In a message dated 11.3.02 10:13:05 AM, Carole writes:


> >>Here in the US, our child rearing practices differ
> greatly from most other cultures.  Bottle feeding,
> small infants sleeping alone in cribs down the hall
> from parents' rooms, and allowing infants to "cry it
> out" seem to be quite acceptable practices<<
> 
Interesting thoughts Carole.
They caused me to reflect on a VNA visit I provided over the w/e to a 4 d 
postpartum, new family.   I was asking about symptoms of postpartum 
depression which caused the father to sheepishly bring up an incident where 
his wife had become teary and this concerned him. When pressed for more info. 
it seems that the pediat. had pulled Dad aside at d/c exam to talk about 
"Fatherly" things and suggested to him that when the baby cried, w/o   an 
identifiable reason, ie. diaper was changed, baby fed etc. that the parents 
let the baby (newborn!) cry for a few   minutes so that she would learn to 
self comfort. 
It seems that the Dad had felt obliged to inisit upon this just prior to my 
visit , the Mom had cried for the entire time that the baby cried which 
caused Dad to wonder if this was the start of a postpartum depression.   I 
reasurred them both that this was a perfectly normal reaction of a mother to 
seeing her baby cry and not being "allowed" to respond etc. Throughout the 
conversation Grandma was standing behind Dad and vehemently nodding her head 
in agreement with me, barely able to control herself!   It was so upsetting 
that the natural instinct of this loving, nurturing family was put at risk.
BTW, Mom was a great nurser!
Lynn shea Rn,Bsn,Ibclc
Franklin,Massachusetts




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