Raising a Baby Today

I was talking to a friend about bringing up babies and the books she has been reading before her bubba is born and it got me thinking. I didn't really read any books before my bubba was born. I didn't really have time. Sometimes I wish I had, while other times it makes me happy because I have no preconceived ideas of how things should be.

Don't get me wrong I read the information that is given to me by the health professionals and google when I run out of ideas or I need some guidance. But mainly I use my instincts when it comes to my son. I started to think about our new age society and if we are better off than our parents and grandparents.

Our parents and mainly our grandparents would usually have family and friends (a small community of people) to help them raise their children. But there were a lot of things not talked about and a lot of things not yet discovered. For example: recently studies have discovered that to help prevent SIDS it is best to have babies sleep on their backs in lieu of their tummy. With this information the percentage of babies dying from SIDS has been shown to fall dramatically. So in the past there wasn't as much information or support, so did families and parents have to rely on instincts and information passed down from generation to generation?

I know times have changed but I started to wonder how much information is out there today. How many books are there? How much of this information is conflicting. And I must tell you there is a lot of information. It must look very daunting to a new mum trying to find answers. After reading a few articles it made me happier that I hadn't read too much and decided to just take things as they come. Don't get me wrong, a lot of people would find these books/information helpful. But my son is not your average bub and I can guarantee he wouldn't be doing things by the book. There is a lot of information out there because times have changed and we aren't the small communities that raise babies together. In fact a lot of people don't have there family and friends around to offer support and help at all. So these books must be a life saver for some people who have nothing else.

This conversation was raise slightly in my mothers group a week ago and I must say the conversation was interesting. Every mother knows their baby is constantly changing, so does that mean that you are constantly looking for additional information? To make things even more interesting one of the ladies in my mothers group spoke about her trip to South Africa and how they don't know, or aren't aware of SID's, don't really use seat belts etc. This point alone makes me feel happy the information is out there and too much information is better than not enough information. Our children are safe, our rules are clear, the guidance is there. If you need it great and if you don't you don't have to read it.

The most important thing I learnt in all of this is that trusting my instincts works best for me and my son. If I need help then I know I can get it, but I'm happy that I am into days society.

A Baby life

As a 1st time mum my eyes have been opened to a lot of things that I would never have considered before. Especially how in a babies life there are a number of things they do and we do with them that is deemed acceptable behaviour, but if you were to do it with an adult would be out right wrong. Let me put this picture in your mind. Your baby has farted. Your not sure if he has farted or pooed. So you pick him up and sniff his bottom. Thats ok right. Well imagine you did this to another adult. Sniffed there bottom. When politicians do it it's classed as outrageous and no one would ever really do this. But it got me thinking about the things we do with babies and the more I thought about the more things I came up with.

For example:

- People kiss babies feet - Of course this is ok because babies don't walk yet right. But imagine doing this to an adult.

- People sing to babies to make them happy, in public and private. Imagine if every time you had a friend upset or you wanted a smile from someone you just belted out a tune.

- Randomly most people will blow raspberries on their childs belly. I can't even describe why this is wrong to do to an adult without laughing. 

- Strangers will often greet a baby they don't know and choose to touch them by either rubbing there arm, face or hair. Imagine if every time you met someone they proceed to stroke you in some way. Uncomfortable.

- Baby talk. I don't even need to explain this one. 

Anyway you get the gist. There are things we do with babies that we would never do with adults. Which got me thinking are there things that babies do that we would never do ourselves as adults. Of course there is.

- Babies will openly stare at whomever they want whenever they want and no one judges them. If an adult did that it would be awkward.

- Babies will openly fart, burt and poo in public and no one bats an eyelid.

- Babies will scream at the top of their lungs for no reason and the most inconvenient time. Imagine being in a meeting and an adult did this.
- Babies will drool so much that they wet their shirt

- Babies laugh at things that they see or hear for the 1st time. I wish adults could experience this joy again

AND

- Babies don't care what other people think as long as there mum and dad love them

I guess my point is that a babies lives are pure and so different from an adults. Furthermore it wasn't until I started thinking about these things that I realised how different a babies life is and how much they change over time to become us. Amazing.