Heather writes:
What is worse, though, than books, is the lack of support many mothers get
when they ask their HCPs about what their babies 'should' be doing. It
is, after all, part of their job to know about normal infant behaviour and
development.
~~~ Aye, there's the rub...If the most used definition of "normal" is
simply a reflection of what we see, or are told we are seeing, then babies who
are overfed and/or ignored til they shut down and sleep unusually long
amounts of time at a very young age, becomes normal and the expected norm. The
studies most used, and the babies most seen reflect back this abnormal
norm. I tell moms, using this way of thinking, obesity is normal, because it
is so common it is becoming the new norm. Doesn't make it healthy or normal
in terms of humans, only in current culture. Re-educating doctors about the
actual normal nourishment/eating/interactive/sleep patterns is a HUGE task.
The language used is so key: if babies "demand" more attention they are
"irritable". Let's call them "curious" , let's call them "learning", "making
connections", "competent", working on being "independent", anything but
"fussy" and "irritable".... oops now I'm ranting...:) But yes this is one of
the most difficult parts of the issue, the lack of support moms get when
they tell the doctor "my baby is crying" and instead of figuring out "oh is
this because they are normal and seeking something we do want them to have,
like nourishment" or "oh perhaps we need to look at them to see what's going
on" moms get this blanket response
"just let them cry, just give a pacifier, just give a bottle". That was
the one thing that irritated ( yes I AM irritable about this...:) me about
one the articles about this study: the midwife in the UK who said if a baby
is fussy and breastfeeding the solution is switching to a bottle because
"both mom and baby should be thriving on breastfeeding". ... hmm why not
actually figure out WHY this baby is behaving whatever way, and then come up
with an answer....Ok rant over.
Peace,
Judy
Judy LeVan Fram, PT, IBCLC, LLLL
Brooklyn, NY, USA
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