So I went to my daughter's childbirth class...

[MorelCabin]

My kids were all nursed and slept in my bed as well:>) I didn't even try to bring that subject up:>) LOL!

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

ROTFL they'd probably have had a heart attack if you had mentioned it! You'd been banned from the class

 

[me&thegals]

So did mine, but I didn't sleep very well for fear of rolling on them :/ I was just always too exhausted to stay awake while nursing, and who on earth can stay awake while lying down breastfeeding at 2 a.m.?

 

[MorelCabin]

Well from what I have seen in my lifetime, these studies are not always right, "progression" has not always been progrssive, and alot of times they look back on these studies and find that they were either biased somehow or just wrong. I fear that this is one of them:>)

 

[patandchickens]

Of course studies and theories are not always right. So? Doesn't mean they're irrelevant to decisionmaking.

If all this stuff is so terrible and wrong, why have SIDS deaths dropped approximately 50% since the 'back to sleep' and no-loose-stuff-in-crib campaigns began?


Pat

 

[farmerlor]

I'm old. I remember when the doctors first started saying that we needed to put our kids in seat belts. Lots of people would state emphatically that they would never tie their children up in cars. What if they had an accident and the car burned? Their children would surely die in the fire. What if the car rolled? Wasn't it better to be able to escape? After all, we all drove everywhere in our cars with no seat belts and we were all just fine....well, except those that died but they probably would have died anyway even if they'd had seat belts. Me, I chose to start buckling up my kid and it wasn't long before I started noticing the children brought into the ER that hadn't been buckled in and I was glad I'd chosen to change.
Later they started the Back to sleep thing. I'd had one child very young that slept on her tummy but I decided to follow the doctors once again but I had reflux babies so once again I had tummy babies. I later did the back sleeping thing with many of my foster babies who had very little motor development and I was glad I did.
Guess what I'm saying is the old "we did it this way and we're fine" argument isn't good enough for me. I like to weigh the advice of professionals and at least give it a try before tossing it out without a thought.

 

[MorelCabin]

Well, it could also have something to do with alot of people quitting smoking around thier babies in the last few years as well...and there are other factors that have changed...I really have a difficult time blaming it on a blanket.

 

[patandchickens]

Well, it could also have something to do with alot of people quitting smoking around thier babies in the last few years as well...

I am sorely tempted to say "Nah, couldn't be that. People have smoked around babies for generations and generations and generations, both with tobacco smoke and smoky fires. If smoke exposure were a problem surely we would have known a long long time ago. Smokin' around the babies worked fine
for many generations of my family (note: this actually happens to be true, although I am not in any way suggesting smoking ain't bad for you), so it's good enough for me too, none of these silly pseudoscientific new-fangled notions!"

and there are other factors that have changed...I really have a difficult time blaming it on a blanket.

All I'm saying is that the data are strongly consistant with the idea that back-sleeping and cleared-out cribs may reduce risk.

Attempts HAVE been made to account for other concurrent changes that might account for that drop, btw, and 'back to sleep' simply fits the data best.

There is CERTAINLY NO SUPPORT for the idea that back-to-sleep and clearing out the crib are actually *dangerous*, as posts earlier in this thread have implied.

As far as the fan thing goes. It stems from a relatively recent retrospective study of SIDS deaths in N California and LA which found a statistically-significant 72% reduction in SIDS risk for babies in rooms with a fan as compared to those in rooms without, the difference being even higher when other SIDS risk factors were also present. (You can google up the actual study if you want to know more details). The same trend was present for babies in a room with an open window but no fan, but it was not statistically significant. As with anything else in life (be it published studies or personal anecdote) it is based on a limited and not totally generalizeable sample size... but it certainly makes one stop and think.

Just because a number is surprising does not necessarily mean it is *wrong*.

Obviously the subject needs, and continues to recieve, lots further study. However it seems sensible to factor the current picture into one's decisionmaking, especially at the policy and education level.


Pat

 

[me&thegals]

I think that as a person gets older, it's probably annoying to see their ways of doing things negated and changed. If "they" ever say veggies and fruits are bad for kids, you can betcha I'll be saying "Oh, for Pete's sake!!! I raised beautiful healthy kids on veggies, darnit!"

But, it doesn't hurt to respect the wisdom of each generation. It won't HURT a baby to lie on its back in a nice cozy flame-retardant sleeper.

Think of back in the day when we gave babies cocaine for colic, when we blood let to get rid of disease and never opened windows for fear of draft. I guess some things do change, and the farther out we are from the change, the more we come to see the wisdom in it.

OTOH, a little flexibility and common sense seems appropriate. But, what brand-new, first-time mother feels all full of flexibility and common sense?!? You just want to follow the very best advice you've been given. It takes another baby or 2 to start to trust your own judgement, too, or at least it worked that way for me.

 

[Beekissed]

All the "data" in the world doesn't impress me. I am part of the so-called "professionals" who are dictating this care based on their pristine data. For the lay person's benefit, let me inform you that the medical profession has as many new and changing fads as the spring catalog at JCPenneys.

Each year we get to laugh at the "Diagnosis of the Month" or even the "Surgery of the Month" club....each one supported by the newest data and statistics in the latest medical journals. By the time they reach the general public, they are ousted and disproven by the latest and newest research and "progress". Then time for a new one.....

The mere drop in the percentages of SIDs related deaths doesn't prove conclusively that this particular methodology is the sole reason and there are too many factors to determine this.

Could be parents are better educated, could be more frequent newborn medical care and checkups, could be more awareness of smoking and doing drugs during pregnancy, could be better nutrition during pregnancy, could be amniocentesis results and consequent treatment ,or even abortion, of the fetus ~any number of contributing factors could be affecting the drop in the incidence of SIDS ....not necessarily how an infant sleeps or does not sleep.

Our astonishment has nothing to do with the fact that our "old ways" are now "negated". Every child thinks they know more than their parents and the new generation is just a child in the world. I'm not willing to throw out generations of common sense knowledge just because the new generation feels like they have the tiger by the tail when they read statistics and child care books. I tend to trust more the people who actually have raised more than 1 or 2 children.

I'm not against new ideas and I'm not saying some medical advances aren't sound and true. I am, however, saying that I wouldn't put my faith in numbers and "professionals" too much. I work closely with some of those "professionals" and their knowledge base comes from the classroom of whatever school they attended. Most of them seek no further education past medical school except what is forced on them to maintain their licensure.

If I need info on the latest antibiotic, I may call the "professionals". If I need advice on child care, I will consult with someone who has actually raised quite a few children from their own womb!

I don't think Morel needs a lesson from those who chose to follow this type of wisdom~ just because she chose to not agree with it.