Has anyone read this article?

Question

One of the biggest crises of confidence that new mothers face has to do with sleep. Mothers feel responsible for their babies' sleep. Others ask mothers if their babies are sleeping through the night, as if this is something the mothers can control. Mothers lie to one another about whether or not their infants sleep through the night. And everyone lies about not bringing their babies into bed with them.

We lie because our society has unrealistic expectations of babies, and therefore we have unrealistic expectations of ourselves as mothers. Our expectations for babies' sleep simply do not coincide with babies' actual capabilities, or with the normal behavior of our species.



To read the rest of the article go here:
http://www.mothering.com/guest_editors/quiet_place/quiet_place.html

here is nothing we can do to change this, nothing we can do to make our babies sleep through the night. We sometimes think that introducing solid food will help our babies sleep, but starting solids too early can hurt them. One study found that feeding babies rice cereal before four months was a risk factor for the development of diabetes. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends not starting solids before six months; the World Health Organization suggests waiting even longer.

Even if we wait to start solids, it is not a good idea to start with rice cereal, although it is very popular. Rice cereal doesn't make babies sleep through the night. In fact, it has a high glycemic index and may raise the baby's levels of blood sugar and insulin. It is not as rich in nutrients or flavor as other foods, such as vegetables and fruits. If food actually did make babies sleep, rice cereal would not be a good choice; as a starch, it is digested quickly.

Answer 1

Totally cool. I wish I had read it before I had babies. I let others make me feel ashamed of co-sleeping. Now I'm proud and my kids spend portions of every night in their own beds, and portions with me. Part of me wants the bed all to myself, but I also love the cuddles. My baby woke me last night with a tickle, complete with a whispered "tickle, tickle." It was precious. It was annyoying at the time, but I've already forgotten that.

Answer 2

Even though I never have lied about anything my babies have done or not done(I don't give a flip what ppl think about how I care for my kids), I understand how society can make mothers feel guilty, whether it's re: co-sleeping, breastfeeding/formula, or whatever. As long as the child is not being abused and her/his basic needs are met(along with a heap of love) then ppl should just mind their own business and take care of their family! I did just start feeding my 4month old twins rice cereal a little bit, but I did it earlier than that with my first two kids before I knew better. My mom said they would sleep thru the night. Gotta love her, but WHATEVER! My first 2 didn't sleep thru the night 'til they were almost 2 y/o! I have NOT been giving my twins cereal before bed, & they recently have been sleeping from 11:30pm to 6:30am. Every baby is different. They grow at different rates, reach milestones at different times, & respond differently to environment. I allowed my babies to sleep with me in the early mornings 'til they were about 2mnths old. I would fall asleep breastfeeding them. So, there! I didn't lie about that! I'm not ashamed!

Answer 3

I have never lied about my baby sleeping through the night, and I don't feel I need to lie about occasionally taking a nap with her, or bringing her in my bed at 5am. Don't mean to sound defensive, but this article is just not true for everyone. Many cultures support sleeping in bed with babies and show that it is more natural, decreases sids, and helps mom sleep better. I can't sleep with my daughter, she keeps me up, but I don't see a problem for moms that choose to. From what I read in another article, the problem arises when parents are putting the babies in the cribs, letting them have fits and then taking them out and putting them in thier bed, shaping the behavior to cry in the crib. Parents that never put thier babies in cribs have an easier time putting thier babies in beds and cribs when they choose to, over parents that take thier babies out of the crib when they cry and bring them to thier bed.
American culture in general supports a European, Germanic way of raising children which includes no bed sharing and cry out method. But I think this is changing as we are learning about new cultures ways of doing things and new methods. I agree that parents like to think that they can control slepping patterns, but for the most part I think our children have much more control over when they choose to sleep and for how long. Some of us get good sleepers and some of us get babies that don't sleep until they're three!
I just wanted to add that although I agree that solids don't help babies sleep through the night, certain cereals like Gerber are made with additional nutrients and vitamins that individual vegetables and fruits are lacking. So why not include both? I disagree with this. One to servings a day are not going to cause diabetes.

Answer 4

No I have not read the article but I can say it has some truth in it for me. I use to lie all the time about my son not sleeping in bed with hubby and I. I guess his doctor still doesn't know. He is 6 months old and has been sleeping in our bed since he was 4 weeks old. He was a preemie and I just couldn't let him sleep alone. I felt that I wouldn't hear him cry since I had to set my alarm for every 3 hours to feed him. Only the family knew that he was sleeping in our bed until recently. As for lying about him sleeping through the night I never did that.

Answer 5

No, I haven't read it until just now. I don't lie or withhold information about how much my baby sleeps. It was a pretty good article I guess, except the beginning. I don't fully understand why you would want to lie about it though.

Answer 6

My daughter slept through the night around 8-9 weeks. I used to put a little cereal in her bottle at night and it would knock her out. I never lied about her sleeping habits, sure she would wake up during the night once in a while but that's normal. I don't completely agree with the article because every baby is different and not every mom feels pressured. I just did what worked for my baby at that time. She is not overweight and headed towards diabetes because of the cereal...lol...that part cracked me up, sorry.

Answer 7

I skimmed it, and found the point about cereal very interesting. Especially with all the posts here asking if its ok to force it down their kids prior to 6 months. Also I never realized the saying sleeping thru the night -meant midnight to 5am - before having kids.

Answer 8

Weird. I don't know why anyone would lie about how much their children sleep.