Winter Walks with your Baby

While you anxiously await the results of our Cutest Baby Contest, I thought I'd throw a question out for discussion—

What do you think about taking your baby outside in the dead of winter?

Here is my two cents, for what it's worth. I'm all for it. In fact, I have a New Year's resolution to go for a walk outside with my baby every day.

I know Utah Valley has some serious air quality issues, dangerously so during the winter. But unless I hear a warning on the news about life-threatening air quality, you'll see us bundled up and going for our daily stroll. Here are some reasons I'm lovin my new goal:

My baby girl has been down and out with croup for the past few days, and the doc said the cool winter air can clear her breathing passages.

I have had some random bouts of insomnia lately and research shows that spending 30 minutes a day outside can improve sleep.

I have also had some not-so-random bouts of the winter blues. Sunshine, however little, does wonders in terms of mood-lifting.

I swear the more time we spend inside, the more prone we are to get sick. That's just what I think, but I'm pretty sure I've heard that people are more prone to illness in winter not because of the cold weather, but because everyone is spending more time inside, breathing re-circulated air from dusty vents.

And who couldn't use a little bit of extra exercise? If you're preggie, getting your circulation going by walking outside can help prevent swelling and balance out those crazy pregnancy hormones.

So here's to another walk tomorrow—polluted air and all! Oh, and I have a stroller cover like this. I got it when my baby was a newborn and it was a lifesaver—it got us outside after she was born (in the dead of Winter).

—Kim