All The Ways Raising A Baby In Denmark Sounds Like A Complete Dream

Any time you dive into lists of “best places in the world to have a kid,” Scandinavian countries tend to populate the top spots. Many American parents gaze wistfully across the Atlantic toward these magical lands of generous maternity leave laws and government subsidized childcare. Ellie Owens, an American mom living in Copenhagen, shares what her life in Denmark is like on TikTok, and recently put together a video highlighting all of the ways that her daughter’s first two years overseas have differed from those of her American-born brothers.

American moms, get ready to get real jealous.

The differences start right away: hours after giving birth — which cost nothing — Owens hopped on a bus to take her little one home. A baby nurse made home visits for the first year of life to make sure everything was going well. She also had access to an assigned mother-baby group; all the babies in it were born around the same time. (Anyone who’s been in an online mom group based on birth month can tell you how helpful it can be to have a group of people who are going through the same thing at the same time.)

While many an American parent would gasp in horror at the idea of getting along without a car, it seems not to have been an issue for Owens. “I can only count on two hands how many times she’s even been in a car here,” she explains, noting that she happily spends plenty of time outside with her children and takes public transportation when it’s too far to bike. (Her bike setup is, truly, a thing of beauty.)

Overall, Owens paints a picture of Denmark that is, simply put, much more kid friendly than at least what I’ve experienced in the US. There are baby cafés (have a coffee and chat while the babies all crawl around) and simply leaving your baby outside to nap in a stroller while you run errands or socialize is very normal. Playgrounds abound (indoor and outdoor) and many have lots of bikes for kids to practice on for free. (Considering biking is such an important part of daily life in Denmark this probably isn’t a surprise.)

There’s also the matter of childcare. “Childcare is subsidized by the government here,” she explains. “So at 14 months she was able to start a Danish daycare, where she’s learning Danish and how to be very self-sufficient. They play outside every day and casually take them on field trips all over the city and I don’t find out about them until I pick her up.”

“This is what it looks like for a society to support families,” says one commenter.

“I would like to be a Danish baby, please,” another pleads and, honestly, hard same.

Many marveled at the possibilities for connection with other families, highlighting the baby cafés and mom-baby groups in particular. Many more minds were blown at the idea of leaving a baby outside to sleep (rest assured it is A Thing and it’s fine).

A common, perhaps the most common, sentiment in the comments can be summed up when one person wrote, “Cries in American.” (Again, same.)