All Babies are the Same; All Parenting Techniques are Different
…And We Need to Get Used to It, Grandparents
By Margaret Briller
Millennials would be horrified to learn that before seat belts, our Boomer generation used an outstretched arm to protect our kids during a sudden car braking.
Each generation has its own spin on child-rearing and the millennial generation is no exception.
When I had my son decades ago, I was a 36-year-old with a career. I went back to work so I could nap at noon in the women’s lounge. I dressed my infant in play clothes and put him to sleep each weeknight so I wouldn’t have to dress him in the morning before driving him to the babysitter (who fed him breakfast and lunch).
Our Boomer generation introduced table food at one year old. We didn’t introduce eggs before 18 months and peanut butter at 2-3 years old. According to Dr. Richard So, a pediatrician at Cleveland Clinic Children’s, a 2009 research study that showed that the early introduction of solid food has decreased the incidence of food allergies.
“The Boomers had it right the first time,” says Dr. So. “Early introduction of these foods shows a decrease in incidence of food allergies. I’m seeing an increase in the number of new parents who are very pro-breastfeeding, too, which is a good thing that’s best for the baby.”
A Thirst for Knowledge
The number one grandma question that Dr. So is asked is, “When can you give a breastfeeding baby water?”
He replies, “Our whole goal for these babies is to have normal growth and development. Babies don’t grow with water and it just takes up space because there are no calories in water. Water is not recommended for infants until the baby is nine to twelve months old. The recommendation for food and liquids in the baby is breast milk or formula for the first 12 months. That’s the number one change that I get asked from grandparents.”
Bedtime
Cribs filled with stuffed animals, blankets and side bumpers are also a thing of the past. Today’s cribs contain none of those suffocation hazards.
Instead, swaddling may actually help prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and suffocation. “Boomers used to put their babies on their stomach to sleep, but it was determined that the infant’s head was proportionally bigger and that can close the airways and can potentially lead to some unforeseeable events,” says Dr. So.
“We put our babies on their backs to sleep now and there’s been a decrease in SIDS as a result. Swaddling is okay up to two months old but somewhere between two and four months, they developmentally learn how to roll, and they can’t do that if they are still being swaddled.”
Tech Help
It appears that electronics are the new babysitter for kids but using electronics to entertain kids under the age of two is not recommended, Dr. So says.
“They do not learn from these gadgets,” he notes. “I believe some children might not talk on time because they get hypnotized by the screen and they’re not talking. There should be a media plan in each family where you should limit the media — the computer, tablet and TV — to two hours a day.”
Dr. So notes that technology has even entered into tracking baby’s bodily activities through various apps. “During pediatrician visits here at Cleveland Clinic Children’s, we say to new parents that, as long as you’re having six to seven diaper changes a day and the stools are soft, you’re doing well. But new parents are more technology-driven and like to keep track of their baby’s activities as we did in the hospital. There’s nothing wrong with that if it helps them,” he says.
