To wonder why some mothers leave their baby barefoot in December?

[monkeynuts123]

I have seen this a bit lately. I understand barefoot at home but why on earth would anyone take their baby out in December barefoot? Not even socks on, bare little toes poking out the bottom of trousers. Covered with a blanket perhaps in the street but once in a playgroup baby is barefoot, or even sometimes out in the street barefoot. I'm thinking of one particular example and it's not that baby takes them off, just there are never any socks, why?!

Why just mothers? DH is a SAHD to our little one and gets comments about our hatless and bare-footed 15 month old all the time (so much so that DH won't wear a hat when pushing the pram in case it exacerbates the tutting).

DS leaves the house with socks, shoes and cosy-toes on (no hat or hood as these are removed in seconds and he goes ballistic if we try one with a strap).

Halfway down the road, the shoes and socks will be off, he will push his trousers up over his knees and wiggle until his bare feet are sticking up in the air over the top of his cosy-toes. If his socks are being stubborn when he wants them off, he will scream until he has accomplished it.

Judge away.

Unless the baby is crying or their feet are blue, I honestly doubt they are bothered. I think you have to trust people to know their own children.

Someone told me off in the street for DS not having socks on, he'd just taken them off for.about the tenth time. He has spent most of today in just his nappy, as he.kept stripping his clothes off. I just turn the heating up a bit and fling a blanket over him if he sits down.

Because baby socks don't stay on. Ever.

"I think you have to trust people to know their own children."

And the winner of this thread is... MERRY!

Yaaaaaaaay! :)

My son was almost always barefoot in winter and he's a very hardy boy. My daughter was relatively wrapped up I think at exactly same age (as I had worked out by then that socks dont work) and gets chesty coughs. Maybe it's good for them!

I tried sock-ons, but my son has high arches, and they started cutting into his skin looong before the recommended age limit. They say "1-3" years or whatever, and he had red lines on his feet at age 8 months. So I thought, "screw that" and bought red, navy and brightly-striped tights for him. Under trousers, no one knows the difference. Hey, we're in northern Europe as someone else said. Also, in Germany, it is totally normal for boys and girls to wear tights! You can get tights with trains and cars and frogs on from there!

And even if the baby is crying, I think you can probably assume that if the problem were as simple as giving the baby socks, the baby would be wearing socks.

...just keep putting the socks back on for them!
Have you ever considered writing a parenting book?

YABU , maybe their baby has already taken the socks off 14 times and thrown them, and brand new shoes into the very busy road thanks DS2 after an almighty battle to get them on in the first place?

I'm a lot more concerned about these playgroup buildings without any heating - what are Ofsted doing if they can't even ensure the premises are up to it!

"The indignity of wearing tights under trousers."

What a load of balls.

Because by 9am he's already pulled them off 6 fucking times. He's fine, Mind your own.

I saw a woman in thick coat, hat, gloves, boots pushing her son on a swing for ages as she chatted - her DS was wearing thin trousers, a top and a cardi. It was bloody freezing! I felt really sorry for the boy.

I come from Scandinavia where there seem to be none of these babies and children who get too hot wearing socks in freezing temperatures (or parents who can't keep clothes on them), similar to the ones we have here in Scotland today. Maybe it's British genes..

Is it because the fathers put them on the babies instead?

FFS

Yeah, Toys, I'll blame my dh's British genes for my dd ripping her socks and shoes off constantly. I knew there was a reason.

Put tights on her instead with trousers over the top!

Also Loopy I'm assuming it's mainly mothers who the OP has seen with these barefoot-in-freezing-temperatures babies. If it was mainly fathers then she probably would have phrased the question with fathers in the title.

You're looking for sexist assumptions where they don't exist.

I read that before baby is walking, socks do the exact same job as gloves. So it's not unreasonable for baby to be barefoot inside, you wouldn't expect them to wear gloves inside, would you?

And there's the awkward inbetween cruising stage, where socks are sometimes more dangerous- DD has the kind with grips on the bottom but they fall down or twist and then she slides on the floor. So if we're somewhere with a slippery floor then I will take her socks off and let her go barefoot. She'd let me know if she was cold!

This is why babygrows were invented. For babies. Except most only use them for sleeping Nowdays then moan socks come off!

Agree CS. Would also add that while I know that it gets very cold in northern countries it is common to go a whole winter without really needing gloves in the south of England.

When I was little, I has problems with my feet, (toes too scrunched up, it needed correcting.)

The chiropodist told us that, where possible, it was best for feet to be barefoot as much as possible at home (all feet, not just my odd ones!)

This has always stuck with me.

But yes, I agree about "sleepsuits" they used to be babygros and worn all day.

Because of the above ^^ DD will often be in bare feet at playgroup. Mostly because her socks have cone off, but also because I think it's good for her, so am in no hurry to put them back on!

I wonder this too.

My 1yo pulls her socks straight off, like most 1yos. So she wears tights under her trousers or a baby gro. Ime babies don't tend to complain about the cold, but that's not a good reason to take them outside in inadequate clothing.

I live in the se, and there's no chance I would go all winter without gloves. I get chilblains!

I fine this peculiarly British attitude that dressing appropriately for the weather is somehow soft really really weird.