Safety: My Experience

Foua wrote our third and final entry on chapter 12. This is her son, smiling for the camera!

Chapter 12 of Mary Gordon’s book highlighted the significance of baby’s safety. Gordon mentions that taking care of a baby is a lot of responsibility.  I do admit, caring for a baby is a lot of work and it takes patience.  Therefore, anyone wanting to become a parent will have to take a lot of encouraging and love in order to prepare for a baby.  Gordon talks about different kinds of safety issues, which I believe are significant.  She indicated that “crying can be one of the most dangerous things a baby can do” (p.184).  I agree, because as a mother, when I hear my son cry, I would run quickly to check what is wrong.  There are times I do not know why he is crying but I have to be patient and try to figure it out. 

The reading definitely made me think of my son.  Safety is one of the biggest issues that must be attended to when we have babies.  Every time my son cries, I think he is in danger or something is wrong.  I don’t think he cries because he wants to, but because there is really something bothering him.  When he was 8 months old, it was really hard for me to understand what he wanted.  Crying was the only thing he could do to let me know that something was wrong or that he wanted something such as a diaper change or to be fed.  His first year was the hardest for both of us to communicate with one another.  After his first year, it was easier for both of us to understand and communicate with one another.  At 14 months, my son was able to understand what I was saying to him.  This made it a lot easier for both of us to understand what we want from each other.  I believe babies should never be ignored when crying.  There are times I get frustrated when my son cries, but I tell myself that I am the person my son depends on and if I don’t pay attention to him, who will?

Gordon also mentions that sleep is something young children need.   She indicated that a baby also requires a lot of feeding and diaper changes.  I like how the children in her program come to understand that caring for a baby is like a 24-hour job.  I agree with the parents in her class.  Taking care of a baby is not easy, and I believe it takes two adults to make sure the baby is safe and secure.  Even with my husband and I taking care of our son, there are times we need our parents to help out.  My son made me understand the different kinds of safety issues that came with him, and dangerous things he can get into.  The author wrote that “with every milestone the baby reaches, her range of skills increases and so does the range of things that can be a threat to her safety” (p. 185).  As my son got older, I knew there were things that needed to be out of his reach.  Even though we’re careful to keep all the dangerous stuff away from him, he still gets hurt at times.   

This chapter made me think of things that I had learned from my infant class.  For instance, the book mentions that women who are pregnant should not drink or smoke, which I think is true.  The book also talks about fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and shaken baby syndrome, which I believe are important for parents to know about.  When I was taking the infant class, we talked about different ways that babies can die.  One important thing I learned from my infant class is to always put the baby to sleep on his back.  This is very important, I think, because there were times I thought my son needed to rotate his sleep pattern, so I would turn him on his chest to sleep.  As I learned, this can be dangerous and it can lead to death.  I learned a lot from my infant class, so I am more aware of the things that can happen to babies. 

After learning so much about safety from having my son and reading this chapter, I understand why Gordon is trying to inform young children about the safety of babies.  Taking care of my son has made me prepared to become an even better mother and to be more careful.  Overall, I have learned a lot from my son, and I am more prepared to take care of my newborn daughter that I just had in October.