Discussions in HG&D

There is a great deal of discussion among experts on allowing infants and children to sleep in the bed with their parents. Two new studies mentioned in your book and the American Academy of Pediatrics Task Force on Infant Positioning and SIDS recommends against shared sleeping. Is it better to allow children to sleep in their own beds or share a bed with their parents? Support you statements with FACTS...not just your opinion.

First, the definition of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is the unexplained death, usually during sleep, of a seemingly healthy baby less than a year old. SIDS is also sometimes known as crib death because the infants often die in their cribs. (www.mayoclinic.org (Links to an external site.)). 1. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that infants sleep in a crib or bassinet in their parents bedroom but not WITH their parents in their bed. This is due to the soft bedding that parents often have on their beds which could risk suffocation or overheating of the infant and there is also the risk of a parent rolling over on a baby. They do state that they believe that an infant should share the same room with their parents because it seems to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome or SIDS by fifty percent. 2. The American SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) Institute states that babies should never bed-share with any adults or children. Their reasons are basically the same as the American Academy of Pediatrics. On the flip side, there are some advocates for co-sleeping. Here is an alternative view of co-sleeping 1. Dr. William Sears is well known pediatrician of over thirty-five years. He has thoroughly researched this concern and has written two books on the subject of co-sleeping and SIDS, The Baby Sleep Book and SIDS: A Parent's Guide to Understanding and Preventing Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. He believes that if done safely, that co-sleeping can actually reduce an infant's risk of SIDS. He states that research has shown that SIDS is caused by the infant's inability to rouse himself from sleep. He goes on to say that in a normal infant, whenever his well being is threatened, a protective mechanism goes off therefore waking the baby up. In some babies, however, this protective mechanism does not go off thus usually resulting in sudden death. His research and the research of Dr. James McKenna (mentioned below) has shown that: A. Co-sleeping is a common practice worldwide. Incidences of SIDS is lowest among cultures that traditionally co-sleep. B. Co-sleep warnings are based on imprecise science. C. He and his wife have personally co-slept with each of their eight children at one point and time. 2. Dr. James McKenna is a well known SIDS researcher. He believes that co-sleeping, either sharing a room or sharing a bed, can have many benefits for the infant and mother including a lowered risk of SIDS. He has spent over thirty years researching infants sleep and the factors that can affect it and the babies health. His research has shown that: A. Cultures that co-sleep and bed share the most has the lowest SIDS rate. Japan is one of these cultures. B. Successful breastfeeding can help mothers and infants get better and prolonged sleep. Also, breastfeeding has many benefits for an infant's health. C. If an infant and parent share a bed then if the infant experiences distress such as a blanket over their face or overheating, then the parent is more likely to be alerted sooner and remedy the situation compared to if the infant sleeps in a crib. D. Infants and parents who work outside of the home who co-sleep or bed share strengthen their bond and get a little more time together. After I have stated all the facts, I would like to put forth my personal opinion. I have four children, all of whom I bed shared. I breastfed two of them and bottle fed the other two. I honestly could not go to sleep if they were not right beside me. I was so worried and stressed about SIDS that I wanted them to be right there beside me. They slept with me the first year of their life and then after that, I put them in their crib. I would keep my back locked the entire night and I would wake periodically throughout the night to check on them. Suffice to say, I had a sore back and not a lot of sleep but I felt that what I did really kept my babies safe. There were some instances that I felt the baby was breathing shallowly so I would give them a little nudge and they would draw a deep breath in. It was quite alarming at times. However, I do believe that bed sharing is not for everyone. Some people do not have the natural instinct to not roll over on their baby. It is a sad situation all around when that occurs. Sources: Chait, Jennifer. "Co-sleeping is Safer Than Cribs Says SIDS Researcher James McKenna." Inhabitots 18 Mar 2011. Inhabitots.com. Web. 6 Feb 2017. Sears, William. "Ask Dr. Sears: Co-sleeping a SIDS Danger?" Modern Families and Fresh Ideas Parenting. Nov 2011. www.parenting.com (Links to an external site.). Web. 6 Feb 2017. "American Academy of Pediatrics Announces New Safe Sleep Recommendations to Protect Against SIDS, Sleep-Related Deaths." American American Academy of Pediatrics, 24 Oct 2016. https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/pages/american-academy-of-pediatrics-announces-new-safe-sleep-recommendations-to-protect-against-sids.aspx (Links to an external site.). Accessed 6 Feb 2017. "Reduce the Risk." American SIDS Institute. http://sids.org/what-is-sidssuid/reduce-the-risk/ (Links to an external site.) Accessed 6 Feb 2017. "Sudden Infant Death Syndrome." Mayo Clinic, 28 Oct 2016. http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/sudden-infant-death-syndrome/basics/definition/con-20020269 (Links to an external site.). Accessed 6 Feb 2017.

Review the video inside the module on the Dissection of the brain. Post your comments on the video and what you learned from viewing the video as compared to looking at the textbook. Respond to one other student posting...but post more than just agreeing or disagreeing.

I learned more specific details on how the brain actually looks. When I look in the textbook, I only get a two dimensional look at the brain. However, when I watched the video I got a three dimensional look and actually got to see a real human brain. It was very interesting to see how everything is connected together. Also, I was surprised at how large the brain actually is in real life. I think that I would much prefer watching the video or getting hands on experience compared to just simply looking in a textbook.

Let's do some research.... read the article " Parents give birth to rare twins." Do you think this is rare? Go do some research to determine if there are other cases similar to this? Is it possible for a women to be pregnant with twins from different fathers? Be sure to site your sources.

Interracial parents giving birth to twins with different skin tones is rare but not as rare as you think it is. I have been researching online and have found quite a few cases. 1. Alison Spooner and Dean Durant had another set of black and white twin girls 7 years after they had their first set of black and white twin girls. 2. Kyle Hodgsin and Remi Horder who are of black and white race themselves had one black twin and one white twin. They were both girls. 3. Stephan Gerth and Florence Addo-Gerth had black and white boy twins. 4. Donna Douglas and Vince Aylmer have twin girls, one whom is black and the other is white. I could list several others. Like I said, it is a rare occurrence but obviously not as rare as we would like to think. It is definitely possible for a women to get pregnant with twins from two different fathers. It can only happen with fraternal twins and not identical twins. It is called heteropaternal superfundication and it occurs when two or more of the mother's eggs are fertilized by different partners during ovulation. Here are some publicized cases: 1. Mia Washington gave birth to a set of fraternal boy twins. After some suspicion on her and the father's part, they had a DNA test done on the boys and it was determined that they had different fathers. She had cheated one her boyfriend and that is how she would up with twins with different fathers. 2. The Vietnamese couple were not named but the mother had given birth to a set of fraternal boy twins with two different fathers. The father became concerned because the twins looked so different and that is when the truth came out. The boys had different fathers due to the mother having an affair. 3. A woman only identified as T.M. took her boyfriend to court to pay child support for their twins. After a subsequent DNA test, it showed that the boyfriend, only identified as A.M., was the father of only one of the twins. The judge ordered him to pay child support for only the child that was his. Sources: Camber, Rebecca. "Mixed race couple gives birth to black and white twins-for the second time." Daily Mail 01 January 2009. DailyMail.com. Web. 28 Jan. 2017. Demarco, Gerard. "Mother gives birth to twins with different dads." Today. 21 May 2009. Today.com. Web. 28 Jan. 2017. Harris, Paul. "Closer than ever... The million-to-one black and white twins Kian and Remee turn seven." Daily Mail. 30 March 2012. DailyMail.com. Web. 28 Jan. 2017. Laing, Lucy. "The Twins that EVERYONE can tell apart! Striking sisters couldn't be more different due to quirk in their mixed-race parentage. Daily Mail. 01 March 2015. DailyMail.com. Web. 28 Jan. 2017. Lovell, Tammy. "Picture: Proud parents show off their million-to-one black and white twins." Daily Mail. 17 July 2008. DailyMail.com. Web. 28 Jan 2017. Molloy, Mark. "Woman gives birth to twins with different fathers in 'rare' case." The Telegraph. 08 Mar. 2016. Telegraph.co.uk. Web. 28 Jan. 2017. Ward, Alexander. "Woman gives birth to twins with two different fathers." Independent. 11 May 2015. Independent.co.uk. Web 28 Jan. 2017.