>Sleep:  At this stage your baby may sleep 16 hours or more a day.  You
>should begin to encourage your baby to develop a diurnal rhythm -- a
>sense of day and night.  Place your baby into the crib while still awake to
>encourage good sleep habits and a sense of self-relaxation.  Avoid
>associating sleep with extraneous stimuli that won't be available in the
>middle of the night such as rocking, music, lights, patting, food, etc.
>Teaching your baby to put his/her self to sleep at this time will lead to
>good sleep habits for a lifetime.  Babies may need to cry themselves to
>sleep and this is fine -- do not mistake crying to sleep with a need for
>food or stimulation.<<<

I have to say that this sounds straight out of Babywise/Prep for
Parenting-- just another pick-up article repeating the latest popular
trend as some kind official dictum.  I am definitely sick to my stomach
over how this stuff is sweeping the nation and spreading abroad.  Several
years ago concern was raised about this, and the powers that be
replied,'Oh, it's just a religious thing, it'll die out."  Yeah, right.

How many of us nursed our babies during the night, rocked them or nursed
them to sleep, did not put them down routinely "awake" for the purpose of
some kind of training schedule.........   Did your kids have sleep
problems as a result of these time-honored mothering traditions?  Mine
sure didn't.  But, articles like these repeat the scary myths, and
parents follow obediently the advice that serves them the best.

Please, some one pass the cyber waste-backet, quick!  And a hanky for my
eyes.  I am scared for the generation to come. Can't you see them tuning
out the pain of others because it isn't fun or convenient to get
involved? Can't you see them telling their aged, old parents, "I'm sorry
if you're feeling lonely tonight, mom, but you need your sleep and so do
we.  We have important things to do."

Every time I read these books and articles and testimonies, I am struck
with what the new definition of good parenting seems to be becoming:
getting your baby to sleep through the night as early as possible so that
you get your sleep. Aaaaargh!!!

Lisa Marasco, BA, IBCLC