Grandparents Aren't Up-to-Date on Baby Safety Rules but They Managed to Keep Us Alive
If you're like pretty much every other parent out there, then you probably rely on the help of your baby's grandparents for most, if not all of the times you need a sitter. Let's face it -- nine times out of ten, most of us feel much safer leaving our babies with our own parents or in-laws than with someone we don't know nearly as well. Not only are they a heck of a lot cheaper, they're also more qualified to give our kids the best care possible, right?
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WRONG. Believe it or not, a new survey shows that many grandparents aren't exactly up-to-date with today's baby safety standards. Yep -- when it comes to things like safe sleeping, proper car seat positioning, feeding, using walkers, and all the other stuff parents worry about doing correctly to keep their babies safe -- grandparents generally don't know what they're doing. When given quizzes on baby safety, they tend to fail miserably.
But honestly, who cares?
I mean, of course we all want to do everything possible to make sure our babies receive the best and safest care -- but are our parents really unfit to care for our infants simply because they did things differently back when we were babies?
Here's a news flash -- we all turned out ok, and our parents didn't even have car seats. And you know what else? They used play-pens instead of pack-and-plays, let us roam the house in walkers without any fear of us falling down the stairs, and they also put us down to sleep any way they could simply to get us to SLEEP. And again -- none of us are any worse for wear because of their care giving methods -- which are a far cry from today's rigid safety standards.
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Actually, the "rules" as to what is and what isn't safe for babies these days seem to change constantly -- and I can't help but wonder how many of us would pass those same baby safety quizzes the grandparents were given. Do you really know every recommended guideline for every recommended aspect of child care? (Don't lie.) And aren't there a few things you do that go against the grain of what is considered ideal simply because it works well for you and your baby?
Grandparents love our babies just as much as we do, and while it's important for them to care for our kids as best in line with our wishes as possible, we shouldn't expect everything they do to be totally perfect. Anytime you're remotely concerned about whether or not that advice your parents are giving you is the best thing for your baby, just remember how much you love your child, and know that they feel the same way about you, and about their grandbaby as well. There's no way they'd put your baby in harm's way -- so you might as well thank them for their support and being willing to help instead of getting all paranoid and forcing them to take a safety quiz.
Have you ever worried about your baby while in a grandparent's care?
Image via theodens/Flickr
Written by Mary Fischer on CafeMom's blog, The Stir.
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