Our Tips for Safe and Fun Outdoor Adventures
As a new parent, you may be wondering if it’s safe to take your newborn outside, or if daily fresh air is even as important as they say. Though every new situation must be approached with some caution when dealing with newborns, taking your child outside for sunshine can bring with it significant benefits. Time spent in nature can improve your little one’s health, build their synapses, and even help them sleep! Today, we’re unpacking the numerous benefits of taking your newborn outside, as well as our tips for safely navigating any risks.
Benefits of Taking a Newborn Outside
Improves Health
Even though we lean toward protecting our little ones from the great outdoors with all its bugs and dirt, more time spent outside has been positively linked to having a stronger immune system. The variety of microbes that your child will be exposed to outdoors helps to stimulate and strengthen their immune system, making trips into nature an investment in their long-term health.
Sunlight also helps the body produce vitamin D, allowing babies to safely produce their own healthy vitamins by simply being outdoors. Vitamin D improves the body’s calcium absorption and, subsequently, their overall bone health — this is especially crucial in the early years to protect against bone maladies like rickets.
Increases Cognitive Function
A child’s cognitive development (how they think and learn) is triggered and spurred along by exploration. What better way to support your child’s development than by taking them outdoors? Simple novelties like flowers can help form new brain synapses, or neural pathways which carry information from the brain’s sensory organs.The more information your baby can soak up, the more their brain establishes learning patterns to serve them in the future.
New environments encourage your child to crawl, climb and challenge themselves to solve problems creatively, effectively developing their motor skills. Every trip outside offers exciting sounds, smells, and textures that your child may have never experienced before. While of course it’s best to always keep an eye out for anything your child might put in their mouth, it’s alright to let your little one get a little muddy or dusty. As long as you are ready to intervene in the case of an unsafe situation, letting your child solve their own problems can teach them independence and creative thinking. It may be tempting to step in with a ladle when you see your baby trying to scoop up water with a fork, but the trial-and-error process is crucial to your child’s continued development.
Let's not forget about language development in young children. Any new environment will expose your child to a plethora of different accents, words, and intonations that they might not hear at home. This is hugely important to building your baby’s understanding of language and grammar, as every new word or phrase is a data point which your child will build upon in their own speech.
Aids in Restful Sleep
This may seem like a fading dream sometimes, but spending more time outdoors can actually help your child sleep better. Science has shown that sun exposure helps produce melatonin, the sleep hormone, which will naturally bring about the z's for your little one. Additionally, spending time in natural light is beneficial in establishing a consistent circadian rhythm, or your child’s sleep-wake cycle.
Fun fact: in many Nordic countries, parents let their babies nap outdoors in almost any weather, claiming the fresh air helps their children sleep longer and deeper. This is all anecdotal, however, as no scientific study has proven nor disproven the effectiveness of this particular method — needless to say, you know your child and their sleep habits better than anyone. Trust your doctor’s advice in making your final decisions.
Too Much of a Good Thing
While there are many benefits to taking your baby outside, keep an eye out for overexposure to sun, germs, and potential allergens.
Sun
Your baby’s skin is significantly more sensitive than an adult’s, putting them at a high risk for sun burns. Babies can burn more quickly than adults, and their burns often become severe relatively easily. Before you go out, check the weather forecast. It’s typically best to avoid taking them outside on very sunny days, making overcast or rainy days a safer bet for very young children. The risk of sunburn is also higher if you're spending time in the water, so bring along a hat, protective clothing, and plenty of sunscreen if you are planning a day at the beach.
Heat
Heatstroke is a serious, life-threatening condition which occurs when the body gets too hot. Your child is put at risk of heatstroke when the body's internal temperature rises above 104°F (40°C). As heatstroke can be deadly in children and babies under one year of age, take extra care to keep your little ones cool during hot weather. A portable baby canopy is perfect for shade on those hot days.
Germs
Of course, new germs will always be present in nature. Due to their underdeveloped immune systems, babies are susceptible to illnesses like colds, the flu, and respiratory infections. If you are going to venture out, make sure your baby is not already sick or suffering from a weak immune system. Avoid crowded places in flu season, as they can lead to accidental infection from sneezes or physical contact. It's also a good idea to keep others at least 2 feet (0.61 m) away from your baby if you are outdoors.
Allergens
For babies who suffer from allergies, taking them outside can be nerve-racking. If your baby is allergic to pollen, you'll want to avoid taking them outdoors when the pollen count is high. You can check the pollen count for your area online or on the news.
Keep Your Baby Protected
Here are some final tips for making your outdoor adventures as safe and stress-free as possible!
1. Protect with Clothing: In warm weather, dress your baby in loose, light-colored clothing that covers their arms and legs. This will help protect against too much direct sunlight, but won't cover them enough to cause overheating. Linen is especially effective in providing coverage without adding too much heat. In cold weather, make sure they are clothed in a few warm layers. Tighter layers trap warm air close to the body, as opposed to loose sweaters or pants that allow for cold air to move freely. A good gauge is to always dress your baby in at least one more layer than you dress yourself.
2. Protect with Shade: Keep your baby in the shade, either natural or man-made. At the beach, keep them off the hot sand and covered from the sun with a portable baby bed. At the park, make sure they have protection under a tree in a portable baby bed.
3. Protect by Being Present: When you do take your baby out, they should be constantly monitored for signs of overheating like sweating or red skin. As is likely your instinct already, never leave your baby unattended for any period of time, for any reason.
Being a new parent can be scary, but it doesn't have to be. Make your life easier by investing in hiccapop’s MiniPod Travel Baby Bed for On-the-Go. It was made with you and your baby in mind. With easy set-up and a UPF 50 sun shade to protect against wind, sun, and bugs, the MiniPod will be your new favorite outdoor adventure companion — next to your little one, of course!
