Let me begin by stating unequivocally that there is absolutely nothing Scandinavian about me or my family heritage. I hail from Eastern Europe--genetically speaking--and, well, Jersey (mostly)--culturally speaking. I do not fit even slightly into the classic stereotype of the tall, outdoorsy, joyful, sexy Scandinavian babe. I am five foot ten (or
was until post-twin-pregnancy-and-toddlerhood-related chronic back pain made me truly appreciate the benefits of hunching over all the time). But Helena Christensen, I am definitely not. I confess to listening to Abba on occasion, but that's as close to Sweden as I have ever been or ever will be in all likelihood.
Nor does the title of this post have anything remotely to do with me having some sort of passion for baby-related Scandinavian
design, as in baby furniture by IKEA or Svan, for example.
No, friends, the reason Danes, Norwegians, Swedes and even Icelanders (though the latter are not technically Scandinavian, of course) who meet me around town are constantly addressing me in their mother tongue as though it must
obviously be mine as well is this:
My babies nap outside. For two hours (it used to be four hours when they were infants). Every day. Since birth.
Even in the winter. (Just typing that makes me think of the US Postal Service Creed: "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these babies from napping outside!" Hee, hee.)
Some of you may remember the case from some ten years ago or so in which
Annette Sorensen, a woman from Copenhagen, was arrested for child endangerment, strip searched, locked up for 48 hours after leaving her 14-month-old daughter alone in a stroller outside an East Village restaurant while she and the baby's father were inside eating and throwing back tequila shots. Given that Ms. Sorensen cited the common Danish practice of leaving children unattended outside restaurants and shops in her defense, the case ignited an international brouhaha over child care and safety (and actually dragged on until quite recently). At the time, many Danes were quoted as saying things like, "Come on, we do this all the time! We go in for a cup of coffee, sit so we can see the stroller, go out and check once in a while and that's it." Ultimately, charges were dropped, the baby, who had been placed in foster care for four days, was returned to her mother, and the family went back home to Copenhagen. Furthermore, a couple of years after the arrest
a follow up article in the New York Times claimed "the Scandinavian habit of parking a stroller outside for a few moments while posting a letter or buying a pastry is rapidly fading into nostalgia."
From what I can tell, not so!
This photo was posted to
Reykjavik Daily Photo Blog on October 29, 2008 under the header "Could Not Be More Icelandic!"
And this one from the
Iceland Eyes Blog posted December 2007:
Further, just a few days ago I saw this post on Craigslist (North Carolina): "I have a Scandinavian style pram for sale. I used it for my baby to take naps outside. Where I am from all babies take naps outside,
it is considered essential for the immune system and the lungs. Here my baby napped outside all year except summer time. I also include an excellent wool wrap to bundle baby in on cold days. Babies can sleep outside out of wind and rain down to freezing point when properly covered. If you are interested or have questions please call. Thanks for looking, Christina (from Denmark) [emphasis mine]."
And, from a
Dutch (!) day care center newsletter dated November 2008: "Most of the children take an afternoon nap at the day-care center. Babies that sleep uneasily are often placed outside in their pram. This makes them quite literally “sleep like a baby”. In the Netherlands, people are not used to letting kids sleep outside, but it is getting more and more common. It was quite common already in Groningen, back in the old days when people worked the land and wanted to have their kids within reach. It is also very common in Scandinavian countries and gradually it is becoming more standard within the area of child-care. Of course, there are a few regulations we need to stick to: it is not advisable to let children sleep outside in dense fog and sharp frost. But aside from that sleeping outside does the children a lot of good. Of course we dress the children appropriately, i.e. not too warm and not too cold. Before we let children sleep outside, group management will obtain the parents’ approval."
And, apparently, even
Oprah had some Icelander on one of her shows in 2005 who said: "And we're quite comfortable leaving our children on the sidewalk by themselves while we go in to shop. We also make sure our children sleep outside for at least an hour a day. Even in the winter. The fresh air is very good for them." That's right,
Oprah.
Now, I know what you are thinking:
Why? Why? Why?!Here's why I started doing it. When my twins were born, we lived in a tiny second floor walkup in the Fenway. We had no car. My husband had no paternity leave. Neither of us has family in the area, nor could we afford to hire help. Of course, there were many, many times when I had to leave the house with the babies because, well, I had stuff to do: grocery shopping, laundry, get some fresh air so I didn't feel like I was being held hostage in my own apartment 24/7 which would result in my having a strong desire to throw myself out a window, etc. Having years of babysitting and au pair experience under my belt during which I was universally asked to take babies out for a long stroll, most often at naptime, I have to be honest that the idea of leaving the house when my boys were awake to run errands (or for any other reason frankly) never even crossed my mind. It just seemed counterintuitive to me to have to nap them in their cribs, which would obviously keep me captive in the house, and then in turn have to force them to sit in a stroller when they were awake and wanted to be moving around or interacting with me and expect them not to be fussy as I made my way from supermarket, to pharmacy, to post office, to bank, to laundromat and beyond. Recipe for disaster as far as I was concerned.
So, instead, from day one, we have always just bundled (or sunscreened) up and gone outside, on foot. They sleep (through anything and everything). I push the stroller, get my exercise, and get most of my "stuff" done. Funnily enough, the only thing that seems to wake them up is being inside in too much quiet or out of the fresh air for too long!
As it turns out, it seems that my logic is pretty much the same logic for Scandinavian moms. Hedda from Oslo, Norway explained to me the other day that Norwegian babies nap outside
even when they're home (properly bundled and with a baby monitor and regular checks of course) because first and foremost, it's good for everyone to get fresh air! Second, because outside naps seem to last longer and be more restful. (I have to second that point based on my experience.) And finally, because "Norwegian moms are home with the baby for a year, and we have to get around and do some shopping, errands, or meet up with other moms, etc., so the babies here are used to being "on the run". Naptime is actually a super time for a café date with other moms, or a nice long walk in the park, i.e., mom's workout for the day. Since maternity leave is so much longer here in Norway, we tend to adjust the baby's schedule to our own, rather than the other way around."
Following the Sorensen case there was even a letter to the editor of the New York Times that gave another good reason for this practice: "Elisabeth Kallick Dyssegaard (Op-Ed, May 17) describes the Scandinavian conviction that fresh, cold air is good for babies. There may be a scientific basis for this. Before vitamin D was discovered and used to fortify milk and other foods, babies born in the fall and unable to get adequate sunlight through the long, dark Northern European winter were at risk to develop and possibly die of rickets before spring. Keeping a baby outside, even in cold weather, maximized ultraviolet light exposure and vitamin D production. STEPHEN J. GORDON, M.D. San Diego, May 17, 1997."
Considering that, like Scandinavians, my babies and I happen to live north of the 42-degrees latitude and therefore probably do not get enough vitamin D from sun exposure from November through February anyway, I'm sort of doubly glad we spend so much of our time outside.
Now, of course, I am not suggesting that
you should kick your kids out into the backyard or onto an urban sidewalk to sleep! I'm just saying that there are definitely myriad naptime options out there, and this is one of them that happens to work well for my New England family and a whole bunch of other people who live in dark, freezing cold regions of the world! So, have confidence, trust your intuition, be creative and you'll find the one that works for you!
In conclusion, and just in case any of you get the crazy idea that reporting me to DSS for child endangerment is the thing to do, let me reassure you of a few things: I do not, like the Scandinavians, ever leave my kids outside unattended. Never. Not even for a shot of tequila. When we're not "on the go", as Hedda describes it, I am sitting right next to them... all bundled up too.
