Nordic napping

[suedehead]

So, I spotted this one this morning:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21537988

Whilst at first you may think 'blimey', I can actually see the logic! Anyone tried this? Do you reckon it leads to healthier children?

Are we all just paranoid about someone nicking our babies...!?

[Squtternutbaush]

EmGee I open the windows every morning even if its just for 30 minutes although we're out for an hour or so for the school run so more on school days, central heating plays havoc with my sinuses and the house seems stale otherwise.

[DearGirl]

If the little one I nanny for has fallen asleep in the pram I often leave them outside. I park them by the window and then sit I side by the windows with a cup of tea. I always make sure they're wrapped up warm enough.

[EmGee]

I think we are all too moddy-coddled nowadays so the fear of being too cold/foxes/cats/kidnappers freaks a lot of people out when this topic comes up. Like many on here, I had my first child in the harsh winter of 2009/10 and I remember thinking I couldn't possibly take DD out as it was just far too cold. I blame the hormones!

Agree that clothing is a key issue and you can't beat outdoor clothing like Polarn O Pyret for keeping kids warm and toasty outside.

Off topic (but still linked) I would be interested to know how many people give their houses/flats a thorough airing every morning when the weather's cold......or if the windows stay firmly closed all day/night!?!

[MerryMo]

Erm no I very much doubt it is illegal. What aspect makes you think it would be?

When we lived in North Scotland I was advised to put both my babies outside for a nap by both the health visitor and our GP.

Summer and winter I would put them out for a nap in out back garden (in view of the patio doors). Even in the snow - they went out for a nap, wrapped up warm. I would never just leave them to it. Always kept aclose eye and not leave them out for ages in the very cold. Fresh air has to better than the dry stale air in most centrally heated houses. Both mine have grown up into happy and healthy teenagers, with no frost bite or ill effects!

[Squtternutbaush]

LiseO why would it be illegal to leave your child to nap in a pushchair in the garden?

Of course its fine, personally I wouldn't be happy to do it away from home and wouldn't be particularly thrilled to see a parent leave their baby outside a coffee shop but I can't see why it would be illegal unless the child was left for extended periods and/or was dressed inappropriately in which case it would possibly become a child safety issue

[LiseO]

Does anyone know if nordic napping is illegal in the UK?

[MyNameIsAnAnagram]

Mine slept much better outside so I used to walk him round the block he was asleep then park him at the patio doors, I thought that was just normal? Will do the same with no 2 as well.

[MELanglands]

I used to put my baby outside in her carry cot on our flat balcony. We lived in Germany and in winter the temperatures were sometimes around freezing. I think it made her more resistant to germs.

[Martha75]

My three all slept outside in their nice warm pram winter and summer - however I never put them out in fog or rain which we seem to get a lot of just lately. We were given a M&P pram for our granddaughters to use when they come, but it has nowhere to attach a harness, I wouldn't leave a baby without strapping it in.

[Notnowcato]

Yep, that was what happened to me and my sister in the 1960s in Yorkshire. Good long naps outside everyday, and we were both born in November. My sister was born in 1962, and we all know what sort of a winter that was!!

Don't think we benefitted from those lovely, high-tech materials to keep us warm either. We had wool blankets, knitted cardis and a silver cross pram.

Not sure whether we were healthier or not: I suffered from dreadful tonsillitis and chilblains all through my childhood!! But I suppose we do both like to be outdoors even in the winter.

My sister now lives in Sweden and we have visited her in December, Jan, Feb, March, April ? winter does last a long time! I think if you live there, you have to be used to be outside when it's cold. Three and four year old children gather at their nurseries when it is still dark in the morning and play in a sub-zero, floodlit playground until it's time to go inside. It's just how life is lived in the winter.

[ppeatfruit]

"a bit cross" mummytoMog I'd 've been bleedin' frothing at the mouth!!!! and I wouldn't left MIL in charge again.

[MummytoMog]

I was a bit cross when my MIL left my teeny DD at the bottom of the garden asleep in her pushchair, but the garden is 100ft long, you can't see the bottom from the house and we have a family of bloody horrible foxes at the bottom of the garden, who had recently eaten all our chickens and probably would have quite fancied a newborn for a light snack dingo ate my baby time otherwise I'm all for kiddies being out in the cold, well wrapped up. We took ours out for a lovely walk in the snow last month, they adored it.

[ppeatfruit]

"it works where your garden is enclosed" Erm.... foxes can climb and dig unless you have electric fencing I wouldn't do it!

[BadRoly]

My neighbour's mother was convinced dd2 lived in our garage! I had 3 school runs a day when dd2 was born (in November) so she slept mostly in the pram. I wrapped her up and left her in her pram in the garage to sleep if she went off on one of the school runs.

Didn't know it had a name though

[HelenaLee]

Thanks all for reading my article. I'm finding your contributions here really interesting

[Twattergy]

I haven't left ds outside for a nap but definitely do take him out in the freezing weather in his buggy for walks/naps. When he was 3mo we whacked him in the Bjorn and strapped him to DH and went snow-shoeing in the park! He fell asleep v quickly! When it's super cold I seem to be the only one with him in the park, so I do sometimes wonder if other people avoid going out in the cold. In my mind, cold weather is no problem for little ones as long as they are dressed properly. There does seem to be something 'health giving' in cold fresh air, although I think that's just in my imagination rather than based on any medical fact!

[EskSmith]

DD1 had all her naps outside on our veranda from 9 months. It was where she slept best and right for her. DD2 was happiest in her cot so that is where she slept.
I don't understand what the difference is between a pram being pushed and being stationary, they still need to be wrapped up appropriately. If I was happy to take her out for a walk then by definition she would be warm enough outside stationary too no?

I think some parents forget that babies stay the same temperature stationary or moving whereas those walking get cold when they stop.

[radiohelen]

I put my little one outside in the cold. I did until I found a fox sniffing round his pram in the middle of the day. Heart in mouth moment, I went out and yelled and flapped and the damn thing went for me. I didn't leave him outside again. It probably works OK where you know your garden is enclosed and therefore safe.

[LapsedPacifist]

We were put outside like this in enormous old-fashioned prams in the early 1960's. My very earliest memories are of looking up at sky framed by the huge pram hood and throughout my childhood I always associated being tucked up in my pram with warmth, comfort and security! I even used the memory of being cozy in my pram to "self-soothe" myself to sleep - these were the days when getting out of bed was a punishable offence for small children and there was no heating upstairs anyway, so it was freezing cold at night!

[Thumbwitch]

My DS1 would definitely have overheated - he was a December baby in the UK and could never wear a snowsuit out - he had his cotton sleepsuit and a fleece hooded coat, with a single blanket - that was enough. He used to overheat so easily. DS2 is pretty similar.

[ppeatfruit]

One of the other things I would worry about is overheating especially in under 3 month olds'.

[undercoverhousewife]

Isn't there a "diving reflex" that means that, especially in small children and babies, heart rate and respiration lowers when there is cold air on the face (I think this is how some babies survive being underwater for a few minutes if it is cold enough)? I am guessing that helps explain the good sleep.

As a baby, I was put for hours at the end of the garden and would have done with mine BUT FOR THE FOXES. Here in the London suburbs, we are overrun and they are often in the garden at dusk, playing, so no way could I be happy leaving a baby outside unattended.

[Jux]

Air is the same whether you take your children/babies out in it or leave the pram parked up outside. If that's what they (and you) are breathing then it's what you're breathing. Doesn't make any difference whether you're going down the shops/park with the baby in the pram, or putting the baby in the pram outside for a nap.