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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To leave baby sleeping outside in -3C ?

157 replies

Anothercuppatea · 30/11/2012 09:05

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.

OP posts:
honeytea · 30/11/2012 11:32

YANBU

I would only worry maybe he will get too hot? I am expecting my 1st baby in Sweden and we have bought an Åkpåse which translats to travelbag, it's a fluffy warm sleeping bag that goes inside the pram. We also have little snowsuites and so many people have siad what ever you do don't put the baby in both the snow suit and åkpåse it will get too hot!

They have outside/forrest daycare centers here where they only have outside space with a small room to keep the coats/food in. I pick up a friends little boy from there sometimes, it is so lovely they all sleep in little sleepingbags in much colder than -3.

Fakebook · 30/11/2012 11:35

How did mankind survive the ice age?!

I don't know, maybe by living nearer the equator where it's warmer?

Fakebook · 30/11/2012 11:36

I'm just going to ask again, why can't windows be opened? Is it because that makes the mother cold and uncomfortable so best to just lob the baby outside. Doesn't matter though, as long as you're not cold.

PeshwariNaan · 30/11/2012 11:43

Wow, what? It's OK to leave a baby outside by himself in below-freezing weather? This is news to me... and here I was worried because my baby'll be sleeping in a heated room that barely gets over 12 C in the winter! Guess I shouldn't worry about insulating my home!

elfycat · 30/11/2012 11:44

In my teens I went out camping for a night, without a tent (use groundsheets) and with a very warm sleeping bag while there was snow on the ground. I was perfectly warm and my face was the only bit exposed.

I took DD out for a walk one evening in winter when she was under two. It had been -2 when we set off but was -6 when we got back to the car in the dark about 2 hours later. She was wrapped up in layers &layers, &layers, just her face exposed. I was freezing but she was toasty and I was worried about overheating her. As long as the body and head are warm YANBU

headfairy · 30/11/2012 11:46

I am surprised at the reactions on here. OP, I would happily leave my children wrapped up outside. DD was born on New Years Eve during one of the coldest winters for a long while (2009/2010) and with a 2 year old boisterous ds I spent hours in the park with him that winter with dd wrapped up fully, her body was really really warm, cheeks lovely and pink. She didn't suffer at all. There's no way she would have slept if she was cold. I even used to bf her while sitting on a park bench... let me tell you wind chill on a wet nipple is nothing to laugh about!!

Original poster
Anothercuppatea · 30/11/2012 11:53

I think opening windows would be a bit of an odd thing to do. The baby needs somewhere warm to play when he wakens up.

OP posts:
raininginbaltimore · 30/11/2012 11:54

My dd will wake as soon as you come in house. So either I walk for 5 hours a day with DS or she sleeps outside. I've tried the open window thing, makes no difference she knows and wakes up.

Jingleflobba · 30/11/2012 11:59

YANBU, DD is outside in her buggy fast asleep at the moment, although it's not quite -3 here yet, according to my phone it's 1C. As long as fingers and toes are kept warm I don't see the harm. I'm checking her regularly and the door is slightly open.
I bet most of us were left outside in prams as babies.

hhhhhhh · 30/11/2012 12:01

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

CheungFun · 30/11/2012 12:02

DM said she left me to sleep in my pram in the garden (any weather), apparently it was quite common to do that about 30 years ago.

When DS used to fall asleep in the pram I'd wheel it indoors and remove his blankets and undo his pramsuit and hope that he stayed asleep rather than leave him outdoors.

I'm a worrier so I'd panic that birds and squirrels would be pecking him if I left him outdoors alone :o

WileyRoadRunner · 30/11/2012 12:04

I don't see the problem personally, why is it different to pushing the pram outside?

However because like cheungfang I am an unreasonable worrier I wouldn't do it.

Certainly don't think it's odd or that he is going to freeze with that many layers on!

raininginbaltimore · 30/11/2012 12:08

Dd wakes at the slightest thing, no way I could unzip her snowsuit. But she loves outside noise, she never wakes when a bus goes past.

GobblersSparklyExplodingKnob · 30/11/2012 12:11

I always used to leaving the pushchair in the garden if they had been asleep while out, if they were warm enough to be out walking then they are warm enough to be in the garden Confused

Fresh air is good, no-one would suggest it's not okay to take a well wrapped baby out for a walk.

Original poster
Anothercuppatea · 30/11/2012 12:12

That's it Baltimore. They seem to like the hum of the outdoor noise, but will waken at the slightest thing indoors. I have wondered about bringing him in more often so he eventually gets used to it. But not sure if it'd work,

OP posts:
Fakebook · 30/11/2012 12:14

Tbh I'd be worried about cats too and foxes.

forevergreek · 30/11/2012 12:16

It's because, when in cold countries ( uk included), if you go out with a baby to hops/ nursery run etc then to are all bundled up warm and may fall asleep on the way home. Then it's too hot in the house for baby to sleep in all layers ( tights/ thermals/ fleece/ woollen tops/ all in one snow suits etc), the only thing you can remove really are blankets/ cosy toe but the baby will still be far to hot to sleep safely inside a heated house without overheating. Therefore it's better to leave outside ( they were already outside so in right clothing), where they won't et woken taking layers off.

Makes sense really

raininginbaltimore · 30/11/2012 12:17

We have three cats in the house. Tbh that are terrified of her. They aren't keen on babies as they jerk too much and are too unpredictable. But with a raincover on nothing is going to get in.

Original poster
Anothercuppatea · 30/11/2012 12:21

Cats aren't a problem in this situation. He's got raincover on, and is right outside our patio window. I never see cats there.
Perhaps if you leave them out of sight and cats are around.

OP posts:
BellaTheGymnast · 30/11/2012 12:28

juule, that link is fab, the last picture is SO cute.

DD always naps outside in the pram, if we get home before she wakes I leave her in the front garden. We can see her through the window, she's fine.

EnjoyResponsibly · 30/11/2012 12:28

I did exactly what you're doing, many, many times. DS is live and kicking and shows no signs of frostbite. Lovely fresh air. So long as its not damp, the more the merrier.

I have a photo of me in my pram, a huge silver cross thing, the cover is on with a plastic sheet over it and there is SNOW on the pram.

MrsHoarder · 30/11/2012 12:29

DS is now asleep in his pram in our kitchen (coolest room in the house when the oven isn't on). Because of our layout its very difficult to get it through to the back garden without waking him

I hoped he'd go down for a nap on this walk, so he didn't get a coat or snowsuit, just a few blankets which I've folded right down now so he's only got 1 thin blanket on most of him and thick layers from knees downwards (I dare not remove the cozytoes).

Maybe those of you with babies you can't take out of snowsuits could they that?

NulliusInBlurba · 30/11/2012 12:38

"It's because, when in cold countries ( uk included), if you go out with a baby to hops/ nursery run etc then to are all bundled up warm and may fall asleep on the way home. Then it's too hot in the house for baby to sleep in all layers ( tights/ thermals/ fleece/ woollen tops/ all in one snow suits etc), the only thing you can remove really are blankets/ cosy toe but the baby will still be far to hot to sleep safely inside a heated house without overheating. Therefore it's better to leave outside ( they were already outside so in right clothing), where they won't et woken taking layers off."

This is why we left our DC outside in the pram (in north-eastern Germany), snuggled up in snowsuits, and a sheepskin lined cosytoes thing, and with fat (NOT water-based moisturiser) rubbed into their cheeks to stop them from getting dry.

Also I think one reason it's more popular in Northern mainland Europe than in the UK is that the UK is really quite a damp atmosphere, although comparatively warm. Being outside with a cold but dry atmosphere is much more pleasant.

realcoalfire · 30/11/2012 12:45

'How did mankind survive the ice age?!'
well i expect a lot of babies didn't!

I am always surprised by the, 'xyz has been done for centuries' argument because until recent times infant mortality rates were very high!!

gwenniebee · 30/11/2012 12:55

I don't put my dd outside to sleep, but if she is sleeping in the buggy when we get back from town/walking/wherever, I leave her outside. Happened yesterday, it was flipping freezing but she senses when she's inside and wakes up fuming about life itself. So, stuck yet another blanket on her - she had six layers altogether and when she eventually woke up she was warmer than I was, and I'd been inside.

Also slightly concerned re the "babies shouldn't sleep in rooms colder than 15 degrees" thing as it's a physical impossibility to get our room that warm at the moment.... [bhmm]

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