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?!

That's why ds2 used to have a babygro on all the time. But then I got an old lady cooing at him "And he's all ready for bed!" Which he never was.

I always zip up the cosytoes / cover in winter and the socks fall off safe in there.

If we are visiting somewhere and am using the smaller pushchair, I always make them wear tights (even the boys) under the trousers. I also use the gloves with a string that goes inside the jacket and the hat is always the one you tie at the chin or one of those faceless balaclava hat things - Primark, M&S and Petit Bateau have done them.

I took DS "barefoot in the streets" but he was always under a cosytoes - so not really the same. The OP says "covered with a blanket" which is the same IMO.

Are fathers devoid of sock responsibility then?

A cosytoes is slightly different though, it's like an air pocket and the warm air within stays within and keeps their feet warm. A blanket's not quite the same, and is easier to kick off.

I'm from a northern city, beloved of comedians looking to get an easy laugh because the residents go out for a night on the town in deepest winter, sub-zero temperatures, in jeans and t-shirt, or a dress and not much else. That's ridiculous! How we laugh at their stupidity. However, apparently it's fine for babies to be out in the freezing cold with nowt on their poor feet .

My ds refused shoes until 2 & socks he tolerated only just so I got a lot of looks while out. Parents of premmie babies will understand that because of the invasive procedures & wires they had to have in their feet, premnies don't like shoes/socks. This is not obvious to an outsider so all they see & judge on is a baby without socks on.

canhaveitall I posted this earlier:

'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.'

Hmm, I suppose, but if you tuck a blanket in then you get much the same effect.

For about five seconds until they kick it off . Or maybe that was just my dc.

Yeah, mine would kick a blanket off pronto.

However, she has no chance with the tights under trousers, shoes AND cosy toes which I make her wear.

Who cares if your baby doesn't like socks? They can't go out barefoot in freezing temperatures - they could get chilblains or if they are out for a while even frostbite. As others have pointed out, babies in other countries seem to survive being appropriately dressed.

DS spent ages 3 to 5 months on a single minded quest to get his feet into his mouth. He has whipped his socks off at the first opportunity ever since. I do remember someone having a right go at me for having him out, without socks, in December, back when he was a baby. He is now coming up for 6 years and seems to be thriving. Seriously, so long as there's enough clothes on the rest of them, unless you're living in Siberia or Canada, it probably doesn't matter a lot. My experience (and I realise the plural of anecdote is not data) is that their toes will not drop off if left unclad in the rigours of the average British winter (mean daytime temperature December-January = 9 degrees C, as I found out the other day).

There are many days where it is definitely colder than 9 deg in Dec and Jan where we are.

I agree tights, tight, tights. Boy or girl. Stick some tights on them.

As Quintessential said, adults don't go and sit on a park bench in bitterly cold weather with biting winds and frost on the ground with nothing on their feet. Why? Because their feet would be bloody freezing that's why. How is it different for babies?

sashh grin did your mun get judged too?

I don't know, it was the 60s. Smoking was permitted on the labour ward, car seats unheard of people didn't just smack but smacked other people's children.

1969 AIBU

My dc's school have just got a new headteacher. She has read some study about tobacco being bad for children and has now banned parents from smoking during the nativity play. It's 30 mins long!! how on earth can we last that long with no nicotine.

Should I gather names for a petition or just light up during the nativity?

Dd always kicked socks off within seconds so when she was tiny I dressed her in tights and soft fleece booties that she couldn't remove. I do judge when I see underdressed babies who are purple with the cold, there's no excuse.

I also notice that many toddlers in the park, always girls, being inappropriately dressed both for the weather and play. Most recently a two year old in a white summer dress (no vest, cardigan, tights, socks, coat....) and uncomfortable sandals she couldn't climb or run around in so she ran around in her bare feet. The mother was comfortably wrapped up of course (they always are), it was freezing out.

yanbu.

My son always had bare feet in the winter while he was in a pushchair - he'd immediately remove any shoes & socks also any blankets or covers & wave his bare feet about. They were always pink & toasty-warm. Old ladies used to approach me in the street, all of a bustle, & ask me if I'd realised he'd lost his shoes & socks. I hadn't - they were in the changing bag!

Unless you are tracking somebody (and if you are don't you have better things to do with your time?) how can you tell whether a child is barefoot for 5 seconds, 5 minutes or all day?

I know from experience that there is a level of clothing that my children need to prevent them from wingeing about cold within minutes of leaving the house and a level of clothing that is just too much for their activity level (although it might suit an elderly person with poor circulation).

My charge doesn't often wear socks out. Her buggy has a really thick foot muff and she's rarely out of the buggy anywhere thats cold. If we're going to the park I'll put tights on under her trousers. I do feel for the little ones who have bare feet and no foot muffs though, I would be pissed if I were them!

Sock ons were the only reason my 2 ever wore socks. No chance otherwise. My son was awful. He went through a phase where he could take off sock ons and pulled off his shoes as well.

My baby takes his socks off, I put them back on, he takes them off, I put them back on ad nauseum. This is what parenting is all about surely, doing the same sodding thing over and over again because it is what is best for your baby? Or there's the other way of course, that baby takes socks off, oh bugger it I won't bother putting them back on baby and he can stick his feet out in the buggy in frigging subzero temps while I walk about in my Uggs. Ignorant buggers parent your child properly and put their frigging socks on.

Are you talking about me?

She's fine. FGS! If she's in the pram, cosy toes are over her.

In playground, well, there's central heating there.

Ditto in the house.

Sorry, but no. I disagree. Parenting is not about wasting time putting socks back on again. It's about having fun with your baby! Life is definitely too short with mine to be putting her socks back on every 3 minutes (that's quite a long time for her too, for them to stay on I mean!)

Her key nursery worked even said she'd never known a baby to rip socks off so quickly and so decisively! Maybe you shouldn't be so judgy

My son has a footmuff he pulls off before liberating his little toes from his socks. Then he throws this hat and gloves away. Sometimes he asks for 'Mummy gloves' but chucks them after two minutes.

and I parent him very well thank you. Judgypants.

Yes my kid will also only eat with his hands, refuses to move from nappies, will only eat chicken nuggets, will only wear certain clothes, etc etc. And the parents are where exactly? Of course not just talking about 'you' have no idea who 'you' are, but all the mums here who say oh but they take them off...Put them on or take your own off!

But if I put them on he will rip them off immediately. So I will have to stop and put them back on. I would never get out if I kept doing this. Have you never heard of picking your battles?

I put them on he takes them off, this is how it goes. I wouldn't dream of leaving my baby with bare freezing toes out in December because I can't be bothered to do the same thing over and over again. And then I put tights on him. Problem solved. He pulled at them, he cried, I left them on, he kept them on.