Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 ··· 15 16 17 ··· 27 28

Original poster

to leave my baby in the garden to sleep?

676 replies

SashaFierce99 · 14/02/2016 23:44

With three older siblings, it's difficult for baby to nap uninterrupted at the weekend/in holidays. She's just over a year old so still needs at least one long or two short naps per day. When her siblings are off we tend to walk/scoot/skate/bike to the park before her nap and she falls asleep in the pushchair on the way home. I then leave her in the front garden in front of the kitchen window and DCs and I paint/bake/draw in the kitchen so she's in sight at all times.

Today we did the above but there was a knock at the door ten minutes after we arrived home. It was a neighbour advising me that it's too cold and too dangerous to leave her unsupervised outside. I explained that I can see her and she's well wrapped up (full body vest, outfit on top plus jumper, double socks and full snow suit and hat) so she's fine but the neighbour kept saying I should take her inside. I politely declined and said I needed to get back to the other DC. She muttered about how I'll end up 'getting reported to someone'...!

AIBU to leave her outside?

OP posts:

Thread gallery

KatharinaRosalie · 15/02/2016 13:39

Mine slept downstairs for the first 3 months. After that, they would not. I think it's quite common thing to happen.
So as there was some eye rolling from some posters before about irresponsible parents not following guidelines, I was wondering what would the responsible parent do in such a situation.

Obs2016 · 15/02/2016 13:40

This thread has made me laugh.

OnceMoreIntoTheBleach you seem very over-sensitive. Do you have anxiety? Maybe you need some counselling. You certainly need to lighten up.

OnceMoreIntoTheBleach · 15/02/2016 13:46

Obs2016 great example of exactly what I was talking about - thanks.

If you read the thread, you'll see that I wasn't being over-sensitive because none of the ribbing and mocking was aimed at me - I had not posted before my mention of it.

I guess I'm just a relatively nice person who doesn't enjoy watching other people being ridiculed. So shoot me.

As I said before, each to their own.

OneMagnumisneverenough · 15/02/2016 13:51

Re the leaving them in car seats or bringing in and removing layers - your child shouldn't be in a snow suit/jacket in the car seat anyways as it isn't as secure.

If mine were due to wake up in about 10-15 minutes then I'd just bring a book out and sit in the car and leave them in the seat when I got back, any longer and I'd lift them and bring them in. I did however have babies that were bomb proof and I could change nappies etc with them still sleeping.

5madthings · 15/02/2016 13:51

Re baby falling asleep in carseats, there would be no layers to remove other than blanket over them as babies and children shouldn't wear thick coats, layers or snowsuit type things in a carseat, it's not safe. Ours would always wake if we tried to bring them in so as we Park our car on driveway/front garden and I xan see from sitting room or kitchen Window then I would leave them to sleep with car door or Window open so I could hear. But I wouldn't do that with a little baby given advice re time spent in carseats etc, but a very little baby I could generally bring in and bfeed bsck to sleep but certainly once 6-9mths I would leave them to sleep in car in driveway where I could see and hear them and check on them as necessary.

I mentioned this thread to dh who works in child protection and he laughed at the idea it would be a risk/something to advise against depending on where you live etc but he too had assumed madthing6 would be sleeping in pram in front garden as the others did.

Yes to checking out reports of s child left out, just incase but I can't see them being bothered by the situation described by the op.

OneMagnumisneverenough · 15/02/2016 13:54

I hate seeing babies/toddlers/children sitting in car seats and buggies etc with their heads slumped forward - that always strikes me as more dangerous (as well as downright uncomfortable) than the chances of being snatched by an animal, abducted by aliens etc.

Iamnotloobrushphobic · 15/02/2016 14:01

My baby wears a normal cardigan and a car seat wrap in his car seat so they have to be removed indoors to prevent overheating. Even without removing any clothing I still have to remove baby from the car seat because it isn't safe for babies to be in car seats for any longer than essential (due to risk of suffocation).

Pipbin · 15/02/2016 14:06

it was a whole different world when I was born. I'm not sure the world is safe enough to leave a child in the front garden now.

Why? What has happened now? What is in the world that is so much more dangerous than in the 70s when there clearly were paedophiles bloody everywhere, including on TV.

What amazes me is all this carry on about foxes, cats and hawks but no one has said anything about dogs which have really actually killed injured children and babies.

KatharinaRosalie · 15/02/2016 14:12

Car seat is different, it isn't advisable to let babies sleep in them for longer periods of time. No such issues with a lie-flat pram, no different from cot.

BertrandRussell · 15/02/2016 14:13

"I guess I'm just a relatively nice person who doesn't enjoy watching other people being ridiculed. So shoot me."

How do you feel about people being called lazy, negligent and likely to be of interest to social services?

Obs2016 · 15/02/2016 14:15

Bleach, you seem incapable of participating in a general discussion without taking it personally.
But all this 'ribbing and mocking' that you talk of is people having a discussion where they disagree and are expressing their views.
The very fact that you refer to it as such, shows you don't understand differences of opinion.
Are you new on MN? I think you need to grow a thicker skin.

This is MN at its mild'est!!!

Obs2016 · 15/02/2016 14:17

Christ, if we dragged a few threads out of MN classics, over the last decade, you would see how mild and tame this all is.

Wordsmith · 15/02/2016 14:18

I used to do this when my DC were babies - not in the front garden though, in the back, well wrapped up (which I'm sure yours is) but with a net over the top to deter flies/wasps/cats etc.

SinisterBumFacedCat · 15/02/2016 14:19

I really dislike the sneering that's going on here as if someone who decides not to have their child sleep out in the front garden is "hysterical". What cool mums you are literally

BertrandRussell · 15/02/2016 14:24

"I really dislike the sneering that's going on here as if someone who decides not to have their child sleep out in the front garden is "hysterical". What cool mums you are literally"

How do you feel about accusations of laziness, negligence and being of interest to Social services? The first post that was at all negative was one of those.......

OneMagnumisneverenough · 15/02/2016 14:24

I really couldn't care less whether other people leave their child outside to sleep or keep it indoors, the OP asked if it was unreasonable to do so. People who think it is okay have given reasons why they would, people who wouldn't have given reasons why they wouldn't. Unfortunately there is no back up for a lot of those reasons which is why people have commented, I guess to allay the fears of those who do it or are considering it. At the end of the day, everyone needs to make their own risk assessment of what they are happy to do with their own child. If someone is doing something that there is back up to show that it is dangerous then it's good that people point that out. it is also fair for people to point out that some of that information is wrong or misguided.

Pipbin · 15/02/2016 14:26

It's not 'sneering'. It's being realistic. If someone doesn't want their baby to sleep in the front garden then it is fine. However it is being rather ridiculous to claim that it's because they will be stolen or taken by a fox. The risks to a baby are far far higher when you put them in a car.
If you don't feel comfortable with that, then fine. Don't do it. But don't cry 'will no one think of the foxes'.

SinisterBumFacedCat · 15/02/2016 14:28

How do you feel about accusations of laziness, negligence and being of interest to Social services? The first post that was at all negative was one of those.......

Well you've really done your best to even it up on this thread!

ScrimshawTheSecond · 15/02/2016 14:29

I think it's really good for kids to sleep out in the fresh air. I think worries about foxes are .... just a little bit unlikely! ... so long as wrapped up warm and you can see her, should be fine.

Iamnotloobrushphobic · 15/02/2016 14:33

Car seat is different, it isn't advisable to let babies sleep in them for longer periods of time. No such issues with a lie-flat pram, no different from cot

I agree that it is different which is why I said I was going off topic but was curious.
I was just wondering if people would rather leave a baby sleeping in a car seat than disturb him as somebody unthread had mentioned leaving babies in a car sleeping and lots of people seemed concerned about baby waking if they removed any layers of clothing when they arrived home with baby in a pram.
I do have a terrible habit of going off topic due to my wandering mind.
I am glad that people agree that babies should be removed from car seats for safety reasons as there have been a few deaths due to people leaving babies asleep in their infant car seats.

I agree with pipbin about dogs. I think we can all agree that there have been dog attacks on children in recent years (indoors as well as outdoors) so the risk from dogs is clearly higher than foxes, cats etc.

SinisterBumFacedCat · 15/02/2016 14:33

Please direct me to the post where I mentioned foxes.

Personally I wouldn't do it due to the risk of abduction from a human. Statically extremely unlikely I know, doesn't stop me worrying about it enough to make me feel uncomfortable. And honestly if that makes me hysterical, fine, pin that badge on me and congratulate yourself on being so much more level headed and relaxed.

ThickAsPigShit · 15/02/2016 14:55

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Plateofcrumbs · 15/02/2016 15:03

What's the point of travel systems if you don't sometimes keep the baby in the car seat when they're not in the car? If DS was still sleeping when we got home we let him finish the nap in the car seat.

Maybe it depends on the car seat - we had a decent stage 0 car seat but we also had a cheap 0+ we got for very occasional use when visiting the GPs - DS's head slumped in it when he was asleep and I spent the whole jjourney sat next to him supporting his head.

Natsku · 15/02/2016 15:14

To be honest I never really understood the point of travel systems Plateofcrumbs, never wanted DD in the car seat for longer than necessary so just had a normal pram (well proper Nordic one, bed on wheels, wish they made adult-sized ones!)

Iamnotloobrushphobic · 15/02/2016 15:54

Given that over 20 deaths have even associated with children sleeping in car seats when not travelling it isn't a risk I would take but each to their own. I think the purpose of a travel seat is to pop the car seat on the chassis if you are just popping briefly into a shop etc.

Flip

1 2 ··· 15 16 17 ··· 27 28

Swipe left for the next trending thread