Roo taking an outdoor pushchair nap on a two hour January walk along the Thames Path.
The more I read the news, the more I feel that Britain is a country of moderation and fence-post sitting. We are the mediator, the middle-man and the modest owner of the middle-ground when it comes to any major debates or decisions, whether on politics, religion or environment. A deviation from a democratic crowd-pleasing decision draws gasps of horror from the British middle-classes. Whilst this can sometimes present problems, a country of openness, tolerance and democracy is something on the whole to be very proud of but where has all this middle-of-the-road-ness come from?
My personal theory is that this all stems from that other very British favourite topic – the weather. We are a country of mild, moderate weather, neither summer too hot nor winter too cold. Extremes of temperature are treated as a serious crisis and become the subject of conversation for months if not years to come. Perhaps we have as a nation been influenced in our nature by our climate and environment and adapted to the safe reassurance of the middle, going to extremes when the weather (or events) does likewise?
There is no exception when it comes to weather and British parenting. The freezing cold winter finds our little ones so muffled up they can barely see out from under their ten layers and the slightest suggestion of sunshine has us reaching for our factor 50 faster than a flash. Yet for those living with harsher winter climates than ours, life and parenting continues as normal in the cold, with Swedish mothers actively welcoming the soporific effect of the freezing winter air on their fractious off-spring. In an article by Helena Lee for the BBC News Magazine – “The babies who nap in sub-zero temperatures” – she explores the common phenomenon of the outdoor sub-zero baby nap in Sweden and the very fact that this is news-worthy in the UK highlights our fascination and awe at dealing with cold winter temperature in life-as-normal way.
There’s no such thing as bad weather only inappropriate clothing…
At Baby Routes people often come to the site looking for information on whether it’s ok to take a baby out in the winter or advice on how to tackle winter walks with little ones. From my own experience I would endorse the Swedish maternal wisdom that fresh air helps baby sleep. Indeed the reason I started walking so early with my baby daughter was more from desperation at trying to soothe her (and me) from endless hours of crying than an over-eagerness to share the wilds with her before she’d barely worked out who I was! One of the first bits of kit I invested in for my autumn baby was an all encompassing fleece-lined, wind and water resistant pram liner. It was imported from a part of the USA where winters come a lot harsher than ours as I could find nothing as resilient on the UK market and it has been so brilliant at keeping us mobile in the winter weather I have since bought the next size up.
I’ve also been on the other extreme though, returning red-cheeked from a walk in weather I thought was cool but not freezing, only to discover my daughter’s mitten and boot clad hands and feet looking decidedly pale and feeling scarily icy.
Winter walking in snowy Switzerland
It is easy to forget whilst striding out briskly in the frost that your bundled up baby is static and chilling down. Luckily, we’re none the worse for those early winter baby walks when I was still learning the ropes and I’ve since learnt to keep cold winter walks where I’m carrying my daughter in her rucksack relatively short with frequent checks on her extremities (read more in Ten Top Tips for Winter Walks with a baby). The pushchair cover keeps her toasty for hours and as a baby, when she was small enough to carry on my front, zipped up to her chest under my own coat too, she was indeed in greater danger of over-heating than freezing!
All-in-all I can well believe that fresh air napping, whether above or below zero, is good for a baby. My daughter when a small baby often spent more time snoozing on her frequent fresh-air excursions than awake. I’ve not yet purposefully put her outside in the garden during the winter for a nap in her pram (though when she’s throwing a tantrum it can be quite tempting) but like anything outdoors, if you have the right clothing and common sense then perhaps this is not as strange or extreme as it seems. In fact for me the most shocking revelation in this article is that a Swedish mother will leave her baby sleeping unaccompanied outside a coffee shop – even if, as I have no doubt, she has a good window seat for keeping an eye on her sleeping charge!
As I finish writing this post a few solitary snowflakes are beginning to fall past the window. From upstairs I can hear the first wails of my daughter as she wakes up early from her afternoon sleep. Quick – fetch that pram!
Click here to read the full article that inspired this post ‘The babies who nap in sub-zero temperatures’ by Helena Lee.
Would you leave your baby outside for a nap? Does winter curtail your outdoor activities with your little one? What do you think of walking in winter with a baby under-two? Leave a comment and let me know!
