Sleeping like a baby! Nursery that insists it’s healthier for children to nap outdoors
SWADDLED in blankets and well off in the Land of Nod, these little ones are a sight to delight any frazzled parent.
But look carefully and you may notice the secret to their slumber – the great outdoors.
The youngsters are napping at a UK nursery where child minders say leaving babies outside is the healthiest way for them to sleep.
While most grandmothers who raised their offspring in the 1950s would argue the practice is nothing new, in more recent times it fell out of fashion in favour of more structured sleeping techniques, which encouraged the use of black-out blinds and absolute silence.
However, the rise in popularity of Scandinavian- style education practices, such as ‘ forest schools’, has meant allowing youngsters to nap outdoors is making a comeback.
Childminder Hannah Rosalie, 36, who runs Paddock Cottage nursery, near Bury, West Sussex, said rocking babies to sleep in fresh air, accompanied by birdsong, was good for their wellbeing.
The mother-of-two said: ‘I’ve always loved the outdoors and so have my own children, who always napped outside. They always slept well and are very healthy. It’s perfectly safe, but sadly it has been lost in recent times. It’s so much more natural for babies to be rocked to sleep under the trees and wake to the sound of birdsong.
‘I would love to see more new mums parking their buggies outside, instead of putting babies in cots and fretting about blackout blinds.’ The Forest School movement – in which children learn how to handle knives, light fires and manage woodland and plants – has been embraced by UK schools and nurseries following its success in Scandinavia.
Many private day nurseries and primary schools have carers and teachers specifically trained in outdoor skills, which are proven to enhance learning.
The sessions, which often allow children to climb trees, get muddy and toast marshmallows on camp fires, appeal to modern parents who want their offspring to explore nature in a safe environment.
Miss Rosalie, who charges £8 an hour per child, is a Forest School practitioner and encourages the children she looks after to light camp fires and forage for food from a very young age.
She admitted she took steps to prepare her charges for the British weather. ‘I invested in some very good quality pushchairs which lay totally flat, some high quality sleeping bags and lots of thermal blankets.’