Photo: Baby Box Canada
The baby box tradition actually goes way back?to 1930s Finland, and their government program to provide a basic bassinet and newborn starter kit for every expectant mom?but it?s been trending again this summer, especially in Ontario. On Monday, The Baby Box Co., an international company that already provides sleep-safe bassinet-style boxes and free products to new parents in 52 countries, celebrated their Canadian launch at The Four Villages Community Health Centre in Toronto. The company is distributing 145,000 free boxes through hospitals, health centres, and participating agencies in Ontario this year, and plans to expand to both Alberta and Manitoba by the end of 2016. The rest of the country will follow in 2017, says CEO Jennifer Clary. The model is purposefully community-based: after registering online, moms and dads must come to the health centre or local agency in person to pick up the free box, building face-to-face relationships and introducing families to all the other community resources available to them. Meanwhile, a new, Ontario-based company called Baby Box Canada, run by two Toronto parents, has begun mailing out boxes of free baby products to expectant parents who sign up at babyboxcanada.org. (Full disclosure: copies of Today?s Parent are included in the bundle of goodies.) Over 80,000 expectant Ontario families have registered so far and the company hopes to expand nation-wide in 2017, with follow-up ?milestone boxes? as your baby...