The history of this goes back to 1937 when Finnish law regulation for maternity grant was implemented. Initially the law was to support low income mothers but later extended to apply for all mothers-to-be (read more: LINK).
Living abroad has previously meant that one is outside the Finnish social security coverage (except in few exceptional cases), which also meant: no baby box. During the past year thanks to social media there was lot of attention towards the Finnish baby box. As it is rather unique concept on global level.
3 Finnish fathers decided to create a commercialized version for export purposes, yet keeping the Finnish style and quality very much part of the set of 52 (!!!!) products included in the box.
They did not just a launch a baby box but they included also the Moomin version :)
For those, who do not know anything about Moomin - read this: LINK.
...and we were so lucky to get the Moomin Finnish Baby Box from my American mom & dad as Babyshower present. A box full of Finland for our little Finnish-American baby...a box full of Moomins! <3
It was like another Christmas, when opening the box. Words cannot describe the joy waltzing around my heart. I have never grown out of loving the Moomins.
The characters have so much to offer also for adults. When my god-daughters or nephews came for visit, I pulled out some of my Moomin DVDs and enjoyed watching those with them.
When I was living in Finland, every foreign visitor got the "luxury" to watch at least short clip of the Moomins. Even in Houston my friends' daughter has been exposed to Moomins, when ever they visit us :) She does not understand a word of the Finnish DVD but she does not care. First thing in the mornings during their stays, she is asking for the Moomins.
I am already internally jumping out of joy to get to carry the main responsibility to expose our child properly to the Moomins / Finnish language / Finnish culture. Among many other language & culture activities, means also that I will be able to watch the Moomin DVDs with him :)
The Moomin products exist nowadays in several languages and are very famous e.g. in Sweden, Japan and Korea (Link: Moomin.com).
The box included 3 different size categories to cover the clothing needs for the first 12 months and other supplies like towels, wash cloths, muslin swaddles, grooming kit, etc.
It also includes sleeping back, which can be used also as the under blanket, when the baby is lying on the floor / on the ground (e.g. in the park, beach, etc.). Full list of contents here: LINK.
Some of the clothes are too warm for Texas summer but during the winter months, very useful. Also very useful for the future Europe visits :)
Princess Victoria & Daniel, as well as Prince William and Catherine received from Finland baby box as a present for their first borns...our little prince has now one too, thanks to his mummi (grandma) and pappa (grandpa).
Links to the attention towards Finnish Baby Box:
BBC - Why Finnish Babies Sleep in the Box
Finnish Dad take the Baby Box Global
Why Americans Will Never Get the Finnish Baby Box
I found this article humoristic, at the same it serves as a good reminder of the different scale of US and Finland, when put in comparison.
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