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Caron Kemp

Times Series journalist Caron Kemp blogs about first-time motherhood.

How am I meant to know?

10:31am Friday 12th September 2008

By Caron Kemp »

Becoming a mother is a minefield of decisions. And I am now at the point where I am expected to make some. But I have no idea how or what to do for the best.

I had always assumed that my baby would sleep in a moses basket for example. I know that when they are first born, they need to sleep in the same room as their parents really and that this is often via the moses basket route. Or if you have the cash to splash and aren’t worried about their dependency on swinging on order to sleep, a crib.

So having held off for long enough, last week we ordered the moses basket and the sheets and sourced a stand for it too.

But then I got told in my antenatal class that babies should not sleep in them overnight for fear of cot death. News to me. And unless I place the cot on my bed or the child on the floor there isn’t really many options available to me.

And I had never questioned that my baby would be swaddled. From the moment they are born, midwives do this to the babies. I had always been told it helped calm babies as they like being cuddled and tightly held. But apparently this can be dangerous too.

And then there’s the whole feeding debate. Bottle feeding or breastfeeding? Disposable or washable nappies? Giving the vitamin K injection or not? Demand feeding or routine establishing?

The list goes on. And the advice is about as conflicting as opinion on the Middle East.

So how am I meant to decipher the good advice from the bad? How am I meant to know what to do for the best?

I have eight weeks to work it out. Help!


Your Say Your Times

Michael Ryan, Shrewsbury says...
11:46am Fri 12 Sep 08

It's natural for expectant mothers and fathers to think "what if" in relation to their forthcoming addition.

I've read that there are about 300 cot deaths each year in England & Wales but I've been unable to find out the towns or counties where they've occurred.

I have however, examined the infant mortality statistics at electoral ward level in many boroughs and also for each of the 625 electoral wards in London.

During the five-year period 2002-2006, twenty-three London wards had zero infant deaths recorded. These wards "just happened to be" ones with minimal exposure to PM2.5 emissions from incinerators.

The London ward with the highest infant death rate for above 5-year set of data is in North Hillingdon and forms part of a cluster of eight electoral wards that are exposed to PM2.5s from three incinerators.

The following papers have reported my research findings in 2007: Enfield Advertiser, Haringey Advertiser, Harrow Observer, South London Press, Waltham Forest Guardian, and Sunday Express.

The Hounslow Chronicle of 21 August 2008 had the following article as front page news in the Brentford edition:

http://www.hounslowc
hronicle.co.uk/west-
london-news/local-ho
unslow-news/2008/08/
21/baby-death-rates-
soar-109642-21573869
/

More information at www.ukhr.org

Kind regards,

Michael Ryan,

Shrewsbury

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TSC19, Monmouth, USA says...
9:06pm Fri 12 Sep 08

Personally, I disagree with the anti-cot death advice that says an infant should be put on it's stomach to sleep. It prevents the baby from getting Slow Wave Sleep (aka Deep Sleep) and that's when most learning and memories are processed. Before 1992 about 90% of UK and USA babies slept on their stomachs or sides. Now about 80% of UK and USA babies sleep on their backs and get no stage 3 NREM sleep or stage 4 NREM sleep (Slow Wave Sleep). Ever wonder why so many kids have speech and language problems since the early 1990's? It's not vaccinations it's the anti-Cot Back to Sleep Campaign. A little research and you will come to the same conclusion independent of me (but my blog is at the bottom):

Just look at this:
Bowman and Hargrove article on SIDS Statistics for Scripps Howard News Service

Plagiocephaly Epidemic article by Wendy Biggs

Sleep Stages on Wikipedia

Gais article on Slow Wave Sleep, etc, etc,

http://tummysleepcen
tral.blogspot.com/20
08_03_01_archive.htm
l

Best of luck!

Tom
tummysleepcentral.bl
ogspot.com

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