Lisa Marasco said:
> What has helped me along is
> dealing with "fringe" babies who just don't fit the norms. Helping
> mothers with fringe babies sometimes requires breaking the rules that I
> have been used to. Rules tend to apply generally to groups, but rarely
> apply effectively across the board. Whether it's swaddling or herbal
> teas or touch-help or non-touch-help or syringes or SNSs, we need to be
> open to having many tools for those special situations because no one
> tool works well on all babies.
>
Nicely said, Lisa. I guess what I am feeling is that I see alot of
"fringe" babies these days. In fact, I probably would not have a busy
job were it not for those that fall outside the norm. When I was a
hospital based LC and nurse, seeing mostly the mainstream of babies... I
probably preached a pretty narrow approach to mothering. I discouraged
bottles, swaddles, swings, and pacifiers. I promoted cue feeding and
attachment parenting for everyone.
Now I tend to be called by parents who are pretty much at the ends of
their ropes. They have not been taught how to deal with the INDIVIDUAL
needs of their own babies and families... only given pat answers that
aren't working for them. So, yes, after all these years I can see that
there is a place for early bottles, swaddles, swings, and even... must I
say it... pacifiers.
> This past summer I listened to Nancy Williams talk about
> Sensory Integration Disorder-- the bottom line is that these kids may
> need more of one kind of stimulation and/or less than another. I
> realized as I listened that I do not always pick up on such needs, and
> that I need to explore more options with some of my harder babies. I
> need to stay open.
>
And, I appreciate this mention of babies with special sensory issues. I
think I have often been very sensitive to this issue and perhaps that is
why I vary from some of my lactnet colleagues in matters such as what I
list above. I have been working with babies for 23 years. In the 80's we
(NICU nurses and OTs) spent a fair amount of energy lobbying for the
rights of preemies to be swaddled rather than left flat on their backs
in warmed isolettes. Eventually we won that battle because we were able
to show, physiologically, that preemies' bodies were meant to be
supported, and that the sensory overload of lying frog-like on a flat
surface was causing kids to have apnea and bradycardia.
OK, so the long and short of it is this:
1) Babies I work with are often those who are acting outside the norm.
2) Parents I work with are terrified of anything the doctor indicates
may be a factor in SIDS.
3) These special babies (who would be quite calm if swaddled and soothed
in other ways) are hysterically unhappy and irritable.
4) Rather than swaddling and soothing the parents opt for feeding...
lots of it... with formula... because that is all they know.
5) Overfeeding seems to result in further irritability and
inconsolability.
6) On and on.
Thanks, Lisa, for your understanding and the great points you make about
babies as individuals!
Susan Keith-Hergert
Holistic Natal Care
Cincinnati
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