What are you thoughts?

[SurfingDoctor]

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I saw this in TIME. I didn't read all the articles (or don't have access to them online), but essentially it's a pediatrician who promotes "attachment parenting" which is co-sleeping, extended breastfeeding into toddler years, questioning vaccines, etc.

How do other feel about this and what are your thoughts? Personally, I don't care what parents do as long as it is not abusive or a direct safety concern to the child, but I do feel like presenting articles about this guy glamorizes the idea that just because there is science to things we say to parents about raising healthy children, they should ignore that and do whatever they feel like (though that is their choice)

Here's a link to the magazine:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine

 

[oldbearprofessor]

I saw this in TIME. I didn't read all the articles (or don't have access to them online), but essentially it's a pediatrician who promotes "attachment parenting" which is co-sleeping, extended breastfeeding into toddler years, questioning vaccines, etc.

How do other feel about this and what are your thoughts? Personally, I don't care what parents do as long as it is not abusive or a direct safety concern to the child, but I do feel like presenting articles about this guy glamorizes the idea that just because there is science to things we say to parents about raising healthy children, they should ignore that and do whatever they feel like (though that is their choice)

Here's a link to the magazine:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine

Short answer - the image of the breastfeeding nearly 4 y/o kid is a classic strawman kind of argument. It's unfortunate that they chose to focus on a trivial issue (the very rare mom who breastfeeds after 24 months of age) over the real challenges related to supporting breastfeeding in the US (workplace issues, etc). Regardless it is not child abuse to breastfeed a 4 y/o, it is simply a very rare choice in the US and best left (as the AAP says to do) between mom and kid. Focus on why there are so few breastfed 6 month olds.

I could care less about attachment parenting. Not a NICU issue.😛 Well, it is, I'm a big fan of cuidado canguro, but that's a separate issue.😉

 

[Andreji]

I could care less about attachment parenting. Not a NICU issue.😛 Well, it is, I'm a big fan of cuidado canguro, but that's a separate issue.😉

Wow, OBP, first time i've seen someone around here link my Alma Mater around here! Proud we're doing a lil' something for the newborns! I enjoyed a good 3mos of my internship year exclusively at the San Ignacio nicu, too- very nice to have mothers (and fathers!) coming in, doing the whole skin-to-skin deal at any time of day.

 

[oldbearprofessor]

Wow, OBP, first time i've seen someone around here link my Alma Mater around here! Proud we're doing a lil' something for the newborns! I enjoyed a good 3mos of my internship year exclusively at the San Ignacio nicu, too- very nice to have mothers (and fathers!) coming in, doing the whole skin-to-skin deal at any time of day.

I've been there! Seen the program in person. Listened to a bit of Spanish with a French accent.😉

There is much to learn from the Colombian program as well as its implementation in other countries.

 

[Andreji]

Wow that's great to hear! I fail to remember the name of the french woman with a spanish accent every time (Nathalie I think?), even after speaking to her so many times... But I hope you liked our rather small and crammed (but very warm) newborn care unit. When did you last visit? aside from the hospital (crowded and aging but rather well-staffed) I hope you got a decent impression of Bogota, which can be quite unnerving.

Back to the point, and out of ignorance/curiousity, how widely do you see the kangaroo program being implemented in more developed scenarios? considering it's meant to be a rather low-cost scheme with most of its implementation south of the equator...I've come across a few fans but haven't really seen it much as a hospital/healthcare policy up north.

 

[oldbearprofessor]

Wow that's great to hear! I fail to remember the name of the french woman with a spanish accent every time (Nathalie I think?), even after speaking to her so many times... But I hope you liked our rather small and crammed (but very warm) newborn care unit. When did you last visit? aside from the hospital (crowded and aging but rather well-staffed) I hope you got a decent impression of Bogota, which can be quite unnerving.

Back to the point, and out of ignorance/curiousity, how widely do you see the kangaroo program being implemented in more developed scenarios? considering it's meant to be a rather low-cost scheme with most of its implementation south of the equator...I've come across a few fans but haven't really seen it much as a hospital/healthcare policy up north.

Well, it was a French woman (you got her name) speaking Spanish with a strong French accent, but, that's it. It was a few years ago, I'm going back to your country soon (PM me if you'd like for details).

As far as Kangaroo Care, many hospitals have adopted some of the ideas from Colombia and also Africa where it is widely used. However, in the US, the concept of early hospital discharge of small babies by means of close skin-skin contact has not been adopted except in a few pilot programs. I don't think it will. In other words, what is described as Kangaroo Care in the US is somewhat different from what is practiced as Cuidado Canguro in Colombia.

 

[michigangirl]

The article was published for simple shock factor and $$$$. The cover photo of a kid STANDING while breastfeeding, and being a rather large 3 year old-- was no accident.

I'm with OBP. Totally a distraction. I take great issue wit Dr. Sears who tells parents this is the only way to go-- but if it works for these folks, so be it. I would be interested in a cohort study to look at kids breastfed after 24 months inthe long term. Would be very fascinating.

 

[SurfingDoctor]

The article was published for simple shock factor and $$$$. The cover photo of a kid STANDING while breastfeeding, and being a rather large 3 year old-- was no accident.

I'm with OBP. Totally a distraction. I take great issue wit Dr. Sears who tells parents this is the only way to go-- but if it works for these folks, so be it. I would be interested in a cohort study to look at kids breastfed after 24 months inthe long term. Would be very fascinating.

Interesting that you mention that. Not quite the same, but a large systematic review (really a book) of breastfeeding looking at 9000 abstracts, 400 studies and 29 other systematic reviews. I admit, I only read the abstract. The actual document is a couple hundred pages. Anyway, here it is:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK38337/

 

[BigRedBeta]

Breast feeding...meh. I have a child in my continuity clinic who breastfed several times a week up until 20 months of age. I absolutely didn't push one way or another. Kid was thriving and I figured it wasn't making any difference either way and mom and kiddo wanted to continue.

I do take significant issue with the co-bedding of infants - not good at any age in my book, but even more so under the age of 6 months. Even one would be too many, but unfortunately I have seen a handful of deaths due to co-bedding in just 3 years of residency.

 

[clarabelle]

This issue hits very close to home for me personally and professionally. I will disclose (and I'm not making this up) that I am about to start my Pediatric residency next month and am nursing my 24 month old still for naps and sleep when he is with me. Actually, ironically, tonight was the first night he fell asleep on his own since he was born, which is great because daddy is going to be taking nighttime duty on the nights when I am on call.

So I feel I have a lot invested in this conversation from various viewpoints. I was joking with my husband that I might be able to get the Guinness Book of World Records for longest-nursing Pediatrician in history. 😉 I wouldn't say I practice "attachment parenting" by the book, but I do like Dr. Sears' 7 baby b's (http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/attachment-parenting/what-ap-7-baby-bs) and they were just something that came naturally to me, for the most part. I also had the chance to take an extended bit of time off with my son until 8 months so this got our breastfeeding relationship off to a good start. We only co-slept out of necessity when we fell asleep during nighttime feedings, then he would be placed back in his crib.

But what I want to say is that I've done (and continue to do) many things that, from a mainstream Pediatrics perspective, are unorthodox. I would never tell my colleagues, or acquaintances that I nurse my 24 month old unless I felt a very intimate connection with them. I would likely not tell them that I never let my child "cry it out" even though I know that is what I will have to offer to exhausted parents. My son didn't learn to consistently sleep through the night (more than 7 nights in a row without waking in a 9 hour stretch) for 22 months. I have not followed much of the advice I will have to dole out and it's a bit of a strange position to be in. I've done what I felt to be right for our family. When I have my next child, I will likely be a resident and will have to tailor my parenting practices to the situation my husband and I find ourselves in.

I hope this ends up making me a well-rounded Pediatrician willing to consider all the options with parents and support them in making the best decisions for their families. Which, in the end, I think is the most we can ask for.