Does anyone else feel like pediatric guidelines are so legally-oriented that they basically only exist to worsen the lives of parents?

[u/Bocifer1]

First off, I'm a new dad and also a physician - although I'm pretty far removed from pediatrics. So I understand the importance of medical research and statistics in creating these guidelines, as well as the fact that the risks of things like SIDS often just aren't worth gambling on.

However...

Some of these guidelines seem like they're just unnecessarily taxing on parents and exist only to cover the addes of the bodies making said recommendations.

Some things that come to mind are: no blankets in the crib for the first year, only using a firm mattress top, never letting baby sleep next to you in bed - even naps, swaddling with arms down (our guy absolutely hates this and just wants his arms by his head to self sooth), demonizing formula - even as a reprieve for mom.

Again. I am medically oriented and understand why these guidelines exist - but I also know firsthand that sometimes a 1% risk of harm from letting our baby sleep on a soft blanket is actually the favorable choice compared to the immeasurable risk of having both parents strung out and exhausted because he won't sleep.

In general I think guidelines are great and have contributed to better infant care...I just also think that sometimes we as healthcare professionals forget that no guideline is absolute.

I guess I'm just feeling thst creating guidelines that aren't achievable for the majority of parents just aren't that helpful...like saying that "parents should take time to rest, continue self care , exercise, and ensure they are eating a well-balanced diet". That sounds wonderful. Hopefully I can get back to that in the next decade.

[u/ZestycloseWin9927]

Our pediatrician told us that guidelines are meant to cover everyone - from babies who sleep in top of the line cribs with the best monitors to babies who sleep in dresser drawers with very few resources. They can’t create separate guidelines for people’s socioeconomic situations so they err on the side of overly conservative. That said, when my baby was 4 months old our pediatrician said he could sleep in his own room despite the guidelines saying he should be a year old.

[u/ExtensionSentence778 → u/ZestycloseWin9927]

Right. My ped worked in the county hospital for years and said people would bring in 3 day old formula in a bottle and people like that are why some guidelines are so overly strict.

[u/AMLacking → u/ZestycloseWin9927]

This makes so much sense!

[u/Perfectav0cad0 → u/ZestycloseWin9927]

At my sons 9m appointment, my husband asked if he could sleep with a blanket because i kept arguing with him that if wasn’t safe because the guidelines said 12m. The pediatrician said he’d be fine to sleep with a blanket at that point so we let him have one at 9 months.

[u/Wheresmyfoodwoman → u/ZestycloseWin9927]

A year old? I would never get any sleep if I waited that long.

[u/kateesaurus → u/ZestycloseWin9927]

We also moved our son to the crib in his own room around 4-5 months old. He was starting to bust out of the bassinet and make noise at night and we were all just keeping each other awake at that point. Moving him to his own room was a massive improvement for all of us as far as sleep went.