me again everyone!  ;)

whenever i have difficulty with a parenting "issue" or decision, i  
like to do a little exercise i call "going back to the village".  now  
i am aware that there are practices in remote cultures that are *not*  
good for babies - but most of them are well intentioned, like us.   
but still this village helps me to eliminate some of the head stuff  
that sometimes prevents us from seeing things in a holistic way.

this conversation is so interesting.  and as a still fairly new mom  
(just under 2yrs) and very new CLC (just under *1* year), i know  
there is really still much for me to learn.  and have very thankfully  
done lots of that   in my short time here on lactnet.

but, back to the village - i am very curious to know how these  
parents in remote societies decide what's best for baby.  like do  
they realise that more babies perish when left sleeping on their  
tummies vs. their backs ???  or do they just let the baby sleep right  
beside and on them like one of our budding anthropologists mused  
(sorry i forget who).  the problem i think i have is that it *is* so  
- how should i say? - that-way-or-the-highway-ish.

Pam you made a good point about how people still chose the wrong or  
unsafe way even though they know the alternative.  like with  
breastfeeding.  but i still say that allowing a baby to sleep on his  
tummy *some*times is - for lack of a better word - a CALCULATED  
risk.  what i mean is, to decide to allow a baby to sleep on his  
tummy and be close by with a watchful eye cannot be equated with  
driving down a highway with a toddler standing in the back seat of  
one's car.  or even choosing to feed ABM instead of breastfeeding.   
no one can forsee whether or not the car will be involved in a  
collision; or whether the ABM fed infant will infact be obese, have  
diabetes etc.  but if a mother decides to allow her baby to sleep on  
his tummy and she sits beside him as he sleeps she *can* monitor if  
anything happens to him.  see what i'm saying?

i am not in any way shape or form questioning the research behind  
back to sleep.  i would be quite foolish to even think to know more  
than all those bodies of research and what they show.  but i do think  
- as Melissa said - now parents are afraid to let their babies OFF  
their backs.  in all things there must be a balance - yes? no?

i wonder how many children in "the village" have bald patches in the  
backs of their heads?  :)

in the position of "the thinker",

cian sawyer, CLC
nassau, bahamas

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html