Over the last couple of years, the maternity box given to new parents by the government in Finland has gotten a lot of attention.

A link http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/lifestyle/2013/06/finnish-moms-get-supply-box-for-newborns/

It's a really cool idea: give every new baby the basics they'll need for the first few months of their life. If you were really stretching it, all you'd really absolutely need for the first couple months would be the contents of this box (and the box itself, which doubles as a crib!) and milk from mom. Definitely not practical, but it's a pretty amazing public benefit.



In a minimalist world, the Finnish maternity box may be all you need

@Carol agreed: since we didn't know HIDDEN's sex until he was born, it seemed like a great idea to have a bunch of stylish (if decidedly European), gender-neutral clothes, without all the huge graphics and logos that we tend to avoid ourselves.

So I got to the task of trying to snag one. With the help of @superic, we got one the old-fashioned way: a friend of a friend of a friend, with lots of translation involved. The box they had was a few years old – from 2011, but had never been touched, since it was for their second child. At the same time, I tracked down someone on Facebook who was looking to sell their box, a brand-new 2013 model, and decided we might as well just get two boxes.

The unboxing of the 2013 Finnish maternity box

One Year Later

Here we are, and HIDDEN just passed his first birthday. For what it's worth, he tends to float around the 70th percentile for weight and height. He's far outgrown the vast majority of the clothes that came the boxes, but we still have a few pairs of pants that manage to fit him.

But for those first six or seven months, the clothes from the box were the workhorses of his wardrobe. Super cute, unique without being gaudy, really high-quality, and very soft and comfortable, there were relatively few days he wasn't wearing at least something from the box. Granted, we had two boxes – without both of them, we'd have been doing laundry at a ridiculous pace (or, you know, we'd just have gone out and gotten more at the store, I guess), but we put most of them through hell and they handled it.

The Clothes

Clothes are definitely the bulk of what you're getting with the box. In general, if you were to take a Carter's catalog and transport it into a Scandinavian dimension, that's what you'd be getting – basic everyday styles that have enough flair to be cute without being ostentatious.

Basically, they give you three or four days of clothes in each of three sizes: 50cm (0-3 months), 60cm (3-6 months), and 70cm (6-9 months). They don't size them in terms of those ages, but that's about what we found them to be anecdotally. With both boxes, we had about a week of Finland attire for each of these stages.

We've got an epic gallery of all the contents below, but they give you a half-dozen bodysuits, a few "rompers" (below – full-length sleeveless footed things that will really show off that budding chest hair), and a few pair of pants. They also give you a super-soft set of pajamas, which I seriously wish they made in my size – I'd look like a lumberjack-turned-teletubby, but it'd be worth it.

This is that European flair I mentioned. I imagine this is exactly what men wear at the beach in Finland.

For us, moving from San Francisco to Boston, we were interested in some of the outerwear the box had. For instance, the ridiculously-cozy snowsuits. He definitely fits into them now, and I'd imagine that no matter what time of year your kid is born, you'll get at least one winter out of them.

They give you one dry snowsuit (just for warmth when in the stroller), and one wet snowsuit (for romping around). The dry ones are quite a bit smaller, so I'm thinking they assume you'll use those in the 3-6 month range, while the wet ones are more 6-12 months. That's in addition to a handful of weather-related accessories, like hats (including a balaclava!), mittens, etc.

We've had a massive winter here in Boston so far (12 days into February, and we've already set the monthly record for snowfall), and while I won't say that HIDDEN really loves playing in the snow, we've definitely been able to keep him warm and protected with the suits from the box, even now that he's past a year old.

Taken just a few days ago. Like I said, that California boy doesn't necessarily love the snow, but look at how cozy that thing is! Look at how much snow we have on our patio!

The Extras

You definitely get far more than clothes, though. Remember, this is supposed to basically be everything you need for those first few months, if you're really willing to keep on top of things like laundry.

Everyone will make use of the hooded bath towels, the bath thermometer, probably even the toy. Some might take advantage of the cloth diapers, while others might just use the inserts as ridiculously-absorbent burp cloths like we did. The teething toy works well, and is a useful thing to have around, and the toothbrush definitely does the job once your kid has a tooth or two to actually brush.

They include a sleeping bag as well, which we didn't really know what to do with until a few days ago, when HIDDEN moved into the toddler class at his daycare, and they said they wanted a sleeping bag for nap time. Problem solved! It definitely won't last more than a few more weeks (maybe a couple more months?) before he outgrows it, but they say it works really well for now.

But it doesn't even stop there. Condoms, disposable bra pads, nail scissors, a hair brush, a bib, sanitary napkins all come inside. There's a tube of cream – which is not Desitin-style diaper cream, but more like a moisturizing skin lotion – that we've made great use of since the cold/dry winter started.

The Box Crib

The showstopper, the headline-grabber, for this box is definitely the fact that you can use this box as a crib. They give you a thin-but-surprisingly-soft mattress, a sheet, and a duvet cover and blanket.

We actually used this as HIDDEN's crib for the first few months – my Amazon purchase history tells me we bought a travel crib about two months in, but I'm pretty sure we didn't use it for a few weeks after that. We were living in a tiny apartment in San Francisco, knew that we'd be moving across the country in just a few months, and didn't want to invest in a proper crib.

Seriously, this was his bed for a while.

Was it perfect? No – eventually, he started finding the sides of the box with his kicks, and it'd wake him up. But it definitely did the job for a while, which is exactly what we wanted.

The Verdict

A few businesses have sprung up offering an American-sourced, easier-to-obtain version of the Finland box, and I don't blame them – we thought about doing just that here at Kinsights. It's a great thing to have as a new parent, and would be an amazing gift to receive from parents or a group of friends who thought you were worth it.

The Inventory

Okay, as promised, here are photos of everything in both of the boxes we received. A pretty epic gallery, but you should get a pretty solid sense of what you'll be getting. Enjoy!

First, the 2013 model:

The box, obviously

You'll have no idea what this organization is, but I'm sure it means something to Fins, and I'm a fan of the typeface.

The inventory. Don't worry, you can't read it.

Here's an inventory you can read. Mostly, at least.

The box, unboxed.

Hooded towel

Bib. Has the crumb-catcher and a water-resistant lining.

Socks!

Pants

Playsuit? Romper? Not sure which category this fits into.

Two different brands of cloth diaper shells. One with a built-in, affixed insert, the other with a removable insert which can also be used as an amazing burp cloth.

Cute coveralls

Long-sleeved onesie. Looks very girl-oriented at first, but a boy can pull it off and look like a samurai – but who cares about gender roles in fashion, anyway!?

Shirt

Pants. Pretty sure these still fit him.

Long-sleeved onesie

Long-sleeved onesie. One of my favorites: it's like he went to jail in a cereal commercial.

Long-sleeved onesie. One of his mom's favorites.

A matching "romper" – his daycare teacher's favorite. Warning: wearing those two together might make your kid look like one of those optical illusion tests, though.

I feel like these are the official lounge pants of Finland tennis players.

Onesie, as seen in the photo of him in the empty apartment above

If only they made these for adults... who needs pickup lines when you can just walk up wearing something like this?

Pants that build self-confidence

Orange romper.

Pants that appear to have a very low crotch. In reality, they seem perfectly reasonable.

The aforementioned "dry snowsuit" – warm, but no gloves or feet, and not something you'd want to get wet in.

Cute but subtle prints

The mega snowsuit, bunny edition. Zips down both legs, which is awesome, and seems ridiculously soft and warm. Includes gloves and footy covers made of the same material.

More snowsuit

Google Translate tells me these are tights.

Pajamas. REALLY soft and well-made. These are the things I'd totally wear. Seriously. Make these for me, and I'll buy them.

Cute hat #1

Cute hat #2

Balaclava!

Cute baby hat thing #3

Sanitary napkins, with new/improved absorption. They're ultra.

The box: empty

Box plus mattress

Box, mattress, and sheet

Box, mattress, sheet, and blanket with duvet cover

The duvet cover, full of frogs

The sleeping bag – more comfortable than you'd imagine sleeping with porcupines to be, I hope!

And here's the 2011 model:

The earlier models had more generic boxes, but still that trusted brand!

Storks deliver babies and maternity boxes

Box, mattress, sheet, and blanket (see the 2013 edition for more details on each layer)

Sleeping bag

Pajamas

Seriously, the pajamas are so soft.

Shirt. All the shirts have convenient shoulder buttons.

Pants, freshly-wrinkled from the box

Pants, aka leggings

Blindingly red pants

Two different brands of cloth diaper shell. One with built-in affixed insert, one with a pouch for a separate insert.

Four pack of nipple pads. The disposable type. I think.

Footed pants

Bodysuit

Snap-fronts aren't always friendly to parents, but they work.

Baby hat

Asian-ish onesie. Warning: it's a tie-closure, which may become your worst enemy.

Happy socks for happy feet!

Pants

A romper with an epic color combination

And of course the matching onesie

Onesie with envelope shoulders – perfect for a poop'plosion, so you can pull this one off downward over the feet. The More You Know®

Onesie

You guessed it: onesie.

Probably my favorite print of the bundle. Lots of character, not overwhelming.

Gettin' nautical. After all, your kid will be captain of your life from here on out...

Wrap pajamas. Love these. Snap closure, so you can't really replace a swaddle, but super nice.

Puppy romper

Bib. Super on-point retro pattern, eh?

Romper

Zip-down bodysuit

Romper, continuing the great color palette

Outfit, which perhaps you'll like better separate than together.

Balaclava, of course!

Sock-ish things, with a photo stolen from someone's family album.

A bundle of nappies

Washcloth

Hooded towel

Winter hat, beginning the polar bear theme

Polar bear snowsuit

Super soft, waterproof shell, and it comes with matching hand and foot covers

Dry snowsuit. No hand or foot covers here.

A book. In Finnish, of course!