Friday, March 30, 2007

A Shot in the Dark

Interesting article.

As an avid cloth-diapering mom, I fell in closely with the alternative-parenting community, which embraces many concepts I agree with completely:

Attachment parenting in general, which replaces the neo-mod 50s ideal that pregnancy is socially unacceptable; babies, and kids, are accessories to be tended at one's convenience; and instead recognizes the fact that, for all our scientific advances, we are still mammals who are evolved to cuddle and love our young;

Breast-feeding as opposed to bottle-feeding, which is a large part of what I like to call "detachment parenting:" not that I have a huge philosophical objection to bottle-feeding in and of itself, except that, unless there is a medical or work-related reason, it's just less efficient and more impractical and does not foster the natural attachment between mother and baby;

Co-sleeping as opposed to the crib, which serves to make more immediate and abrupt the separation between mother and infant, who are designed by evolution to remain almost as close as during pregnancy, growing apart gradually rather than experiencing an abrupt end to their previous unified state;

Cry-It-Out vs. Comfort-On-Demand, a conflict between the early imposition of artificial schedules on a particularly tiny and helpless personage who doesn't understand what the hell the problem is, as opposed to the mother doing what she feels like doing when her little one is screaming (pick it up and give it love, or alternately go outside where she cannot hear it - for you new moms, this is also okay to do, as mother and baby will each come to understand and accept the needs of the other);

Natural Childbirth vs. Give Me The Fucking Drugs Already You Asshole: Well, this one is pretty subjective. I'm personally on the side of natural, and have done it myself three times. However, I am prepared to accept, without judgment, that those less perfect (i.e. amply endorphine-riddled and hippy) than myself might like to have a spot of epidural. We all get something and lose something to compensate. I personally have 20/2400 vision without contacts. Charles Darwin would kick my ass over that one. Also, my teeth were crooked.

Vaccinations:

Now listen. I haven't been an active member of the online parenting community for a few years, but when I was, the divide between vaccinating and non-vaccinating was huge. It split pretty neatly along party lines, too. Cloth-diapering, baby-wearing, breast-feeding, natural-birthing, attachment-parenting moms were also overwhelmingly anti-vaccination. And this really always bothered me, because I do, and did vaccinate my kids, and believe passionately in doing so. There are so many ridiculous, needless diseases that have been almost completely wiped out by modern medicine. To think of some of those diseases making a comeback because some of my ilk have been seduced by the Germy Side is more than I really like to think of.

Free-thinking parents should be, you know, free-thinking, and be doing their own research. I'm hoping that the anti-vaccination pendulum is well-begun on its swing in the other direction.

How stupid, on top of everything else horrible, would you feel if your child died of measles??

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5 Comments:

At March 31, 2007 7:47 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I LOVED your quote: Breast-feeding as opposed to bottle-feeding, which is a large part of what I like to call "detachment parenting:" really gave me a chuckle.

FWIW I breastfeed,babywear, natural birthed (second time around) AND vaccinated!

Great to hear of more moms doing their own research and making informed choices!

Purples
x

http://www.iwantmymum.com

 
At March 31, 2007 1:01 PM, Blogger Pam said...

The non-stop pontificating about the evils of vaccines, in my local AP group as well an in Mothering magazine, really turned me off. I even canceled my subscription and barely participate with the AP group anymore. Now some of them have moved on to UNschooling. Don't get me started on that.

I'm really a socialist at heart. Vaccinating is a public health issue. We take (and should take) individual risk for the greater good.

 
At March 31, 2007 7:21 PM, Blogger Brooke said...

I think vaccines can be medical overkill. Yes, they are needed for older school age children, I completely agree with that. However, for younger babies, maybe not. It's well known that antibodies are given to babies in utero and in breast milk. If a mother has been vaccinated with-in a certain number of years, then it may be unnecessary for a infant to be vaccinated against those same diseases. Having said that I did get my daughter vaccinated, mainly because it just seemed like the normal thing to do. I also got an epidural, which I didn't want to do, but after 24 hours of labor I needed something to keep me going.

 
At April 04, 2007 6:30 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't know how bottle feeders do it. It just seems like more of a pain in the ass.

As someone who has to have all of her vaccines again (thanks to your hubs cells, which is now my blood type), I fully believe in them.

I remember my pediatrician telling me that vaccines are like seatbelts. Most often not necessary, but when you need it, you'd hate to be caught without it.

And for instance, when Jackson was 4 months old, Steph got shingles. It is the same virus that causes chicken pox. Which he had not yet been vaccinated against - and at that age could kill him. I had to change all his diapers and she had to wear long sleeves when breast feeding. With all the yucky germs about, why take the chance of bringing all that crap back?

 
At April 04, 2007 6:33 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh. There that big scandal now because some guy with a virulent strain of TB was walking around without a mask and refused to be treated. So they LOCKED him up in jail. They wouldn't even let him go to the hospital. Public health hazard.

 

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