A Nordic Nap

Would you put your baby or toddler outside in the freezing cold for their lunchtime nap?

Most Nordic parents wouldn’t give it a second thought. For them it’s part of their daily routine. Stockholm in winter can see lows of -5C but it’s still very common to see children left outside, asleep in their pram.
Nordic parents have been told through the generations that leaving your children outside for their nap is good for them; the fresh air means they nap for longer and are getting plenty of vitamins. When the temperature drops to -15C the prams are covered with blankets but still not brought in from outside. Most nurseries in Sweden put the children out to rest with prams lined up in the snow at nap time, outside nurseries, shops, balconies or just on the street.
The children are kept wrapped up warm and studies have shown that parents rate it as a healthy way for children to sleep but let’s be honest, if we saw a pram abandoned outside in the freezing cold, it would cause most parents to panic and a  call from the social services. Nordic families may be wrapping their kids up for the cold weather while British families prefer to wrap their kids up in cotton wool.