Posts
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| Judith Whitehead lives in Amherst New York
( A suburb of Buffalo, N.Y.)
and has worked in the ophthalmology
field of medicine for over 30 years
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Are we indulging our new Born's in this century??
Many of our friends who are in the Baby Boomer age range are now becoming grandparents. It's a wonderful thing to watch grandparents interacting with these little people while bringing back all our parenting memories of our little ones. When we had our children back in the 1980's, times were much simpler. My parents would tell me how even simpler times were when I was born, basic toys and basic needs were required to raise a child.
Our little ones rooms' were equipped with the traditional mobile of stuffed animals that sang and hung above their heads at bed time. A few little toys in the crib kept them busy until they fell asleep in their own cribs and a baby monitor was placed on their dresser to give us peace of mind when they slept.
Simple contraptions surrounded the room such as a “walker”, which was a circular seat propped on wheels to give them mobility and of course play pens that encouraged them to play on their own while mom and dad could do things around the house such as cooking and cleaning and taking a break for relaxation.
I watched my friend exhaust herself changing, feeding and playing with her granddaughter and am a believer that children are meant for the younger generation to raise. The stamina that is needed to tend to a baby is intense and you better be in good shape to entertain, feed, change and watch that little one.
The array of toys and contraptions available today to aid in the raising of a baby is astounding. Rooms are filled with machines to make sounds enabling them to sleep. There is equipment making ocean noises, rocking machines and other contraptions that move, rock and sing etc and are available with a bevy of other electronics.
When my children were at that young age, we simply rocked them for a few minutes, maybe walked them around in a dark room to relax them and then carefully placed them in a dim room in the crib with maybe a mobile singing above their head. At times they would fuss for a few minutes, tire themselves out and learned how to self comfort themselves and go to sleep.
Today the things I see that are used to entertain, calm and assure sleep is alarming. These advances in technology do surely work to relax our little ones but what will happen when they begin to grow up?
Will they know how to fall asleep on their own? If it is a learned behavior that they need to hear, feel and use these props to enable sleep, how will they be able to undo and self adjust these behaviors at an older age.
As we age at times, it is harder to fall asleep with all the stimulation we are bombarded with during the day. Even today it is recommended to perform a quiet task, relax and wind down before bed time to ensure falling asleep. I wonder if we require electronic relaxation techniques at birth, will that carry throughout our entire lives.
The baby industry has advanced into a huge money making business; just walk into a baby store today, you will be amazed at the items for purchase...better bring a thick wallet before entering.
Many new parents want the latest and greatest for their new baby and judging from the “wish list” from their shower registry the list is endless. Never the less, having a new baby, grand baby or new addition to the family is still a miracle of life for all to enjoy and be amazed by.
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| "Judy, Judy, Judy!" |
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