Hi Helen. I am wondering. Where would you suggest that I send mothers for
info on safe sleep? Is there a website or a few that might be the best in
terms of balanced information and good easy to understand guidelines? I use
James McKenna's now, .. any further info would be good. We have a huge push
here in Vermont to give new mothers the message that it is not safe to
sleep with babies ever. I have been seeing mothers in their homes, newly
home, who are not sleeping at all...standing watch over their sleeping
infants, or taking turns with their husbands on "vigil" so that they never
lay down together to rest.  They are absolutely petrified that their babies
will die if they sleep with them, and I try to balance this with safe sleep
guidelines just in case they feel that they want to sometimes rest during
the day with their babies in safe sleep situations.  I am going against a
huge wave of mainstream mania, I'd call it. I also see more mothers than
usual crying, being weepy, depressed, and in general, not feeling at all
good when they are home because they have no idea how to get any rest
without putting their babies at risk.  Any ideas? And while I am mentioning
it, did anyone ever see the Baltimore public service message that was at a
busstop that I saw?  It was a picture of a young girl's face, and she saw
her bed in the background, and the headboard of the bed was a headstone,
and her words (printed ) were " this was his last resting place..." or
something like that.  Really macabre. Talk about instilling fear. I was
horrified, and took a photo of it, which I still have.

Where is the balance in life? New mothers need sleep. They need to
understand infant physiology and be safe in their sleep practices.  BUt
they do have to sleep sometimes, and most babies do not want to be put down
for very long. This is a physiological fact and one that is wired in pretty
deeply. I have heard it said that human babies have not changed much
physiologically, but that human culture has changed a lot, and the two are
not meshing well ( Note I do not say human culture has progressed, as it
has not, in my book).

Kathleen


-- 

Kathleen B. Bruce RN, BSN,  IBCLC
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