Comments for Neuroanthropology

Comment on On-line coaching paper available: shameless self-promo by Ole Lund

Ole Lund — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:12:25 +0000

Great work, Greg

Comment on Cosleeping and Biological Imperatives: Why Human Babies Do Not and Should Not Sleep Alone by Abbie

Abbie — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:36:09 +0000

My son will be 1 year in a week. He was born three weeks early and was only 5 lbs at birth. He has slept with me in my bed since he was born. Even in the hospital, I would doze while he breast-fed. When the nurse came in to check on him (which was VERY frequent), I would wake up. I didn’t want them to tell me he couldn’t be in bed with me. From the moment we got home, he slept with me. I had a bassinet for him next to my bed, but he very rarely slept in it. Now, he sleeps in a crib next to my bed, but I still bring him to bed with me in the middle of the night when he wakes up hungry. I nurse him for a while, and then I put him back in his crib. I will do this sometimes 3-4 times a night.
You should not co-sleep when you are exhausted or intoxicated. Any time when I have been overly tired, I have put him in his bassinet between feedings, just to avoid any potential risk. If I were extremely overweight, I would not co-sleep with my son, because the risk of suffocation could increase in that situation.
Any time he shares my bed, my maternal instincts have kept me aware and responsive to him. He is happiest and sleeps best when he is in bed with me. I cannot imagine not sleeping with him. It seems like such a cruel and cold thing to do, to force an infant to stay away from his mother for several hours at a time. Evolutionary development did not led to that–societal trend did. For many millennia, babies survived and thrived while sleeping next to their parent or parents. We didn’t have cribs when we were prehistoric man, and yet we managed to live and evolve to the point where we are today.
Ultimately, it is a personal choice by any parent whether to co-sleep or not. In my personal experience and in my opinion, I feel it would be cruel to force my son to sleep alone, and I think it goes against our natural biological development. But that is with regard to MY life and MY son. I don’t convict parents who choose not to co-sleep. Parents who choose to co-sleep with their babies should not be convicted either. As Dr. McKenna says, although SIDS deaths are, by definition, “crib deaths,” it doesn’t keep parents from using cribs. Although there are instances of accidental suffocation with infants who bed-share, it doesn’t mean that all infants should be denied that pleasure and comfort.

Comment on Cosleeping and Biological Imperatives: Why Human Babies Do Not and Should Not Sleep Alone by Mel

Mel — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:11:47 +0000

To the Nay sayers and Yaay Sayers!
Say what you all want and opinions differ from each other. Both sides have some valid points but what I am here for is my own experience as a mother of 2 wonderful healthy boys. I came to North America from the Philippines. Breastfeeding, co-sleeping and bed sharing was the norm in my home country. I have never heard or seen anything different! When I had my 1st son, I had an emergency C-Section. It was difficult for me to bring him out of the crib and nurse him every 2 hours. My cut was unbearable and the nurses and doctors expect me to do this. When I came home I was expecting this sort of tiredness but this not like this. I knew I wanted to nurse my son. I almost gave up breastfeeding on my 3rd week of being at home. With barely any sleep and exhaustion setting in, my mother came to our rescue. She is a nurse herself and she has watched and helped me through my ordeal. I cried, I am giving up nursing! She looked at me and said,”what I am going to do and say goes against my profession but not as your mother who raised you and your brothers”. She laid me down on my side and took my son to nurse this way. I was shocked, I said, “Mom, the nurses and doctors told me not to”. She said, “Never mind what they say, they are not here to see that you are suffering”. She stayed with me till I was comfortable. For the first time, my son and I slept for 4 hours straight and from that time on, I never went back. I nurse my 1st son for 14 months and my 2nd son for 15 months. The greatest discovery for me is that, I would wake up to nurse my son seconds before they wake up to nurse. He didn’t cry a lot, because I am ready and I came to his needs. I am not a heavy sleeper so this worked very well for our family. Even my husband who is a Westerner and didn’t want me to nurse in public has changed his perceptions about all this matter. He proudly tells everyone, what we did during those times. The professionals, in my opinion means well in their “studies and what nots”. I think that making breastfeeding difficult to mothers, makes them give up on nursing easily. Hence, the very small percentage of women that breastfeeds on for a very short time..I do not think at all that bottle feeding is easier. First of all, You have to get up, to get the bottle, heat up the water, mix in the powder, take the baby and feed him. By this time the baby is on full cry episode(“Give me my darn food, woman”). Phew..What a process..Ohh don’t forget about washing them bottles and sanitizing them. It is a waste of time and energy. Breastfeeding(in bed/in general)-fresh everytime and ready to go anytime, do it anywhere you want to, you do not have to get up. You do not even need to lug bottlesi n the diaper bag when you go out or go on vacation w/ the kids. (BTW, we went on a 3 day roadtrip to our vacation spot for three weeks when my son is only 8 months old). Need I say more….Breastfeeding, Co-sleeping and Bed sharing worked for my family. I am not forcing my way on to you but do not force your way on to me. We all have different reasons why we do what we do in raising our children. In the end, we all mean well..If my kids are happy, then we are happy. I could go on and on about this subject..but my hands are tired and I kids want me! See ya’s!!

Comment on Cosleeping and Biological Imperatives: Why Human Babies Do Not and Should Not Sleep Alone by Getting your baby to sleep « blissborn

Getting your baby to sleep « blissborn — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:17:28 +0000

[...] us (but we both agree on co-sleeping — or at least he doesn’t disagree too much). Read this article explaining the scientific defense of bed-sharing by James McKenna, [...]

Comment on Brain Books for Kids by Applications, Software, Ebooks, Magazine, iPhone, iPad, Android

Applications, Software, Ebooks, Magazine, iPhone, iPad, Android — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:37:30 +0000

Applications, Software, Ebooks, Magazine, iPhone, iPad, Android…

[...]Brain Books for Kids « Neuroanthropology[...]…

Comment on Cosleeping and Biological Imperatives: Why Human Babies Do Not and Should Not Sleep Alone by El Veeb

El Veeb — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:01:49 +0000

I’m not a parent yet, but I’m all for co-sleeping- I have a 2-year-old nephew, and my sister used to room-share (she still takes naps with him)- from what I hear, they both still enjoy it.

@Jean- co-sleeping is both healthy and natural, but gets a bad reputation due to Western culture, which encourages separation and detachment from family (and we wonder why our society breeds so many sociopaths). Yes, there are some sick people out there, but someone already made a very good point- anything can be unsafe, if done irresponsibly.

@Carlie- as the article states, co-sleeping (when done properly) reduces the risk of SIDS but does not eliminate it completely. In any case, I’m very sorry for your family’s loss.

Comment on Cosleeping and Biological Imperatives: Why Human Babies Do Not and Should Not Sleep Alone by Jessica

Jessica — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:12:55 +0000

This is a great article. We do a combo of bed and room sharing. Eventually we hope he’ll use his crib but we won’t try until he’s much older.

Comment on Throwing like a girl(‘s brain) by Gilbert

Gilbert — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 07:10:44 +0000

Greg, that’s a great article. Please let me know where to find part 2. You created so much anticipation in this first part and it seems it’s not complete without the promised 2nd part. Is it on http://blogs.plos.org/neuroanthropology? Thanks anyway!

Comment on Cosleeping and Biological Imperatives: Why Human Babies Do Not and Should Not Sleep Alone by Sov med din baby | mkittekatbloggen

Sov med din baby | mkittekatbloggen — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:28:57 +0000

[...] Denne artikel, fra http://www.neuroanthropology.net, af James J. McKenna Ph.D. og Edmund P. Joyce C.S.C. Chair in Anthropology, Director, Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Laboratory, University of Notre Dame, beskriver meget fint hvad samsovning er – og ikke er – og hvorfor det er så vigtigt. Og en af de rigtigt vigtige pointer omkring samsovning er, at baby simpelthen bliver mindre modtagelig overfor sygdomme af samsovning, og mor får efterfølgende mindre risiko for brystkræft. Fordi samsovning fordobler antallet af amninger om natten og øger antallet af måneder barnet ammes. Læs uddrag her, og resten i linket: [...]

Comment on How your brain is not like a computer by Quora

Quora — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 23:32:20 +0000

Why do many atheists believe qualia don’t exist?…

I’m not a dualist but the fact that there is no homunculus inside of the brain which is outputting flavors and colors does seem to indicate that our experience cannot simply be ‘the function of the brain’. That view takes our subjective experience f…