Sleeping: where, when, and why
Mommy and daddy refuse to lock me in my room for sleeping. They refuse to just let me cry and refuse to ignore me. Here's why.
Oma, daddy's aunts and cousins, the doctor, and other child raising and health services around here, and most of the books and web sites about child rearing my mommy and daddy found, all say the same thing. According to those people, for sleeping I should be locked in my own room, and ignored. When I cry, an intercom should alert mommy and daddy. However, they are taught to ignore me as much as possible. Why? Because apparently, at the age of 5 days, I need to start learning to be independent and self-soothing.
Now my mommy and daddy refuse to do so. Yes, they will teach me to be independent. They will also allow me myself to indicate when that should happen. And they refuse to ignore me when I cry. They refuse to let me cry for hours on end, every day for months or years, untill I finally give up. Like most of daddy's cousins inflicted on their children. Or like my grandparents did with my parents. Or like almost everyone around us insists on advising them to inflict on me. That's really annoying.
No. I sleep in my own bed, in the same room as my parents. So when I cry or can't breathe right, or get stuck, no time is lost. I can depend on mommy and daddy being right there.
Download original (JPG, 45KB), shot by our friend Blake Furman
Sometimes they let me sleep in the living room, in my play pen. That's for when they're cleaning, or preparing food, or working, or on the phone. That way mommy and daddy can check up on me much faster, and act when needed.
And during my day-time naps, I lay down with mommy. That way she too gets some much needed rest, and can nurse me on demand. Yes, mommy still breastfeeds, after 7 months. I talk about that here.
Why am I treated like this? Why am I not getting ignored? Well, that's because mommy and daddy read these articles and researches:
Baby girl gets eaten by rats, while sleeping in her own room
And then people in that forum wonder why those parents let their baby girl sleep unattended by herself... well that's because everyone around them continues to insist that's what they should be doing, thankyouverymuch.
China has a count of SIDS-cases so low, they don't even have a word for it
A quote:
"'In the UK, 500 children a year die of SIDS,' Sunderland writes. 'In China, where cosleeping is taken for granted [as the normal way for babies to sleep], SIDS is so rare it does not even have a name.'"
Parents and doctors in our Western European and US American cultures continue to search for a cause and thus a cure for SIDS. But it seems a problem only here. This report says China babies hardly ever die from SIDS. Maybe we can look at how the Chinese treat their children and take an example.
Do we understand why people around us give harmful advice and then think it's the holy grail to parenting? Sure. To quote the same article:
"'These studies should be widely disseminated to parents,' said Sunderland. 'I am sympathetic to parenting gurus — why should they know the science? 90% of it is so new they bloody well need to know it now. There is absolutely no study saying it is good to let your child cry.'"
Now my mommy and daddy refuse to do so. Yes, they will teach me to be independent. They will also allow me myself to indicate when that should happen. And they refuse to ignore me when I cry. They refuse to let me cry for hours on end, every day for months or years, untill I finally give up. Like most of daddy's cousins inflicted on their children. Or like my grandparents did with my parents. Or like almost everyone around us insists on advising them to inflict on me. That's really annoying.
No. I sleep in my own bed, in the same room as my parents. So when I cry or can't breathe right, or get stuck, no time is lost. I can depend on mommy and daddy being right there.
Download original (JPG, 45KB), shot by our friend Blake Furman
Sometimes they let me sleep in the living room, in my play pen. That's for when they're cleaning, or preparing food, or working, or on the phone. That way mommy and daddy can check up on me much faster, and act when needed.
And during my day-time naps, I lay down with mommy. That way she too gets some much needed rest, and can nurse me on demand. Yes, mommy still breastfeeds, after 7 months. I talk about that here.
Why am I treated like this? Why am I not getting ignored? Well, that's because mommy and daddy read these articles and researches:
Baby girl gets eaten by rats, while sleeping in her own room
And then people in that forum wonder why those parents let their baby girl sleep unattended by herself... well that's because everyone around them continues to insist that's what they should be doing, thankyouverymuch.
China has a count of SIDS-cases so low, they don't even have a word for it
A quote:
"'In the UK, 500 children a year die of SIDS,' Sunderland writes. 'In China, where cosleeping is taken for granted [as the normal way for babies to sleep], SIDS is so rare it does not even have a name.'"
Parents and doctors in our Western European and US American cultures continue to search for a cause and thus a cure for SIDS. But it seems a problem only here. This report says China babies hardly ever die from SIDS. Maybe we can look at how the Chinese treat their children and take an example.
Do we understand why people around us give harmful advice and then think it's the holy grail to parenting? Sure. To quote the same article:
"'These studies should be widely disseminated to parents,' said Sunderland. 'I am sympathetic to parenting gurus — why should they know the science? 90% of it is so new they bloody well need to know it now. There is absolutely no study saying it is good to let your child cry.'"