Chilling out in Finland

Some Finnish babies doing some serious chilling

Like the Swedes, the Finns are very keen on the outdoors. Today, however, I came to understand that they are rather more extreme about it than their Swedish neighbours.

A few months ago, a Finnish friend told me that not only do Finnish children go to school when it's snowing (which is shocking enough in itself for us Brits), but they also have playtime outdoors everyday whatever the weather. There is one exception though - they are allowed to stay indoors if it is colder than -30C outside!

To be honest, I thought this was a little extreme until a conversation I had today made this seem like, well, child's play.

I am running a Presentations course here in Helsinki and I had lunch with two of our contacts from the HR department. Both are Finnish - one a mother and one a grandmother. They had been kind enough to buy a cute summer outfit for my daughter when she was born in May this year and so naturally the topic of conversation soon came round to babies and parenting. I commented on how hot the summer had been, mentioning that it was nice to have spent so much time outdoors with my newborn. They agreed and then asked me if I have a place like a balcony, garden or porch to keep the baby in the winter.

Slightly baffled, my immediate response was to laugh... until I realised it was a serious question. I quickly pulled myself together enough to ask them what they meant.

As it turns out, it is apparently common practice in Finland to leave babies outdoors in their prams for 1-2 hours at a time, often unattended, and at any time of the year including deepest winter. When I asked what the benefits of this might be (suggesting helpfully, 'fresh air'), I was met with, "Well, I don't know, it's just tradition really!".

Confused about the purpose of deliberately leaving one's baby outdoors in freezing conditions, I questioned whether it might sometimes get a bit too cold during the Finnish winter to pursue this tradition. Understanding my concerns, they quickly reassured me that babies are rarely left outside in the cold below -20C. Phew, that's ok then!

I've always considered the Finns to be a cool, calm people - perhaps this is because, quite literally, they learn to chill out from such an early age.

Dave S