I just want to say that I continue to follow the discussion on swaddling
with interest and I want to thank Dr. Karp for jumping in.

As you may remember, I was the one who (early in this discussion) stated
"any nursery nurse worth her salt knows that babies sleep better if
swaddled," and "human beings do not sleep flat on their backs, spread
eagle, on a cold hard mattress... not even adults." I made these
statements in response to a trend I am seeing in clients to lay the baby
down, unswaddled and flat on the back after feeding and then to wonder
"why is he so colicky?" And I see this trend as the result of over
zealous health care workers who are threatening (yes, that is what I
mean) parents with SIDS at every turn. In other words.... "if you don't
do it MY way, your baby may die of SIDS."

I want to weigh in here saying I believe that kind of heavy handed
approach to "helping" to be completely unethical. Period. SIDS is not a
threat that you should hang over the head of someone because you don't
like the way they parent... any more than "overlying" should be held
over the heads of those of us who co-sleep. There is no scientific
evidence (that I have seen) that suggests swaddling to be dangerous and,
as we have heard on this list, it is a practice that has had quite
universal  appeal for centuries (sort of like co-sleeping!) And, yes, I
agree that SOME swaddling may be problematic, just as SOME co-sleeping
may be....

The ling and short of it is: I am going out to purchase Dr. Karps book
today and, I will read it before I recommend it to my clients... but it
sounds like a winner!

Sincerely,

Susan Keith-Hergert RNC, MS, IBCLC
Holistic Natal Care
Cincinnati

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