Oh, If I hear this one more time....

[Justice2]

I have a neighbor across the street who has a baby girl that is 3 days older than Kaeleb. She doesn't practice what my definition of CIO is, but she does allow her baby to fuss while she cleans her house (about 1 hour total throughout the day) and while she cooks. I was at her house yesterday and she had company...a cousin or something. Well, Kaeleb was in the little girl's bouncy seat while I smoked a cigeratte (awful habit, but I don't smoke around my children) and Kaeleb began to fuss. So, I put my full cig. out and went to pick up my baby. Well, the cousin immediately began saying...."Let that baby cry, it's good for his lungs". She kept repeating this over and over...over and over. Even my neighbor told her that I never let Kaeleb cry, ever (she wasn't being sarcastic, she could tell that the cousin was getting on my nerves and was trying to make her stop). Why do people actually believe this nonsense? It isn't good for a baby's lungs...(not that it's bad for a baby's lungs) also, crying can be especially bad for a boy and CAN cause a hernia...I have experience with this...my little brother had a double hernia surgery when he was a baby and the doctor explained to my mother that excessive crying is what caused his condition. Ok, end of rant and I feel better too.

[lilylove]

My grand mother subscribes to the same theory. She has told me more then once that Lily needs to cry more

[shelbean91]

My dad said that to me a few times. I replied that crying is good for the lungs like bleeding is good for the veins. He said, no crying is good. I then replied 'ok, crying is good for the lungs, but it's terrible on my ears and my nerves' and that was the end of the discussion. I don't think he's said it since. I don't think he was trying to give me a hard time, but was trying to give me an 'out' (for lack of a better word).

[N2theWoods]

I am always stunned to hear that people actually say that. I think it's amazingly ignorant! I would probably reply something like "You know, you're the #th person who's told me that, but I've looked high and low and can't find any research that supports that claim, though I can find studies that contradict it. If you have some evidence of that, I would be really interested to read it. Until then, you'll excuse me if I go pick up my baby..."

[Justice2]

Originally posted by N2theWoods
I am always stunned to hear that people actually say that. I think it's amazingly ignorant! I would probably reply something like "You know, you're the #th person who's told me that, but I've looked high and low and can't find any research that supports that claim, though I can find studies that contradict it. If you have some evidence of that, I would be really interested to read it. Until then, you'll excuse me if I go pick up my baby..."

WooHoo!!!! Great response for a truely ignorant statement!!!!

[Jane]

Do you think people just get mixed up by the old saw about "healthy lungs on that one"?

You know, you see a weeks old infant screaming its head off, and yet you are supposed to say something 'cause it's your relative, but the kid is not cute when screaming and you can't see anything else but its mouth, so this comes out:

"My, such healthy lungs!"

Maybe that's how that myth got started...that somehow the lungs get healthy from the crying, not that the crying comes from healthy lungs? I'd like to think people are mistaken, not sadistic.

[laralou]

It is healthy for babies to cry... right after birth to clear their lungs of amniotic fluid... but not after that. Sheesh. This is a case of a little bit of education is a dangerous thing. It gets twisted and distorted to mean something different.

[MelissaEvans]

Perhaps is a deffensive mechanism. They let their babies cry when their hearts told them not to, and now they feel guilty. To make it "alright" they convinced themselves that it's a good thing and "teach" it to others. Kinda like why circ'd men feel the need to circ their sons. I bet they're actually hurt inside, but don't know how to deal with it.

~Melissa