What have you noticed is changed from what you were told when you had a baby?

[LuvBaloo]

I was just thinking how many things have changed since I had my kids (now 4 and 7) and my sister had her first (he's now 17) and thought it might make for an interesting discussion.

One thing that definitely changed. DSis & I both had our first by C-section. 17yo, Hers was kept in the nursery and she didn't have to deal with diaper changing or anything. 7yo, I had my first, and now babies are kept in with the moms. As soon as the catheter was taken off, I was left to deal with baby. And they leave the diapers on the bottom shelf of the bassinet. Bending over to get the diaper was awful. This year DSisIL had her first by C-section, now all maternity rooms are individual with a second bed for the dad to stay in.

Another area that I've noticed changing, is when to start feeding kids pablum and other food. I was told 6months, it used to be 4 months, and back a generation ago it was 2months.

Anybody else noticed any major changes?

[JUJU814]

Up until the month my dd was born, the rule was "NEVER EVER" put a baby to sleep on their back!!! Always put the baby on the tummy.

Suddenly, it was "NEVER EVER" put a baby on their tummy...always put their baby on their back.

Now, if I'm not mistaken, it's put them on their side.

I can't keep up.

My babies always slept best on their tummy.

The solid food thing has changed drastically over the years.

Oh, and peanut butter. What is it with the sudden onset of peanut allergies???? My babies always started PB and J at about 8 months or so..tiny bites, and were fine.

I think I might be beyond babies..kids are 5, 7 and 17...but who knows, we may have one more and I'm sure something new will be the rule.

[Teresa Pitman]

Well, my kids are grown now, so I've seen lots of changes.

I was told babies should sleep on their tummies. But my babies shared my bed, so mine always slept on their backs. (They'd nurse to sleep, then roll away from me onto their backs.) (And yes, it's true that they don't sleep as deeply or as long on their backs - but that's part of the reason it is recommended. It decreases the risk of SIDS in part because the babies wake more easily. Side-lying is not recommended either - the safest way for a baby to sleep is on his back.)

I was told to start solids at six weeks. But I went to La Leche League, where they had lots of research to show that around six months (following baby's development more than a precise age) was better. So mine started somewhere around six months or so.

I was told that from the time they started to walk, babies should wear laced-up hard-soled shoes to support and strengthen their ankles. But I saw the African runners winning gold medals and running barefoot and decide the shoes weren't necessary - so my babies went barefoot as much as possible and wore flexible shoes when needed.

I've also been very interested in the growing use of baby sign language (wish I had known about that when mine were little!) and the diaper-free babies (also wish I'd known about that!).

Teresa

[chrysdrew]

When I had DD 9 years ago, all of the hospitals were moving to birthing suites where you delivered and stayed in the same room until discharge.

That was the case 4 years ago with DS.

Now, I delivered a week ago, and all of the hospitals in our area are back to a large delivery suite, then they move you to a very small room until discharge!

And 9 years ago, boy were they playing up those suites!!!

Also, with my daughter you still used alcohol to help with the umbilical cord. With my son and now, you are not supposed to put anything on it, and it will fall off in a about a week on its own.

[Tiffany_PartyOf7]

I've learned to throw everything anyone tells me right out the window. LOL. We don't even do well check ups any longer because its just annoying and useless. LOL.

We let our babies sleep how they are most comfortable. They are in our bed for the first year before we move them to their own crib in their own room. I act as a respiratory pacemaker for them so the changes of SIDS are extremely low.

We don't do any solids until baby is showing interest and is capable of eating normal food. We don't do baby food. Whatever we eat we chop up tiny and serve to baby. As baby grows, we make the pieces a bit bigger.

My kids eat peanut products as soon as they can eat normal foods and none have allergies. I think if my husband or I had had peanut allergies, we would probably delay them. We don't delay any foods - other than junk for obvious reasons.

My kids wear soft shoes from birth if it is cute with their outfit, otherwise they go without shoes. We live in FL and they don't need shoes. LOL. Once they are walking, if they are in our house, they are barefoot. If we leave the house, they wear soft shoes until they are runners and once they are walking really well or walking in parking lots and stuff, we switch to regular shoes. Although normally my kids just wear Crocs or flip flops all year long. My kids don't even own a pair of tennis shoes right now LOL.

We do some ASL with the kids because we have a daughter with verbal apraxia but IDK that we would do the signs if we didn't have a daughter who uses them.

When some of mine were little and we were still doing well visits, we saw 2 different pediatric groups and 1 group said to do it 1 way, the other said completely different. Thats when I learned to research everything myself and make decisions about my children for myself. We are a much happier family now that we just play off of our childrens cues and make decisions that are right for our family - not for the doctors family or for the AAP directors family. LOL

[JUJU814]

Originally Posted by Tiffany_PartyOf7

I've learned to throw everything anyone tells me right out the window. LOL. We don't even do well check ups any longer because its just annoying and useless. LOL.

We let our babies sleep how they are most comfortable. They are in our bed for the first year before we move them to their own crib in their own room. I act as a respiratory pacemaker for them so the changes of SIDS are extremely low.

We don't do any solids until baby is showing interest and is capable of eating normal food. We don't do baby food. Whatever we eat we chop up tiny and serve to baby. As baby grows, we make the pieces a bit bigger.

My kids eat peanut products as soon as they can eat normal foods and none have allergies. I think if my husband or I had had peanut allergies, we would probably delay them. We don't delay any foods - other than junk for obvious reasons.

My kids wear soft shoes from birth if it is cute with their outfit, otherwise they go without shoes. We live in FL and they don't need shoes. LOL. Once they are walking, if they are in our house, they are barefoot. If we leave the house, they wear soft shoes until they are runners and once they are walking really well or walking in parking lots and stuff, we switch to regular shoes. Although normally my kids just wear Crocs or flip flops all year long. My kids don't even own a pair of tennis shoes right now LOL.

We do some ASL with the kids because we have a daughter with verbal apraxia but IDK that we would do the signs if we didn't have a daughter who uses them.

When some of mine were little and we were still doing well visits, we saw 2 different pediatric groups and 1 group said to do it 1 way, the other said completely different. Thats when I learned to research everything myself and make decisions about my children for myself. We are a much happier family now that we just play off of our childrens cues and make decisions that are right for our family - not for the doctors family or for the AAP directors family. LOL

I like you!!!

Just follow your instincts!

The well baby check ups annoyed the heck out of me too! I'll NEVER forget taking dd for hers and I had a 2 year old and the doctor, patronizingly, and seriously looks at me and says "now, Mrs. H, it's very important that you never leave the baby unattended with your 2 year old" uh, DUH!!!!!!!!

Then he had the audacity to tell me my 2 year old needed counseling because he was having temper tantrums. I'm sorry, but he was a moron. (the doctor, not my son..who is well adjusted today

If I could just have one more..I'd totally throw it all out the window and go with my instincts all the way!

[dayzemair]

Well, since my youngest is only just 3, things haven't changed that drastically - but the one thing that I have noticed that has yo-yo'ed back and forth is the food thing. For awhile it was all "don't feed them any peanut butter or peanuts or other allergens until after a year" now they are saying that they are finding that kids actually have more of a likelyhood of allergies if you hold off
I just can't keep up with those recommendations so we do what seems right to us at the time.

I do follow most other recommendations though, I am a believer of you do the best that you can with the best information you have at the time. If things change in the future (i am sure that they will) then I will take that info. into account and adjust accordingly.

I do think that a lot of changes to the birthing practices have been for the better, I am a big fan of having your own room, rooming in with your baby and having a place for you husband to sleep - all positive changes in my mind - though I do think that with a C section the nurses should be a extra involved so that you are getting rest after major surgery.

[dyna]

1 that got me was in the 18 months between baby 1 an 2 it had been determined that 2% milk in babies less than 2 yrs old caused kidney problems later in life. WHO is to say those same babies wasn't gonna have kidney problems later in life anyway regardless of kind of milk they drank?

When my older ones was born NO CAR SEATS required they are 30 an 32 yrs old. Myself I still used car seats even then rear facing the 1st yr or so then forward. Bottles was either Playtex or the regular bottle nipple only 2 choices, baby food an jr baby food, cloth diapers was either square or oblong. Disposable diapers did have sticky tape but it stuck to the diaper an was almost impossible to pull off without tearing diaper. But I was poor had to rely mostly on cloth diapers. In those days we couldn't wait to get baby out of diapers an potty trained most any mom that had not started potty training by age 2 was to be scorned by everyone she knew.

19 yrs ago when DD#3 came along car seats was required. VERY GOOD LAW IMO!!! Solids wasn't usually started till 6 months instead of 6 or 8 weeks as they was with the older DD's. Well this baby came weighing 10.8 lbs an she was HUNGRY! Formula was not enough for her she was hungry all the time funny how once momma started feedin her a little bit of cereal couple times a day how happy an content she was. Of course the dr didn't think much of momma givin baby cereal but he didn't like the fact that DD was 6 weeks old an 15 lbs either. Booster seats was not yet in cars but I had one. DD fit in it till she was about 4.5 yrs old the size of most 7 yr olds she was always a big kid but even then I was campaining with anyone who would listen to get another stage of booster seats for kids cause their bodies just was not wide enough to fill the width of seat belt an in accident I felt they was at risk. Disposible diapers now had resticky tape what a nice invention! Now we had pink diapers for girls an blue for boys an silica gel that held the pee so much better an elastic in the legs to help contain leaks. Bottles had either the playtex, the regular nipple or the orthopedic which was even more like mommas nipple than the playtex. At one year most babies are now put on 2% milk unless they under weight an need the extra fat nothing is said about 2% milk in babies under the age of 2 causing kidney problems later in life an I for 1 did not bring it up.

Gsons now 3.5 an 2 yrs old. No sleepin on belly way I see it they spit up it drains out of mouth naturally on back they can choke to death on their own puke an that's better than SIDS? There are more bottle styles an nipple styles out there than you can shake a stick at. Disposible diapers are no longer pink an blue cause guess what just as I figured there is no dif other than yeah boys tend to get wet in front girls in back but the diapers absorb the same either way when full time to change. Very rarely are they potty trained at 2 yrs old. Throw away diapers are much to easy much easier than potty training it seems. YOU CAN NO LONGER even buy an old fashioned diaper pail that holds water with a lid diaper pail is now for disposible diapers? Cloth diapers come shaped like a throw away pamper in multi sizes with snaps or velcro at about 9.00 per diaper. Well at least now they made out of material that the poop doesn't stick to an no more rinsing in toliet. Car seats an boosters now required till age 8 in most states. I finally won that battle. NO sittin in front seat till 5' tall which I always did anyway another battle I won. OH nothing in crib but the baby no mobile no bumper pad no blankets. Play pens are now called play yards an are TINY babies rarely play in them.

[PollyannaMom]

DS is 8, and I was told he could have things with peanut in them at about a year. - My friend's DD is only 2 years younger, and she was told to wait until her 3rd bithday!

Now a previous poster says you're not supposed to wait anymore? It does change quickly.

[hanutedmansionmomma]

definitely car seats!

my 15yo was in the front seat facing forward with a seatbelt over the top of her little car seat (it was really more of a seat/carrier, no "base" to put it in).

now they have seats and boosters for every weight and height until they kids are practically in middle school!

scary to think about how unsafe that was when she was little

[eeyoremum]

When DS15 was born the nurse would take him from my bed and put him in the crib. I would take him back to my bed. We played this game for a week...ugh. Also they wanted him to sleep on his back. No peanut products until he was over 2. Food at three months.

When DS10 was born the nurse said oh you cosleep let me get a pillow to put against the bar on the hospital bed so he won't slip through. Side to sleep. Don't know about peanut products. No food until 6 months...yeah right!

With DS10 I was at a well baby appointment when he was 6 month and the doctor says you can start pablum. I said oh good he has been eating fruit for 3 months. I started him on fruit because he was on soya formula with iron...that does nasty stuff to babies.

[santa's surpriz]

Ditto the car seats! I remember be-bopping to "Dancing Queen" as a kid. I survived! My neices and nephews are in their early twenties and never remember them with a car seat.

I see alot of infants and toddlers with the helmets to reshape their heads. I am not sure if that is new or maybe due to SIDS prevention.

Diapers, I was born in the early 1970's. They had just come out with disposable diapers. According to my mom, the were awful, thick and always leaked. Thirty years later, she helped me decide which ones where the best and she was truly amazed. We spent an hour trying to figure which ones to buy!

And most importantly...how video games and tv/video is created to stimulate the youngest minds! I don't know how generations past survived without mini-DVD players! I saw a video game system in Target that a looked like it geared towards a one year old. I find that truly amazing bc I thought the rule was to limit how much tv/video games kids due, I guess it's stimulate the mind or stunt the metabolism.

[tjbaggott]

Toys and most baby equipement (cribs, bouncy seats, swings ect...). They all Look SO MUCH NICER AND FUN than when I had my kids (now 18, 16, 12 and 6 yrs old!)LOL

I look after a 1yr old girl. When I took her on at exactly 12 months, her mom said she could have peanut butter. One day several weeks after her being here, we were low on groceries, so it was going to be a peanut butter and jelly (or cream cheese as some of my charges like that instead of jelly). Well, this little had just a BIT of peanut butter on her bread, and within minutes she was REALLY rubbing her eyes. At first I just thought she was tired, but after another minute or so, that eye was Swollen, more of her face was becoming sowllen. I took the food away, got a wipe to clean her off so I could see what was happening. HIVES! I called a friend who lives close by to get over to my house, I left a message for her parents, neither of whom I could make contact with at that moment, and once my friend was here (litterally two minutes later), I zipped this baby off to our local clinic, thank goodness it's just a two minute drive away.
Yes definately a peanut allergy. No respiratory distress though, this time. She now has an eppipen and my house is peanut free on the days she is here.
(well, I mean we don't use the peanut butter when she's here, and my older kids have been taught to not contaminate the butter/margarine and jam ect with peanut butter).

[Mickeypooh99]

Originally Posted by tjbaggott

Toys and most baby equipement (cribs, bouncy seats, swings ect...). They all Look SO MUCH NICER AND FUN than when I had my kids (now 18, 16, 12 and 6 yrs old!)LOL

I look after a 1yr old girl. When I took her on at exactly 12 months, her mom said she could have peanut butter. One day several weeks after her being here, we were low on groceries, so it was going to be a peanut butter and jelly (or cream cheese as some of my charges like that instead of jelly). Well, this little had just a BIT of peanut butter on her bread, and within minutes she was REALLY rubbing her eyes. At first I just thought she was tired, but after another minute or so, that eye was Swollen, more of her face was becoming sowllen. I took the food away, got a wipe to clean her off so I could see what was happening. HIVES! I called a friend who lives close by to get over to my house, I left a message for her parents, neither of whom I could make contact with at that moment, and once my friend was here (litterally two minutes later), I zipped this baby off to our local clinic, thank goodness it's just a two minute drive away.
Yes definately a peanut allergy. No respiratory distress though, this time. She now has an eppipen and my house is peanut free on the days she is here.
(well, I mean we don't use the peanut butter when she's here, and my older kids have been taught to not contaminate the butter/margarine and jam ect with peanut butter).

That peanut reaction is so scary. As a daycare provider I always refuse to give any infant or toddler a food that the parent hasn't tried first. Our nearest clinic is 15 minutes away with no traffic. Not to mention someone has to come to watch the other kids.

I have been a daycare provider for 10 years, and that was right around when they started the back to sleep program. It is proven to lower sids risk. They also suggest using a pacifier, and turning on a fan to circulate air in babys bedroom to lower sids risk.

Many things change over the years, and while some people say that they slept on their stomach, didn't use car seats, had lead painted cribs etc., and yet they survived, that doesn't make it okay. Things have been learned over the years that help keep our children safe. Just because we survived those things doesn't mean every child did. The more we learn, the better we can care for the children.

[JUJU814]

Originally Posted by Mickeypooh99

That peanut reaction is so scary. As a daycare provider I always refuse to give any infant or toddler a food that the parent hasn't tried first. Our nearest clinic is 15 minutes away with no traffic. Not to mention someone has to come to watch the other kids.

I have been a daycare provider for 10 years, and that was right around when they started the back to sleep program. It is proven to lower sids risk. They also suggest using a pacifier, and turning on a fan to circulate air in babys bedroom to lower sids risk.

Many things change over the years, and while some people say that they slept on their stomach, didn't use car seats, had lead painted cribs etc., and yet they survived, that doesn't make it okay. Things have been learned over the years that help keep our children safe. Just because we survived those things doesn't mean every child did. The more we learn, the better we can care for the children.

I still think it's okay for them to sleep on their tummy and I'd do it again. I think it's just as easy for them to regurgitate and choke on their spit up.

I'm a firm believer that mother knows their child best...much better than pediatricians and daycare providers.