Putting child to bed in the dog basket

[BellyAching19]

When I was a toddler I used to be put to sleep in the dogs basket. We were living in an old Georgian estate at the time with no heating. It wasn’t our house. It was a big spooky house in the middle of nowhere with an agar in the kitchen, coal fires and obviously no double glazing. Very little furniture. Wind howling through the windows, no neighbours for miles. The theory was that the dog and I would share body heat.

I’m a little shocked but at the same time, AIBU to think the old simple way of living was actually quite romantic?

@LauderSyme
You were lucky to have been given a mattress. I was regularly bunged in the boot to sleep.

One thing I have just remembered. We used to go in the bucket at the front of the tractor and dad raised it to pick apples at the top of the trees. The thing I loved doing was sitting in the tipper truck, dad raising it and sliding down.

I’m surprised some people don’t think your story is real op. How old are you?

When myself and my siblings were young we napped in the dog bed at my DGPs house. In fairness the dog was cleaner than most people and treat like a princess.
I remeber being Ill and having the day off school , being looked after by my nana and insisting on sleeping/sitting/playing in the dog bed. Its a fond memory i have of my childhood.

People nowadays fail to see or comprehend how people, children and animals lived together years ago. Some practices would be shunned upon today but people were resilient, didn't worry about sell-by dates, cut the mould from the cheese before eating it and never had a fridge, just a larder with a marble shelf.
Picture an old dark house, a loving family, not much heating and a family dog, a part of the family. A small child curled up with her pet and immensely happy.
The romance of the image in your mind pulls us all back to those moments in our childhood that we remember with such fondness.

I’m 38 but my grandma was/is very old school. She was evacuated during the war and lived her childhood on old school farms and in small villages etc. Put it this way, I was brought up believing that women shouldn’t work as they need to be at home looking after the house and making sure their man had all his needs attended to. I was also brought up believing that teens only go to college to avoid getting a job 😂 bless.

OP I'm only 33 and we had leadlight windows, no central heating, one gas fire, a coal fire downstairs and an electric radiator in one bedroom upstairs. It was a 1910's semi. We didn't even have a shower or plaster on the bathroom walls until I was 19 (and I moved out a few weeks later). The cat slept in my bed though, I didn't sleep in hers 😂

We survived 🤷 worse ways to grow up to be honest. And I hate central heating now so 👌 my gas bills in winter are quite cheap 😁

Anybody live in a cardboard box

Gosh I thought you’d be at least a decade older. Like the anecdotes. 😂

Cardboard box?

I used to dream of a cardboard box.

Hole in the ground was good enough for us.

I think it's cool OP. :)

My granny used to say we were so lucky having toys and that she and her five brothers only had a worm and a tin can to play with, and they shared a pair of shoes. She was a cheeky wee besom, even as an old lady. OP I think it sounds lovely and very poetic your memories! I’m amused by the spelling outrage and fears about the impact of sleeping in a dog bed on your health too.

It would be my DDs’ dream to be allowed to sleep in the dogs’ beds with them

And mine! In reality, my dream was to have a dog... I finally got one when I was 28 and he slept in my bed from day one

I slept in a drawer too!!!

And a lump of coal for Christmas.
Love this thread.
Snuggling up to the family pet sounds normal.
They are some really cute pictures of kids sleeping with their pets on Instagram.

My mum born 1939 had the time bath used once a week in front of the fire.

Outside loo etc. In fact my granddad (1905) always used the outside loo 😳

tin bath

Are you really 14 and think 38 is old enough for this to have been plausible?

I’m 37 and would sleep in the dogs bed 🤣, I have seen photos of my brother asleep there too. Totally plausible. We were also bathed in front of the fire as it was the only warm room in the winter, we grew up in a very old stone cottage with no heating until it was put in when I was around 8 years old. Also use to ride in the back of my dads van sitting on his tool box, remember getting battered and buried when he went around the corners too fast. We had a outside loo for a while too when we first moved in but my dad soon fitted a indoor one.

I’m shocked that people think OP is lying 🤣

@raviolidreaming as I said, I really don’t care who believes me and who doesn’t 😂 it’s not a court case! 😂

I slept in a drawer as a baby because my parents couldn’t afford a cot.

Are you really 14 and think 38 is old enough for this to have been plausible?

Why do you think it's not plausible?

I had a working spaniel and she definitely would not have allowed you or anyone to sleep in her bed. You would not have had a wink of sleep for her growling. She would not let other springer spaniel sleep in the bed at night either although it was acceptable during the day.

@adaline she’s obviously led a sheltered life 😂

@Orangeballon the beauty of dogs is their varying personalities

Tallgreenbottle How do you stay warm through winter? I get if people don’t have the money to put the heating on but to actually choose? I would be alright with having mine on less but we have to have it on more for the younger one, but I couldn’t do without it completely.

I know a little autistic boy. He's at a lovely school which has a therapy dog. It sleeps in the headmistress' office. At lunch time, if he's had a tiring morning, he has been known to fall asleep cuddling the dog in his basket. I think that it's lovely for the school to be so relaxed about such things!

Agar???