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Fun Post...How taking care of babies has changed
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<blockquote data-quote="Marguerite" data-source="post: 34102" data-attributes="member: 1991"><p>On safety issues - I remember when I had the first couple of kids, the hospital nursery had us use salt to clean out the baby teat before putting it in the sterilising solution. I was expressing milk and bottle-feeding both my first two because easy child was too tiny and weak to feed normally, and difficult child 1 was in a humidicrib "under the lights" for several days. I had enough milk to feed an orphanage. But I remember the container of salt by the sink.</p><p>So did mother in law. She had been a charge sister in a maternity ward in a Sydney hospital some years earlier. One night when mother in law was actually home and not on duty, a junior nurse who was making up formula for the bottle-fed babies got the containers mixed and instead of using lactose powder, she used the salt. A number of perfectly healthy babies died. Although she hadn't been on duty at the time, mother in law had to go to court to give evidence. The whole experience really scarred her - carelessness mainly, was the cause of death. I don't think she's ever got over it. And thanks to that incident, we no longer have containers of salt in maternity wards. It wasn't an issue for my ward because the baby formula was already made up and bottled, delivered by Nestlé.</p><p></p><p>I wanted to put difficult child 1 to sleep on his side or back, but the prohibition to not do so was intense. Sleeping on the tummy prevents cot death, we were told. And he hated sleeping on his tummy. Then, a few years later, we were told, "NEVER sleep them on their tummy, it causes cot death."</p><p>Thanks to my time hanging around some blokes doing research into SIDS, I already had my own ideas by then. But it was yet another classic example of scientists insisting that black is white before they've had a chance to really test it thoroughly.</p><p></p><p>One thing about modern baby care that worries me - it's the insistence on everything being sterile. When we go overboard on this we reduce the opportunity for the baby's developing immune system to 'learn' about antigens in our world. There is considerable evidence to indicate that over-protection of babies in this way is a factor in increasing tendency to allergies in our children.</p><p>My mother would insist on boiling baby's drinking water, but in her words, "only until the baby started drinking their bath water. When they start sucking on the face cloth, it's time to stop boiling their drinking water."</p><p>My sister had a dog, so she was very thorough about cleaning up droppings in the yard. Even when she was sure she had removed absolutely everything, the baby would somehow manage to find something she'd missed. So she felt that there was no point continuing to boil the drinking water of a baby who found and sucked the dog's old bone or tennis ball (or worse).</p><p>I used to boil easy child's drinking water in her first few months, but when she had her first immunisation at 2 months she got a bit feverish. I got up late at night to give her some baby paracetamol which was supposed to be diluted in water. I was too tired to think, and just used tap water. Of course she didn't get sick, so from that point on, I didn't bother to boil her water. I did the same with the other kids.</p><p></p><p>Mothers used to dip a dummy (pacifier) in honey - a bad habit because developing teeth will rot. But years ago, it was a common thing. Putting baby to bed with a bottle - also used to happen a lot, but tooth decay is only one reason to not do it. My oldest sister adopted a little girl who would ONLY have her bottle cold, in her bed. You couldn't hold her to give her a warmed bottle - very sad. She had been badly malnourished and for years we blamed it on her apparently being put to bed to have her bottle. Then she grew up, her her own kids and her fourth, a girl, had big problems feeding. The doctors treated this experienced, loving mother as a neglectful abuser, until her own medical history shed light - it is likely the daughter inherited a digestive problem that was never diagnosed in the mother, the little girl my sister adopted. Yes, my niece HAD been neglected, but there was probably an underlying disorder. Her baby is doing fine now, but only thanks to more modern medical knowledge and understanding.</p><p></p><p>We've just had a series on Australian television called "Saving Babies". It was hosted by one of our newsreaders whose twin girls were themselves born premature and in need of serious intervention. She went back and did the series as a thank you to the hospital that saved her girls. The show was incredible - they showed open heart surgery on newborns, brain surgery, reconstructive surgery within minutes of birth (to a baby born to the niece of a neighbour of ours) and we could see just how amazing medical progress has become. These babies have not only had their lives saved - small gift if it comes at a huge cost physically - but they are, in just about all cases, living a healthy, normal life unaffected by any lasting disability. This is amazing. In years past, the oxygen given to save the lives of really premature babies sent them blind. Now they understand and can prevent this.</p><p></p><p>When I was pregnant with easy child ultrasounds were new. The image on the screen was a still slice of what the sound waves sent back. It showed a fragment of where the baby had been seconds before.</p><p>When I was pregnant with difficult child 3, the ultrasound was amazing - it showed him moving, in 3-D and I could see his face. We could study his tiny body and count the chambers of his heart and follow the ureter down from his kidneys to his bladder, and know he did not have the defect that I was born with. That ureter must have been as thin as spider silk, but the ultrasound could see it.</p><p></p><p>But to see his face before he was born - that was a gift!</p><p></p><p>Marg</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Marguerite, post: 34102, member: 1991"] On safety issues - I remember when I had the first couple of kids, the hospital nursery had us use salt to clean out the baby teat before putting it in the sterilising solution. I was expressing milk and bottle-feeding both my first two because easy child was too tiny and weak to feed normally, and difficult child 1 was in a humidicrib "under the lights" for several days. I had enough milk to feed an orphanage. But I remember the container of salt by the sink. So did mother in law. She had been a charge sister in a maternity ward in a Sydney hospital some years earlier. One night when mother in law was actually home and not on duty, a junior nurse who was making up formula for the bottle-fed babies got the containers mixed and instead of using lactose powder, she used the salt. A number of perfectly healthy babies died. Although she hadn't been on duty at the time, mother in law had to go to court to give evidence. The whole experience really scarred her - carelessness mainly, was the cause of death. I don't think she's ever got over it. And thanks to that incident, we no longer have containers of salt in maternity wards. It wasn't an issue for my ward because the baby formula was already made up and bottled, delivered by Nestlé. I wanted to put difficult child 1 to sleep on his side or back, but the prohibition to not do so was intense. Sleeping on the tummy prevents cot death, we were told. And he hated sleeping on his tummy. Then, a few years later, we were told, "NEVER sleep them on their tummy, it causes cot death." Thanks to my time hanging around some blokes doing research into SIDS, I already had my own ideas by then. But it was yet another classic example of scientists insisting that black is white before they've had a chance to really test it thoroughly. One thing about modern baby care that worries me - it's the insistence on everything being sterile. When we go overboard on this we reduce the opportunity for the baby's developing immune system to 'learn' about antigens in our world. There is considerable evidence to indicate that over-protection of babies in this way is a factor in increasing tendency to allergies in our children. My mother would insist on boiling baby's drinking water, but in her words, "only until the baby started drinking their bath water. When they start sucking on the face cloth, it's time to stop boiling their drinking water." My sister had a dog, so she was very thorough about cleaning up droppings in the yard. Even when she was sure she had removed absolutely everything, the baby would somehow manage to find something she'd missed. So she felt that there was no point continuing to boil the drinking water of a baby who found and sucked the dog's old bone or tennis ball (or worse). I used to boil easy child's drinking water in her first few months, but when she had her first immunisation at 2 months she got a bit feverish. I got up late at night to give her some baby paracetamol which was supposed to be diluted in water. I was too tired to think, and just used tap water. Of course she didn't get sick, so from that point on, I didn't bother to boil her water. I did the same with the other kids. Mothers used to dip a dummy (pacifier) in honey - a bad habit because developing teeth will rot. But years ago, it was a common thing. Putting baby to bed with a bottle - also used to happen a lot, but tooth decay is only one reason to not do it. My oldest sister adopted a little girl who would ONLY have her bottle cold, in her bed. You couldn't hold her to give her a warmed bottle - very sad. She had been badly malnourished and for years we blamed it on her apparently being put to bed to have her bottle. Then she grew up, her her own kids and her fourth, a girl, had big problems feeding. The doctors treated this experienced, loving mother as a neglectful abuser, until her own medical history shed light - it is likely the daughter inherited a digestive problem that was never diagnosed in the mother, the little girl my sister adopted. Yes, my niece HAD been neglected, but there was probably an underlying disorder. Her baby is doing fine now, but only thanks to more modern medical knowledge and understanding. We've just had a series on Australian television called "Saving Babies". It was hosted by one of our newsreaders whose twin girls were themselves born premature and in need of serious intervention. She went back and did the series as a thank you to the hospital that saved her girls. The show was incredible - they showed open heart surgery on newborns, brain surgery, reconstructive surgery within minutes of birth (to a baby born to the niece of a neighbour of ours) and we could see just how amazing medical progress has become. These babies have not only had their lives saved - small gift if it comes at a huge cost physically - but they are, in just about all cases, living a healthy, normal life unaffected by any lasting disability. This is amazing. In years past, the oxygen given to save the lives of really premature babies sent them blind. Now they understand and can prevent this. When I was pregnant with easy child ultrasounds were new. The image on the screen was a still slice of what the sound waves sent back. It showed a fragment of where the baby had been seconds before. When I was pregnant with difficult child 3, the ultrasound was amazing - it showed him moving, in 3-D and I could see his face. We could study his tiny body and count the chambers of his heart and follow the ureter down from his kidneys to his bladder, and know he did not have the defect that I was born with. That ureter must have been as thin as spider silk, but the ultrasound could see it. But to see his face before he was born - that was a gift! Marg [/QUOTE]
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