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Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes (2013)

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Re: Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes (2013)

#71

Post by refurb »

Swizec wrote: post #35
songzme wrote: post #30

My baby is due in 4 weeks. My wife and I shopped for weeks trying to buy a 2nd hand crib that was affordable (We ended up getting one for free from a neighbor on nextdoor). Never did it cross my mind that I could just use a cardboard box! I will definitely make a cardboard box for my upcoming baby, use it as much as I can, and see if I could get by without a crib! Perfect DIY project for a stay home dad, cribs always…

As a non parent surrounded by friends having kids I often wonder how much money and faff is wasted on things kids won’t even remember.

Not only that, but money wasted on stuff that gets used for 1-2 years then is no longer needed.

My wife and I joined a "free baby stuff" facebook group and got almost everything we needed for free.

Re: Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes (2013)

#73

Post by smoe »

axegon_ wrote: post #2

Come to think of it, this is great thinking. Sure, it's mostly symbolic but the message itself is beautiful: Finland is a wealthy nation and even in wealthy nations people don't get equal start: surely you'd have better options when your dad is an F1 world champion than the local plumber, but even so, this serves as a nice reminder. Sort of reminds me of a short story written about a century ago(and only one English…

I’m not sure if saying it’s a beautiful message does the initiative justice. It was introduced all the way back in 1938 for low income families at a time Finland was quite a bit a poorer country.

I remember reading that a big goal initially was to reduce child mortality rate. One only gets the box if you visit a doctor during pregnancy for consultations which often wasn’t the case back then. But I don’t have source at hand writing on the phone, so might be wrong on that.

Re: Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes (2013)

#74

Post by gjhh244 »

danielheath wrote: post #45
songzme wrote: post #30

My baby is due in 4 weeks. My wife and I shopped for weeks trying to buy a 2nd hand crib that was affordable (We ended up getting one for free from a neighbor on nextdoor). Never did it cross my mind that I could just use a cardboard box! I will definitely make a cardboard box for my upcoming baby, use it as much as I can, and see if I could get by without a crib! Perfect DIY project for a stay home dad, cribs always…

Bear in mind: * Mass manufactured Finnish ones have a base-mat that fits snugly. A very slight gap is a suffocation risk. * When your first baby arrives, you spend a lot more time than you're used to on your knees. Cribs, being raised, are far easier on your knees than a box on the floor.

My wife's grandparents actually made a metal frame specifically designed to hold the Finnish maternity box at a comfortable height. Now it's in use for our newborn, since the box size hasn't changed.

Re: Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes (2013)

#75

Post by axegon_ »

smoe wrote: post #73
axegon_ wrote: post #2

Come to think of it, this is great thinking. Sure, it's mostly symbolic but the message itself is beautiful: Finland is a wealthy nation and even in wealthy nations people don't get equal start: surely you'd have better options when your dad is an F1 world champion than the local plumber, but even so, this serves as a nice reminder. Sort of reminds me of a short story written about a century ago(and only one English…

I’m not sure if saying it’s a beautiful message does the initiative justice. It was introduced all the way back in 1938 for low income families at a time Finland was quite a bit a poorer country. I remember reading that a big goal initially was to reduce child mortality rate. One only gets the box if you visit a doctor during pregnancy for consultations which often wasn’t the case back then. But I don’t have source a…

I'm talking about today: Finland is one of the wealthiest nations on the planet. In that aspect, it's mostly symbolic.

Re: Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes (2013)

#76

Post by nextlevelwizard »

29athrowaway wrote: post #15

A cushioned cardboard box is enough for a newborn. Its weakness could be moisture and high flammability. But aside from that it is perfect.

This is really odd comment. Like, yes, if you leave it outside in the rain that probably isn't the best for it, but it is a bed thous usually stay indoors. I don't get what your imaginary scenario is where the structure of the box is randomly compromised by the moisture.

The flammability is even more strange. Again yeah, maybe don't put your baby box right in from the of the fireplace, but you probably wouldn't leave your baby there unsupervised anyway. Also babies usually aren't smokers so you don't have to worry about them dozing off with a cigarette and burning down the house.

Re: Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes (2013)

#77

Post by cranekam »

songzme wrote: post #30

My baby is due in 4 weeks. My wife and I shopped for weeks trying to buy a 2nd hand crib that was affordable (We ended up getting one for free from a neighbor on nextdoor). Never did it cross my mind that I could just use a cardboard box! I will definitely make a cardboard box for my upcoming baby, use it as much as I can, and see if I could get by without a crib! Perfect DIY project for a stay home dad, cribs always…

If your baby is due in 4 weeks it’s likely it’ll be quite a few months until a crib is needed. The first months will pass in a tired blur of the baby sleeping only on you or your partner, followed waking up the second you try to put them on anything else. Once they use a crib though just buy one — you won’t have time to build and it’s important to make it safe.

Re: Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes (2013)

#79

Post by nextlevelwizard »

daenz wrote: post #47

>It's a tradition that dates back to the 1930s and it's designed to give all children in Finland, no matter what background they're from, an equal start in life. That's like saying that because we have public school, all kids have an equal education. It's plain wrong. It doesn't work unless you force everyone to use the box and force everyone to go to public schools.

I don't get what your comment is trying to say. If someone doesn't want to take the box they take the cash. If they take the box and immediately throw it into trash that is on them. Everyone still gets equal start.

Re: Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes (2013)

#80

Post by usrbinbash »

wongarsu wrote: post #14
authed wrote: post #4

Doesn't CO2 accumulate in the box since there are no holes on the sides?

Gases really like to mix, much more so than liquids. The box contains a baby that causes air movement (breathing and moving), I would be surprised if the box contains substantially different air than the immediate surroundings.

Plus, the human body radiates off a lot of thermal energy, warm gases rise, so purely by thermal convection enough mixing occurs.
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