There's No Such Thing as Bad Weather: A Scandinavian Mom's Secrets for Raising Healthy, Resilient, and Confident Kids (from Friluftsliv to Hygge)

by Linda Åkeson McGurk

Surprisingly little research exists about outdoor napping, but a Finnish study from 2008 did confirm that children take longer naps when they sleep outside. The study was based in the city of Oulu, Finland, where 95 percent of the parents let their babies nap outside, generally starting from when they are a couple of weeks old. The study also showed that the ideal napping temperature was perceived as twenty-one degrees (−6°C), although many parents reported that they let their charges stay outside in temperatures as low as five degrees (−15°C) or even colder. A majority of the parents also said that their children were “more active” and ate better after napping outside in the cold. A whopping 94 percent of the parents felt like napping outdoors was “healthy because of the fresh air.”