Babies Sleeping Outdoors (A Continuation Post)
Back in September was when I first learned about babies napping outdoors. The first post about babies sleeping outdoors can be seen here! My initial reaction was a quick one and I kept thinking, "Wow, if that happened in America, Child Protective Services would be getting a call!" When I get a reaction from other Americans it's very close to the same as what I first thought about it, but more words and phrases are tossed around like, crazy, insane, "freezing to death", kidnapping, "what are they thinking!?!?!", poor babies, neglect and abuse. I explain, go into detail of this practice (Nordic cultures do this with children without a second thought) and sometimes it soaks in and they understand and other times it just simply doesn't. I'm not entirely sure if people get this image of moms wrapping their children in a blanket and tossing them into snow or what exactly is going on there. I hope this blog post clears up some things though!
This method of parenting in the daily lives of Norwegians was once something I thought was maybe the most bizarre in the Scandinavian culture. After talking to moms who let their sleeping babies lie outdoors and doing my own research, I've concluded there are more bizarre things in this country - like finding fish heads on ice in the grocery store! I still have to turn my head as I walk past that!
Now that I'm expecting I've had several questions as to whether I will let our child nap outdoors (Yes) and several pleads to please not let our child nap outside. 1) Because it's crazy. 2) Because the baby could be kidnapped (I explain only unless someone wants to be Spiderman for a day and climb up a 2 story wall, over our terrace gate and onto our terrace would this happen. Other than that a wall in our living room is just a huge window, I can see everything on the terrace where the child will sleep. If there were a major problem with kidnapping in our neighborhood, I really don't think people would allow their babies to sleep outdoors.) 3) The baby could just nap inside. Everybody wins. (Eh, the Norwegians have valid reason behind why they allow their children to sleep outside, I'll go into details in a minute.)
As I've noticed since preparing myself for motherhood, parenting is a controversial subject. I avoid forums on baby sites where women talk about this method and that method and it almost always becomes an unnecessary debate. So I just stick to the more open minded way of thinking, just because someone does something different, doesn't always make it WRONG. I for one, would never do anything intentional that could potentially harm our child and I know the vast majority of parents think the same way. I don't see sleeping outdoors as a method of abuse or neglect if done properly.
Why babies sleeping outdoors is practiced:
- The outdoors is good for the baby. It also prepares the child for adjusting to the cold climate. (You wouldn't want to shock the child when they get to an outdoors Kindergarten.)
- Fresh air is good for the baby... and well everyone. Since moving to Norway, I've had to adjust to my husband always having and arguing he needs the bedroom window open at night... no matter the time of year or how cold it is outside.
- It allows the baby to learn to sleep anywhere. If a child gets in the habit of always napping in a certain place, this could pose a problem if say, you needed to be elsewhere one day with the baby during nap time.
- It allows the baby to learn to sleep during the day.
- It gives the child a chance to be away from the mom for a bit and vice versa. The theory behind this is it allows the child to be more versatile and okay with or without the mom, decreasing chances of a needy baby growing into a needy toddler, growing into a needy child and well, you see the pattern. :-)
How it's done:
-Making sure the baby wears the appropriate clothing is number one. Wool underclothing is important. If not wool, fleece works as well. Also the baby can be placed inside a body suit.
- Strollers or prams in Norway are well insulated. A typical stroller or barnevogn used in Norway looks like the one below.
 |
| From: http://marilenev.blogg.no/1242679306_barnevogn_og_leilighe.html |
- You can also purchase a sleeping bag which the baby is placed inside while in the stroller and used during winter months (doesn't matter if the child is sleeping outside or if you're going on a walk with the child in the stroller). The one I've purchased is the brand Voksi, which is made with down and wool and can be used until the child is 6 - or tall enough to outgrow it! Being a short person, when I used the extender on my Voksi sovepose or sleeping bag, I could almost fit completely in the bag.
 |
| From: http://www.barnevognguiden.no/ |
- The babies are supervised. Baby monitors are used (baby monitors can be purchased with built in indoor/ outdoor thermometers) and though the children sleep outdoors, the mother is close by.
- A lighter weight sleeping bag is used during spring and fall months.
- If the temperature drops below -10 degrees Celsius or 14 degrees Fahrenheit, then it is too cold for the child and the napping takes place indoors.
This is what a baby sleeping outside looks like:
 |
| From: http://www.mylifeasaforeinger.com/2011/03/babies-sleeping-outside.html |
 |
| From: http://www.treehugger.com/culture/let-sleeping-babies-lie-chilly-temps-build-tough-nordic-tots.htm |
This is NOT what a baby sleeping outside looks like:
 |
| Thanks, http://www.filmfail.com/all/frozen/! |
When I initially learned about this, I was a bit skeptical, but keeping an open mind and hearing and reading only good reasons for it, I don't see the harm in it as long as it's done right. I think it will be great to let my own child outside to nap, get some fresh air and become accustomed to the Nordic climate!
Comments
Fresh air is good for children so long as they are properly wrapped up
(1)Fresh air is good for everyone that is true so when you put that little baby outside make sure you take the whole family so everyone can get that fresh air an the baby is not left alone
(2)Fresh air doesn't allow the baby to fall asleep anywhere believe me a little baby can fall asleep in mid cry so fresh air or just plain old room air doesn't make a difference
(3)Fresh air will not teach your baby to sleep in the day getting your baby on a schedule may
(4)Fresh air decreasing the chance of a needy baby really !! this makes me laugh I'm sorry but air does allot of things that is for sure but that is a first. The little ones need to bond and they may be needy at times doesn't mean your a bad parent or they are a bad child they just need love and to be held fresh air can't do that.
I love this post and I think it's a great idea! Glad you're going to do it. I love that you are being really open minded. It's really hard to decide what to do sometimes, and you are smart to stay away from the forums... they can get pretty intense!
Can't wait to hear more about your pregnancy and differences between Norwegian and American child rearing practices! Hope you are feeling well and that life is good! :)
Hilarie
I am a mother of twin girls (7 months old) who happen to prefer napping in their McLaren twin stroller outside than in their own bed. I'm fine with that as long as they sleep good at night in their bed (which they do).
I've been researching online about how to do that properly and I have one major unanswered question: since I carry twins around, I don't have a stroller that's bed-like (and anyway, I think they can only stay a few months in it then they're too big for that). I only have the McLaren Techno stroller, you know, one in which they can only sit and recline. Is this OK to have my girls nap in those (provided they're well bundled up of course).
In other words, what do other Nordic moms do once their babies are too big to nap in bed-like strollers? Do they make them nap in reclining strollers like I'm planning to do? Do they have other tricks? Thanks in advance for your response!! Warm regards from Luxembourg, Stephanie.
My boy is soon 16 months (85 cm) and he fits fine in the stroller like the one in the picture. We took out the 'basket' thing and it's like a recliner. Actually, I think most recliners ourdays can be laid out totally flat. I would't like him to sleep sitting down, don't like it myself.
As for napping outside, in our case the main two reasoms are that a) he is less likely to wake up in the middle of his two-hour nap (we've tried his bed several times, he's just not used to nap there) and b) it takes only 5 minutes to get him to sleep. They will use the same stroller in daycare. All babies sleep outside there.
The Danes definitely love their huge prams too. I was blown away when I found out that people here happily leave the baby outside stores and cafes in the pram while they go about their business. If this happened in the UK, people would not react well to it.
Thank you for the information on how to keep baby warm while outside. I've been doing as much research as I can and considering writing a post on my own blog about the subject. I find the cultural differences fascinating!