To leave my baby alone sleeping in the garden every day?

[TiffanyDoggett]

Always in the shade and I check him regularly to make sure he's not crying. I'm no advocate of CIO and it's purely because he sleeps well out there not because I won't hear him (as I suspect in times past it may have been the reason)!

I blame my Mum who always asks why he's napping indoors when she comes round and promptly asks if she can wheel him out in his Pram.

Does anyone else do this regularly?

Mothers were told to do this in the past because it was thought good for the health of babies, not to ignore their cries.

Yes but get a cat net.

there use to be a kind of net you could put over pram to protect them from insects & even cats (foxes???) can you still get them?

I also did this all the time, all year round on warm days. Well not in the winter, but definitely on fine autumn or spring days. If it was nice enough for me to sit outside, it was fine to leave my baby in a pram. And easier to see a baby in the garden waking. than in an upstairs bedroom.

Thanks Yorkshire it is a beautiful summer and it felt almost magical letting my eldest stay up playing games with me and dh whilst the little one napped under a tree. I need to remind myself it's not all sleep deprivation

A bug net is
A good idea. The mozzies have left him alone so far but they love me.

It’s up to you of course, but I preferred to spend time outdoors with the babies when they were awake (at least to begin with!).

I learnt from Dc1 that it would be a good idea to have DC2 getting used to naps in the big cot, so that she was happy to sleep there when she moved out of the bedside crib for night sleeps.

We had a cat net, cat used it as a hammock and the baby thought was a great game to kick the cat.

Have you asteroid proofed? Is your harden completely impervious to water, flame and chemical warfare?

*garden..

Yes, done it almost every day with both DS and DD. They are both good sleepers.

@WhenTheSharkBites ✔️✔️ &✔️😇

'I’d be terrified to leave my baby outdoors unsupervised. Anything could happen! Abduction is the main concern but also a wasp, choking, crying, etc. My baby is never out of my sight for more than a couple of minutes.'

When do you sleep

At 3 months I would say the SIDS risk is too high to leave them to sleep alone.

You can do other stuff while the baby sleeps in the house. Or do stuff mumsnet in the garden while the baby sleeps there. Your choice obviously, but for the sake of three more months I'd prefer to be safe.

I tied it once but I couldn’t leave them. It felt too unnatural to me.

Very common in the scandi country where I live. Even in winter it's still pretty common (well wrapped up of course!)

I think I'd have been to paranoid with my first (plus I was a city dweller) but I've got lax the second time around!

@Saloubalou do people actually watch their babies sleeping up till six months?

What about when you have older kids? As soon as my baby went to sleep it meant I could spend some much needed time with the toddlers.., chemical warfare and bears allowing of course!

We used a snuza for our preemie

Mine have all napped in the back garden year round. DC4 usually falls asleep on the school run and it's far easier to leave her out there than risk waking her up by bumping the pushchair up the doorstep.

Bears haven't eaten her yet but they'd probably steer clear anyway, she has a fierce temper on her.

Not about watching them, it's about being in the same room. I believe it helps regulate their breathing, the same reason it's recommended to sleep overnight in the same room - you don't have to watch them in your sleep either!

I have 5 children and they all slept outside for naps in all weather apart from fog. Eldest is 32 and youngest 9 -all still alive and taller than average - there’s lots of ambient noise outdoors which never disturbed them.

@Saloubalou I understand the principle.
When I was in that position I couldn't understand how I was supposed to be in the same room as my sleeping baby with an 18 month old and a three year old.., they're not quiet!
Ah well. They all lived to tell the tale!

I did with all of mine. Ds1 was winter born, I would wrap him up warm, pop him in his pram with appropriate cover (rain or fly/cat net) and pop him out in the pram, he would sleep for ages out there. I think it is good for them.

This sounds lovely. The crib I’m gwtt comes with wheels and a mozzie cover. I think I’ll do quite a few day naps outside. It might even help with the gardening.

DS was a terrible napper (at 2.5 he has almost completely dropped it now unless exhausted). I used to have to either jiggle him for hours in the sling or traipse round the streets with the pram. If I stopped he woke. The day I got home and he carried on sleeping was a wonderful day. If I took him into the warm house in his pram suit etc he would get hot and wake or just notice the difference in sounds and wake. So I used to wheel him carefully through the house and out the back door. I could then leave him to nap while I SAT DOWN BY MYSELF. The sheer luxury of being able to do this was indescribable. He was born in November so a true winter baby so many of his early naps were outside, even in quite cold weather (although it wasn't a particularly cold winter by this year's standards) - I just popped am extra blanket over him. I think it's much healthier for them to be breathing fresh air and being able to hear the birds, trees etc. Much more natural than being inside. Obviously as long as you don't leave them out in the street.

I have a 7 month old and 2.7 year old. Every day after lunch I throw them in the double for a walk. They're generally asleep before I've got out of the cul-de-sac so I turn round, park them in the garden and watch Netflix and eat biscuits get some housework done.