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...!?

Did it with both mine and no one nicked either of them. Definitely good for them. My grandmothers generation all did it and wouldn't have thought of describing it as 'Nordic', just normal.

Just said that because of the news article - apparently far more common in that region.
[resolves to try this a bit more with DC]

But it's Swedish parenting,aren't they the experts on all parenting issues and what we should always aspire to?

I'd love to hear from people who've done this! Do they sleep outside right from newborn? Is there any evidence to support it leading to less colds etc?

I think the key to this is they have the right clothes and pram liners. If you look at the picture in the report those babies are really snuggled down.

Of course. I don't actually put them out in the cold, but we go out very day on walks in the freezing weather and they fall asleep

I've done it with both of mine, usually in the back garden. More so with dd than ds because she was born in midwinter (the cold winter of 2009-2010) and almost all our time was spent outside in the park with ds who was 2.3 at the time and needed to run off all his energy. She just got used to it from very early on. Pretty much every nap she had until she dropped them at 13 months was in the pushchair outside come rain or shine. She's been pretty healthy, no major illnesses, maybe three or four colds a year since birth.

We have a Polish nanny and she says they do it a lot in Poland too, they often use little cot sized duvets in the prams so they're really well wrapped up (she says she can always spot a Polish person because their baby is wrapped up in a duvet :o)

I was always out outside for a nap when small. Nothing crazy about it, watch call th e midwife with rows of babies outside houses!

I just haven't yet spotted the lines of pushchairs outside Costa.. ;-)

Well, they're not actually napping in sub-zero temperatures, are they? They're napping inside a cosy pram, sheep skin bag, fleece babygro etc etc- so more or less at room temperature.

I'm Swedish, yes it is normal, not least because parents and older children spend a lot of time outside so baby has to come too. And winter lasts a long, long time.

I was born in 1951 up in the north of Scotland . I always napped outside in my pram .
My mother, when I expressed concern as an adult , said " don't be silly ,I tied your pram to the tree so you didn't blow away and I used to brush the snow off if it got too deep !! " < coughs pathetically >

It was common in this country too for years,my mum did it with me in Scotland,I did it with my 3.Not sure how the anti controlled crying brigade would view it but hey if it is Nordic it must be ok!

Polkadot, I'm in the anti controlled crying brigade, and I never left my dcs to cry outside. But if they were asleep I left them there. I don't think the two are connected.

Well I'm pretty sure many will cry for a while unheard(which I personally think isn't an issue,can't even rem my pram days at the bottom of the garden)however I think it's ironic that Nordic parenting is continually held up as an example to us all(nurseries recently) even when it goes against parenting styles that have previously caused MN carnage.But hey. I guess it sells a few newspapers.

Incidentally I do think it's a very healthy way of doing things,too little fresh air and being continuously cooped up in a cocktail of germs,mould spores,dust etc can't be good for anyone.

I did that with three of mine. But I'm Swedish, we were living there, and even when we lived in Swedish Lapland (only with DTDs, we then moved to Stockholm) we did it, but everyone did. In Stockholm, we'd put them in the balcony of our flat for half an hour. The only problem is that in Sweden, and other cold countries, we have excellent baby clothes, basically miniature adult snow clothes, which are great. In the UK, the good ones are often very expensive, and I know that a lot of the ones people think are adequate would seem quite flimsy in Sweden.

Blankets,layers and cosy toes do the job.

My mum did it in the 60s in Northern Scotland and I survived,have seen the pictures of my red,wind chapped cheeks.

i slept in a pram outside in Scotland as a baby

I had a foot muff thingy from our now defunct Bebe Confort Loola pushchair which was awesome, it's like a sleepingbag with a waterproof outer cover. I used to put dd in that with vest, sleepsuit, coat, hat, gloves, socks, fleece blanket and I'd put another blanket round her to stop any draughts getting in, so all that was poking out was her little pink cheeks and mouth and nose. Very cute!

I think it's fine and it doesn't have to equate with controlled crying if you can hear them.

I don't think you'd get away with leaving them outside Costa though in this country - unlikely someone would steal them, but someone might call the police!

I chose a nursery for one of my DD which did this, and was very happy with it....until OFSTED came and told them to bring the babies in :-(.

I'm a firm believer in 'no bad weather, only bad clothes' but with a baby it is so difficult to judge. It was easier knowing that she'd be outside so I coudl put her in snuggly clothes that were easy for the nursery to take off indoors.

This is interesting, although I am not sure where it sits with Nordic Napping. Maybe being outside where the virus is less easily transmitted to each other (unlike the warm classroom) prevents the children catching colds and flus?

I would leave mine outside if I had somewhere to, dd2 has always napped well in the buggy when I have been out in freezing temperatures with dd1.

Exactly Bertie
I think there would have to be a bit of a seachange for most non-parents to see this as fine. I was called over by a parking attendant in the Sainsbury's carpark the other day to have a look at the age of a child through the window to see whether I thought it would be an appropriate age for it to have been left alone sleeping in the car. I said I reckoned it was fine (have done it lots myself) but I think some people freak out a bit about it...

I just think of that programme a few years ago where three families tried out three different parenting styles and the one that had the controlled crying/strict routine style had their tiny newborn twins put outside in the pram screaming, while the expert was practically holding back the crying mother from bringing them in.
I honestly think this started partly because massive prams didn't fit in the house. The artical doesn't actually say the children who sleep outside are healthier just that the ones who generally spend more time outside have less days off preschool. I do believe in getting DC outside everyday whatever the weather but I am not convinced on the napping outdoors.

article my brain is mush!

I read an article years ago about goat herders (or shepherds of some sort) in Siberia where the temperature regularly drops below -40 in winter and how they sleep in tents throughout the winter. They have much lower levels of colds and flu, mostly because the virus just can't survive in such low temperatures. They had much longer life expectancy despite spending much of the year sleeping in really low temperatures. I don't think the cold is that bad for humans so long as they keep their bodies adequately warm. I think the same is true for babies and children.