to seeing all the babies outside. I completely understand the health benefits, but I still get unnerved seeing the babies in prams outside while the parents eat or shop. But there is little, and I mean very little risk of someone taking off with their baby. The crime rate in Scandinavia is amazingly low.
I just had our second son 6 months ago, and I took him out in town (we have walking streets, where their are nothing but shops and no cars allowed). I needed to stop into a shop to pick up one thing, he was sleeping so I left him outside the shop. I got a 5 minute break that I desperately needed, and finally got why it is so popular. It gives the parents a few moments of sanity,
carmen says
My mum did this with me in the 70’s, in the UK. Totally normal.
My kids have always had loads of outdoor time, including napping in a pram as babies, but not for their nap, just when we returned home from being out and they were asleep. I’m not sure I’d have left them outside a restaurant, purely for the extremely unlikely kidnapping risk.
People talk about life being much more protective and indoors based these days, but it definitely depends on where exactly you live and parental attitudes, because my children have done exactly the same playing outside for hours, climbing trees, building dams etc as part of daily life as my husband and I did. Fresh air and nature is too important to ignore for me.
carolyn says
My Russian mother-in-law would bundle up my son (who was 6-7 months old) and put him out on our deck in his stroller for a nap in winter (we live in Chicago). He would fall asleep almost immediately. At first I thought it was crazy, but he was definitely warm enough, so why not?