Why Do Finnish Babies Sleep In Cardboard Boxes?

The box contains such essential "baby kit" items as clothes, sheets, toys, a small mattress, and the cardboard receptacle itself is widely used as a bed for the baby to sleep in for the first few months of its life.

The mattress remains in the bottom of the box and many Finnish babies have this cozy cardboard crib as their very first bed.

The box is traceable back to the 1930s and the strong belief that everyone deserves an equal start in life means that every single expectant mother is entitled to one of these magic boxes. They can alternatively choose a cash grant of around €140, but the incredible statistic is that 95% choose to accept the box.

The reason for its introduction all those years ago was that, at that time, Finland was a poor country with a very high mortality rate. This sad statistic was attributable to a number of things, but chief among them was that Finnish parents typically slept with their infants in the bed with them, contributing to around a 65-in-1000 mortality rate.

The box was only claimable by mothers-to-be via collection from the medical services, which had the effect of helping steer new parents in the direction of doctors and nurses, enabling babies to access professional medical care from an early age, when previously they may have slipped through the net.

Happily Finland now has one of the world's lowest infant mortality rates, so as well as being a charming gift from the state, it has evidently had a much deeper and more lasting positive effect. What a nice thing it must be to open, knowing the history and with the excitement of a new arrival looming and all the goodies within...

The gifts in the box have changed over the years, but typical items are as follows:

• Snowsuit, hat, booties, insulated mittens
• Socks, mittens, balaclava, knitted hat
• Cloth nappy set and muslin squares
• Picture book and teething toy
• Bra pads and condoms (!)
• Light hooded suit and knitted overalls
• Hooded bath towel, nail scissors, hairbrush, toothbrush, bath thermometer, nappy cream, washing cloth
• And of course the cardboard box doubles as a BED!

What do you think? Is this something you'd like to see in the UK? What additional items would you choose to have in there?