To leave baby sleeping outside in -3C ?

[Anothercuppatea]

he's in a few layers of normal clothes. A cost suit which I think has down in it. A fleece buggy cosytoes. And I just went out and put extra blanket on.

He seems to sleep better outdoors. But it is starting to get really cold. It's very frosty this morning.
I could take him into house, but he's likely to be woken by his big brother. And he's likely to get hot with so many layers on.

My DM used to put my brother outside in his pram every day for 30 mins - from newborn (born in December!) even in foggy weather.

She is now but at the time thought the fresh air was good for him.

Maybe it was because he has the constitution of an ox and is never ill.

Why don't you send the big brother out to play in the garden instead? (well wrapped up obviously!)

Puds, that has happened a couple of times with me, only the baby was warm and dry. It was just that the rain cover was covered in snow :)

I'm with you facebook

I love your link juule.

Big sturdy prams too!

Sorry fakebook

MIL always tells me to leave baby outside in the pram, she apparently did with all three of hers, even though SIL was born in December. I think as long as he's wrapped enough to be warm, and out of rain and wind and you're checking on him regularly it's probably ok. Have left ds2 out when it was snowy because I didn't want to wake him up. He had the rain cover on and plenty of blankets and he was warm when I brought him in after he woke.

In the other thread about heating, posters are saying that you shouldn't sleep below 15 degrees.

If you open all the windows your house gets cold surely (shrug)
mine have all napped outside, v snugly in their norwegian style cosytoes, which are serious bits of kit, not like a fleece buggysnuggle or something. my nephew always slept outside in only a body, tights and hat in his otherwise he got too hot and sweaty (even if it was well below freezing!)

Sleeping inside is all well and good but mine never napped half as well inside and anyway I wanted them to understand that when they went to bed they were expected to sleep for a long time (ie it was night). worked for me, doesn't mean its right for everyone

Well it's obviously not that risky because people have been doing it for centuries.

But I wouldn't, it would unnerve me, I'd have visions of going out and finding the baby dead of hypothermia.

I wasn't expecting so many replies!
I have tried taking him inside before but he only sleeps 20 mins and wakes up grumpy. Outside he sleeps for 1.5 hrs normally. He seems to prefer it.

For centuries? Prams have only been around since the mid 19th century. Isn't it a truby king thing? I thought people put their babies outside to sleep so they couldn't hear them cry?

Can someone explain to me why this is only popular in the coldest countries? I have never heard anyone extolling the virtues of putting your baby outside to sleep on a mild, 20 degree, Sydney winter day.

Maybe, since we get enough fresh air, we don't make such a big deal of it. We also don't expect children to play in the rain.

Maybe you don't notice him waking after 20 min outside and he resettles himself?

I wouldn't feel comfortable, not saying it's wrong, but when you're asleep, your temperature drops, and he may not wake from cold til he's really cold. I'm sure in Norway etc, the buggies/cosy toes are arctic proof!

Does England count as one of the coldest countries?
It was recommended to me by the midwives. And just like the op baby, mine slept much better(and longer) outside.

I am watching him literally all the time. I'd know if he woke up,

This is my favourite image Baby in New York. Dr Spock was all for it, unless it was actively snowing I think.

How did mankind survive the ice age?!

IMO, -3 is absolutely fine if the baby is wrapped up and comfortable. I would be more concerned about the safety of being left outside- someone taking him, animals around, baby being sick etc, but not the air temperature.

I wouldn't worry. My younger one only slept outside, never in his bed and never in the house. Outside was the only place he would take a daytime nap. He was cosy as pie in lots of layers, wool snowsuit, cosy toes, blanket, hot water bottle (lukewarm), pram hood up and he was just snuggly whenever he woke from his outdoor nap. I think it is cultural as in central Europe it is dead normal to put babies outside to sleep, in fact it is considered beneficial, especially if it is dry cold air. Actually once I had to scrape snow off the rain cover on the pram so I did wonder if I was overdoing the outdoor sleeping thing ... but DC was still snug as a bug in there.

I would had no problems - as long as he is wrapped up warmly. No different from going for a walk being in the buggy.

I always put my 2 outside for their morning nap wrapped up as necessary, they slept so well. My DH is from Finland and all our finnish friends put their babies outside for naps much colder temps than -3!

Yabu I wouldn't, let alone a little baby. Why on earth would you leave a baby out in this kind of weather

DD always naps outside on the move - usually on the way to pick up/ drop off her older sister.

We have a sheepskin liner for the pram and she is always lovely and warm. I wish I could leave her outside if she is still asleep when we get home, but there isn't anywhere to put her outside that is safe, so I have to bring her in, and put her in the coolest room in the house with the windows open wide so she doesn't overheat.

My four all slept outdoors (Scotland) from birth - in the 70s, most babies did. Having said that, coachbuilt prams were sturdy and weatherproof - I'm not sure that the modern buggy would protect a baby properly. Some of them are no better than a flimsy deck chair and I see babies exposed to far more cold than ours were.

With woolly knitted jackets, wool blankets, a pram hood and - if necessary - the rain cover with its raised flap, the baby stayed warm. The pram was outside the kitchen window, and you'd see it rocking the moment the baby moved. I wasn't a laid-back mother; mine were watched constantly.

This obsession with keeping children indoors puzzles me. Fresh air is good for everyone - as a nation, we spend far too much time inside. I'd have gone crazy, and so would my children, cooped up in the house all day.

YANBU. You are hardly leaving the baby outside without a blanket. I sleep better with the windows open and always sleep better when camping, so I can understand why a baby would sleep better outside.

There are NO risks to sleeping in the cold, other than to the sensibilities of overly sensitive MNetters!