Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes.

[debrand]

What a lovely idea

[Thefranks2009]

This is such an awesome idea, it's a shame we don't have something like this in the states. And what a neat memento for the grown child!

[formergothardite]

Aww. Now this is treating babies as a blessing. Maybe one day America will get there.

[Savoring Samsara]

Re napping outdoors: Some friends of mine relocated to Finland for graduate school, and ended up having a child there. After being initially resistant to the idea of putting their son down for a nap on their apartment's balcony, they quickly became complete converts to the idea, and even continued to wrap him up and put him out in the backyard when they came back to the United States for a visit. They came over to our house one day and, when their son started getting fussy, put his snowsuit on and literally stuck him in a snowbank on our back porch until he fell asleep. He was none the worse for wear, but as he was fussing and crying a bit while falling asleep, I was terrified that our neighbors were going to call the cops on us for child abandonment. :lol: So, yeah, works for them but not for me!

[cjsmom]

I'm really proud of my country right now :D Go Finland!! It's good that there's something to cheer about in this expensive iceland :D (but our summers are still really nice and beautiful :))

As a Canadian teacher, I am in awe of how your education system works! Two things to cheer about.

[OrangeCat]

Back in the early '70s in Canada, my mom would pop me in a pram on the balcony all bundled up in the cold. To this day, I always sleep better in a super cold room with a big soft blanket. It wasn't a big deal and as I'm told, lots of people did it. 8-)

[latsyrk99]

That's really cool. I know in the US if you have your baby at a Kaiser hospital you get a diaper bag that gives you a blanket, tshirt, thermometer, the nose ball sucker, baby wash and I think a few other things that I can't remember. I was really impressed with the quality of the first diaper bag because of all the pockets for organizing, and it was very durable easy to wash canvas type of material and I actually used it for both kids since I didn't really like the redesign of the diaper bag I received with my 2nd baby.

[AVENues]

I'm really proud of my country right now :D Go Finland!! It's good that there's something to cheer about in this expensive iceland :D (but our summers are still really nice and beautiful :))

As someone that loves your vodka, Northern Europe and the Balticum and hooked up with a few guys from your country back in my prime, I say, you're just awesome in general. PS: Your ice hockey playing rocks!

[I live off the state]

I loved my box. It is the toughest box in the world. It was my sons bed for the first few months of his life it has been used to pack things for our move from Finland to Hungary and then back again and it has now been converted into into a dollls house.

I can tell you it isn't just condoms you get. our box had a tube of lube too.

And for thosse who are ino labels, many of the clothed are well respected local brands, the daipers that wou get are imse vimse ( https://www.imsevimse.us/ ).

[VincentvanGoGo]

As a Canadian teacher, I am in awe of how your education system works! Two things to cheer about.

That's true! Speaking of Canada, I am dreaming that someday I could travel there. I would love to bike through the Prince Edward Island :)

[Feberin]

Much better then the breastfed baby gift bag I got at the hospital. A really cheap reusable grocery bag style bag, a sample of diaper rash ointment, an ice pack, an actually nice insulated bottle bag and of course two cans of formula. I was glad to be able to donate them though.

[August]

I loved my box. It is the toughest box in the world. It was my sons bed for the first few months of his life it has been used to pack things for our move from Finland to Hungary and then back again and it has now been converted into into a dollls house.

I can tell you it isn't just condoms you get. our box had a tube of lube too.

And for thosse who are ino labels, many of the clothed are well respected local brands, the daipers that wou get are imse vimse ( https://www.imsevimse.us/ ).

I love Imse Vimse!

[debrand]

Putting your baby outside to sleep amazes me. I think someone would call the CPS on me if I did that in the states.

[OkToBeTakei]

Putting your baby outside to sleep amazes me. I think someone would call the CPS on me if I did that in the states.

Why on earth?

Cozy warm rosy cheeked baby taking in the fresh air. Far better than cooped up in a cage they spend all night in (hopefully hehe) with central heating.

Heat though not an issue here. Rarely too hot here :(

[Burpies]

I loved my box. It is the toughest box in the world. It was my sons bed for the first few months of his life it has been used to pack things for our move from Finland to Hungary and then back again and it has now been converted into into a dollls house.

I can tell you it isn't just condoms you get. our box had a tube of lube too.

And for thosse who are ino labels, many of the clothed are well respected local brands, the daipers that wou get are imse vimse ( https://www.imsevimse.us/ ).

That's so awesome! I LOVE imse vimse!

[formergothardite]

Why on earth?

Cozy warm rosy cheeked baby taking in the fresh air. Far better than cooped up in a cage they spend all night in (hopefully hehe) with central heating.

Heat though not an issue here. Rarely too hot here :(

If the child is left alone to nape people would flip the fuck out here. I live in NC like debrand does. I once got lectured by someone because it was raining, I put my kids in the car and then walked away from the car to put the cart in the cart corral that was two parking spaces over. Someone could have kidnapped my kids!!!!

[Irishy]

We were all put outside to sleep as babies. It was really big in my mother's generation. Their thinking was that babies need a minimum of 2 hours fresh air a day and that it aided night time sleep. I always tried to get my babies their two hours. Usually in the form of walks. I was not diligent about where and when they slept.

[Irishy]

If the child is left alone to nape people would flip the fuck out here. I live in NC like debrand does. I once got lectured by someone because it was raining, I put my kids in the car and then walked away from the car to put the cart in the cart corral that was two parking spaces over. Someone could have kidnapped my kids!!!!

Ahh the parenting police. Kinda like the pregnancy police but nastier.

[OkToBeTakei]

Ahh the parenting police. Kinda like the pregnancy police but nastier.

:lol:

I did not abandon my child on a beach or in some random snowdrift up a mountain :lol: Do people in NC not have back gardens? (yards?) I used to pop her in the garden outside the french doors or at my back door. In sight. I've noticed that some of my relatives share garden areas in the US and I wonder if this is the same with you? Here gardens tend to be relatively secure, walled and gated etc. Like Irishy though the majority of nap time I would time for being out and about walking at the beach, I wore out all terrain tyres twice on my pram before she was a year old.

I had friends who never went out at all as they were hugely into the nap in a cot. Others who had naps with baby etc. So not a cultural thing maybe just a personal choice.

[Arete]

My family is a firm believer of baby walks, as long as that kid is bundled for an expedition to the North Pole at ALL Times except for summer, when you can only have them out before 10 AM with a hat or after the sun goes down. Any deviation from this practice means you are a bad mother who is either asking for the kid to get double lung pneumonia or sunburn that requires a hospital. :roll:

Thank God our brats go to daycare, where the older women in our family can't see them playing outside in the nasty sandbox in all kinds of weather. ;)

[dawbs]

*snip*Here gardens tend to be relatively secure, walled and gated etc. Like Irishy though the majority of nap time I would time for being out and about walking at the beach, I wore out all terrain tyres twice on my pram before she was a year old.

I had friends who never went out at all as they were hugely into the nap in a cot. Others who had naps with baby etc. So not a cultural thing maybe just a personal choice.

That may be part of the difference.

I've never lived in a house that had a fenced in yard....ever. If I count up all of the homes (if I include the rentals), I can say I have lived in 4ish rural homes and 3ish urban homes and never ever had a fenced back yard.

There's also the difference between the perceived threat of kidnappers and the reality, but that's a whole 'nother discussion.

(and honestly, even now, nap time for baby = the only time I can count on uninterrupted chances to catch up on sleep. I never take her out during her naps; it's my chance to either DO STUFF or catch up on some sweet sweet sleep.

Of course, part of that is also being a specific type of rural--not "oh look, a country lane outside my window" rural, but a "oh look, there's a VERY busy road I live on and there's nothing resembling sidewalks or pedestrian paths [those are an urban thing] or bike lanes")

[OkToBeTakei]

That may be part of the difference.

I've never lived in a house that had a fenced in yard....ever. If I count up all of the homes (if I include the rentals), I can say I have lived in 4ish rural homes and 3ish urban homes and never ever had a fenced back yard.

There's also the difference between the perceived threat of kidnappers and the reality, but that's a whole 'nother discussion.

(and honestly, even now, nap time for baby = the only time I can count on uninterrupted chances to catch up on sleep. I never take her out during her naps; it's my chance to either DO STUFF or catch up on some sweet sweet sleep.

Of course, part of that is also being a specific type of rural--not "oh look, a country lane outside my window" rural, but a "oh look, there's a VERY busy road I live on and there's nothing resembling sidewalks or pedestrian paths [those are an urban thing] or bike lanes")

OH totally. Demographics differ greatly.

But isn't it strange that I actually felt safer having my baby in a pram outside the french door in my sight rather than in a cot in a room where I could not see her. OH and totally get the me time. If not walking I used to spend that time reading.

There are old pictures of Glasgow old tenement flats (I would liken them to 4 story brownstones in New York.) Parked outside every door prams and prams of babies (old fashioned Silvercross types.) Washing strung across the street. Mum's hanging out windows gossiping. Too funny. Imagine that now ?!!!!

[DarkAnts]

OH totally. Demographics differ greatly.

But isn't it strange that I actually felt safer having my baby in a pram outside the french door in my sight rather than in a cot in a room where I could not see her. OH and totally get the me time. If not walking I used to spend that time reading.

There are old pictures of Glasgow old tenement flats (I would liken them to 4 story brownstones in New York.) Parked outside every door prams and prams of babies (old fashioned Silvercross types.) Washing strung across the street. Mum's hanging out windows gossiping. Too funny. Imagine that now ?!!!!

America is in many ways a fear based culture. We are afraid to drink the water, we are afraid to vaccinate, we are afraid the government is watching our every move. We are also afraid that god will strike us dead if we dont follow our churches interpretation of the bible, we are afraid our children will practice witchcraft or Satanism at school. The list goes on and on. Its the culture we live in. Its hard to not get caught up in it.

[Katiebug]

If the child is left alone to nape people would flip the fuck out here. I live in NC like debrand does. I once got lectured by someone because it was raining, I put my kids in the car and then walked away from the car to put the cart in the cart corral that was two parking spaces over. Someone could have kidnapped my kids!!!!

Some states have laws about leaving kids alone in a car. A mother of two in a nearby town was cited for child endangerment when picking up her older child from daycare with their baby in the car. It was in the midst of a heavy rain and rather than getting the baby out of the car seat/hauling the infant seat in with her in the rain, she parked right in front of the day care center with the baby in the car, the air conditioning ON, and the doors locked. She was in the center for 5 minutes with the car in view the entire time - the daycare workers called the police when they didn't see the mother carrying the baby in the infant seat into the center with her.

In my state, knowingly leaving a child under the age of 12 in a public place or motor vehicle for a period of time that "presents a substantial risk to the child's health or safety" (which is determined by the police or DCF) is a misdemeanor, and doing so between 8 PM - 6 AM is a felony.

Putting a baby on the porch in a stroller for a nap would not be in a public place but there are a LOT of sanctimonious nosy types who would call DCF if you did so.

[bananacat]

America is in many ways a fear based culture. We are afraid to drink the water, we are afraid to vaccinate, we are afraid the government is watching our every move. We are also afraid that god will strike us dead if we dont follow our churches interpretation of the bible, we are afraid our children will practice witchcraft or Satanism at school. The list goes on and on. Its the culture we live in. Its hard to not get caught up in it.

Yeah, definitely. I once found a cantaloupe on the ground in a parking lot, in the same shopping center as a grocery store. I assumed it fell out of someone's car or cart, and I looked around but no people were around. So I took the cantaloupe and ate it. It's a mildly funny story because it's not something that happens every day, but one time I shared it a friend and she freaked out. She said I should've been worried that someone had poisoned it, like with a needle. Because the world is apparently full of weirdos who want to murder a random person and would choose a cantaloupe in a parking lot as the bait. :roll: I guess it was possible, but highly unlikely. I mean, I was in her house and she could have just murdered me right then or something, but that's also unlikely (although more likely than a poisoned cantaloupe). Everyone is so worried about strangers, but statistically anything bad is likely to be done by someone we already know. We were about strangers kidnapping babies to sell into a Satanic sex ring, but most child kidnappings are done by family members involved in custody disputes. We worry about the scary dark stranger lurking in the bushes to rape us if we walk alone at night, but rapists overwhelmingly target acquaintances. We worry about strangers molesting children in a public park, but again, it's most likely to be someone they know, such as a family member or church clergy. And we worry about strangers killing us with bait fruit when I'm more likely to be murdered by a husband/boyfriend than anyone else. Even in the rare cases of people killing strangers, it was almost always connected to an actual specific victim that they knew personally, like in the Tylenol poisonings.