Pathways Article Summaries and References

Issue 09 - Spring 2006

Letter from the Editor
Jeanne Ohm, DC

As more parents are realizing the real benefits of chiropractic care, they are coming to our offices seeking wellness chiropractic care for their families. In other words, parents are looking for family health care even before their children have any symptoms or conditions. They are realizing that working to compliment the body’s natural abilities for health before symptoms appear makes sense and is cost effective as well.

The nervous system controls all of the body’s systems and functions. Any interference to its ability to perform can affect our health and well-being. Chiropractic care works specifically to alleviate stress to the nervous system that is caused by spinal and cranial misalignments. The body’s ability to function optimally is maximized.

In Pathways, we refer to the Chiropractic Family Wellness Lifestyle. This of course includes regular chiropractic check ups for all members of your family to keep their nerve systems free of interference from spinal and cranial misalignment. The Chiropractic Family Wellness Lifestyle, however advances beyond the chiropractic adjustment and includes choices we make as parents to reduce overall stress to our nervous systems and enhance better body function.

Most doctors of chiropractic will offer their patients postural and structural guidelines helping this process. How we sit, how we move our bodies, activities we involve ourselves in are all relevant to maintaining a healthy spine and nervous system. It becomes relatively easy for us to relate to the many daily physical activities we undergo that may cause nerve system stress.

Less obvious are the chemical and emotional stresses we are subjected to since conception that affect nerve system function and development and therefore our health and well-being. Our articles in Pathways are selected to inform parents about the many approaches and choices we have for our families. Our regular topics address family lifestyle issues presenting perspectives and options that are supportive of wellness. In this issue we look closely at co-sleeping, a custom not so easily practiced and accepted in our western society. Yet clearly, when reading the feature article, we see the practice of co-sleeping is normal, healthy and advantageous for the child’s developing nerve system function.

Achieving health for our families is accomplished daily through the many choices we make. These choices begin as early as conception, continue throughout pregnancy, birth and childhood. Each choice we make as parents affects our children’s health. It is our hope that Pathways guides you with perspectives consistent with the Chiropractic Family Wellness Lifestyle.

Feature Article:

Breastfeeding and Bedsharing
James J. McKenna, Ph.D.

(Chairman, Department of Anthropology. Director, Mother-Infant Behavioral Sleep Laboratory, University of Notre Dame)

What an informative complete article on the importance of bed sharing! After reading, there is little reason to question the importance of this family practice for lifetime wellness.

From the Article:

Mothers and infants sleeping side by side, also known as co-sleeping, is the evolved context of human infant sleep development. Until very recent times, for all human beings, co-sleeping constituted a prerequisite for infant survival. For the majority of contemporary people outside of the Western industrialized context, it still does. Because the human infant’s body continues to be adapted only to the mother’s body, co-sleeping with nighttime breastfeeding remains clinically significant and potentially lifesaving...

Notes:

For a review of scientific studies, see Touch in Early Development, T. Field, ed. (Mahway, New Jersey: Lawrence Earlbaum and Assoc., 1995).
J. J. McKenna, "An Anthropological Perspective on the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS): The Role of Parental Breathing Cues and Speech Breathing Adaptations," Med. Anthrop. 10 (1986): 9-53.
J. J. McKenna and S. Mosko, "Mother Infant Cosleeping: Toward a New Beginning," in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: Problems, Puzzles, Possibilities, R. Byard and H. Krous, eds. (New York: Arnold Publishing, 2001), 258-272.
J. Young and P. J. Fleming, "Reducing the Risks of SIDS: The Role of the Pediatrician." Pediatrics Today 6, no. 2 (1998): 41-48
D. A. Drago and A. L. Dannenberg, "Infant Mechanical Suffocation Deaths in the United States, 1980-1997," Pediatrics 103, no. 5 (1999): e59.
S. Nakamura et al., "Review of Hazards Associated with Children Placed in Adult Beds," Arch. Pediat. Adolesc. Med. 153 (1999): 1018-1023.
N. J. Scheer, "Safe Sleeping Environments for Infants: A CPSC Perspective," Program and Abstracts, Sixth International SIDS Conference, Auckland, New Zealand, February 8-11, 2000.
See Note 1.
C. Richard et al., "Sleeping Position, Orientation, and Proximity in Bedsharing Infants and Mothers," Sleep 19 (1996): 667-684.
E. B. Thoman and S. E. Graham, "Self-Regulation of Stimulation by Premature Infants," Pediatrics 78 (1986): 855-860.
M. W. Stewart and L. A. Stewart, "Modification of Sleep Respiratory Patterns by Auditory Stimulation: Indications of Techniques for Preventing Sudden Infant Death Syndrome?" Sleep 14 (1991): 241-248.
A. F. Korner and E. B. Thoman, "The Relative Efficacy of Contact and Vestibular-Proprioceptive Stimulation on Soothing Neonates," Child Dev. 43 (1972): 443-453.
A. F. Korner et al., "Reduction of Sleep Apnea and Bradycardia in Pre-Term Infants on Oscillating Waterbeds: A Controlled Polygraphic Study," Pediatrics 61 (1978): 528-533.
A. H. Sankaran et al., "Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and Infant Care Practices in Saskatchewan, Canada," Program and Abstracts, Sixth SIDS International Conference, Auckland, New Zealand, February 8-11, 2000.
M. A. Kibel and M. F. Davies, "Should the Infant Sleep in Mother's Bed?" Program and Abstracts, Sixth SIDS International Conference, Auckland, New Zealand, February 8-11, 2000.
D. P. Davies, "Cot Death In Hong Kong: A Rare Problem?" The Lancet 2 (1985): 1346-1348.
N. P. Lee et al., "Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in Hong Kong: Confirmation of Low Incidence," British Medical Journal 298 (1999): 72.
S. Fukai and F. Hiroshi, "1999 Annual Report, Japan SIDS Family Association," Sixth SIDS International Conference, Auckland, New Zealand, 2000.
E. Wilson, "Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and Environmental Perturbations in Cross-Cultural Context," Master's thesis, University of Calgary (Alberta), 1990.
J. Yelland et al., "Explanatory Models about Maternal and Infant Health and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome among Asian-Born Mothers," in Asian Mothers, Australian Birth, Pregnancy, Childbirth, Child Rearing: The Asian Experience in an English-Speaking Country, P. L. Rice, ed. (Melbourne: Ausmeed Publications, 1996), 175- 189.
E. A. S. Nelson et al., "International Child Care Practice Study: Infant Sleeping Environment," Early Hum. Dev. 62 (2001): 43-55.
See Note 20.
See Note 19.
C. Carroll-Pankhurst and A. Mortimer, "Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, Bed- Sharing, Parental Weight, and Age at Death," Pediatrics 107, no. 3 (2001): 530-536.
Ibid.
F. Hauck and J. Kemp, "Bedsharing Promotes Breastfeeding, and the AAP Task Force on Infant Positioning and SIDS," Pediatrics 102, no. 3 (1998): 662-663.
E. A. Mitchell and J. Thompson, "Cosleeping Increases the Risks of the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, but Sleeping in the Parent's Bedroom Lowers It," in T. Rognum, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in the Nineties (Oslo: Scandinavian University Press, 1995), 266-269.
See Note 19.
V. Lummaa et al., "Why Cry? Adaptive Significance of Intensive Crying in Human Infants," Evolution of Human Behavior 19 (1998): 193-202.
T. Pinilla and L. L. Birch, "Help Me Make It through the Night: Behavioral Entrainment of Breast-Fed Infants' Sleep Patterns," Pediatrics 91, no. 2 (1993): 436-444.
A. B. Godfrey and A. Kilgore, "An Approach to Help Young Infants Sleep through the Night," Zero To Three 19, no. 2 (1998): 15-21.
J.-L. Flandrin, Families in Former Times: Kinship, Household, and Sexuality (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1979).
L. Stone, The Family, Sex, and Marriage in England, 1500-1800 (New York: Harper and Row, 1977).
J. J. McKenna, "Cultural Influences on Infant and Childhood Sleep Biology and the Science That Studies It: Toward a More Inclusive Paradigm," in Sleep in Development and Pediatrics, J. Loughlin et al., eds. (New York: Marcel Dekker, 2000).
R. Ferber, Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1985).
G. Cohen, ed., AAP Guide to Infant Sleep (New York: Villard, 1999).
P. Heron, "Non-Reactive Cosleeping and Child Behavior: Getting a Good Night's Sleep All Night, Every Night," Master's thesis, Department of Psychology, University of Bristol, 1994.
M. Crawford, "Parenting Practices in the Basque Country: Implications of Infant and Childhood Sleeping Location for Personality Development," Ethos 22, no. 1 (1994): 42-82.
R. J. Lewis and L. H. Janda, "The Relationship between Adult Sexual Adjustment and Childhood Experience regarding Exposure to Nudity, Sleeping in the Parental Bed, and Parental Attitudes toward Sexuality," Archives of Sexual Behavior 17 (1988): 349-363.
J. F. Forbes et al., "The Cosleeping Habits of Military Children," Military Medicine 157 (1992): 196-200.
J. Mosenkis, "The Effects of Childhood Cosleeping on Later Life Development," Master's thesis, Department of Cultural Psychology, University of Chicago, 1998.
J. J. McKenna et al., "Bedsharing Promotes Breastfeeding," Pediatrics 100 (1997): 214-219.
J. J. McKenna et al., "Mutual Behavioral and Physiological Influences among Solitary and Cosleeping Mother-Infant Pairs: Implications for SIDS," Early Hum. Dev. 38 (1994): 182-201.
J. Young, "Night-Time Behavior and Interactions between Mothers and Their Infants at Low Risk for SIDS: A Longitudinal Study of Room Sharing and Bedsharing," PhD thesis, University of Bristol, 1999.
H. Hoffman et al., "Risk Factors for SIDS: Results of the Institutes of Child Health and Human Development SIDS Cooperative Epidemiological Study," in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: Cardiac and Respiratory Mechanisms, P. Schwartz, D. Southall, and M. Valdes-Dapena, eds. (New York: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1988), 13-30.
D. D. Fredrickson et al., "Relationship of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome to Breast-Feeding Duration and Intensity," Am. J. Dis. Child 147 (1993): 460.
S. Mosko et al., "Maternal Sleep and Arousals during Bedsharing with Infants," Sleep 20, no. 2 (1997): 142-150.
See Note 34.
See Note 34.
G. Klackenberg, "Sleep Behaviour Studied Longitudinally," Acta Paediatr. Scand. 71 (1982): 501-506.
R. Ferber, Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1985).
P. S. Blair, P. J. Fleming, D. Bensley, et al. "Where Should Babies Sleep-Alone or With Parents? Factors Influencing the Risk of SIDS in the CESDI Study," BMJ 319 (1999): 1457-1462.

About the Author:

Dr. James J. McKenna is a professor of Anthropology and Director of the Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame. He also serves on the Health Advisory Board of La Leche League International. He has served on the Executive Committees of the American Anthropological Association and Society For Medical Anthropology and is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He lectures nationally and abroad on the importance of re-conceptualizing what constitutes healthy childhood sleep, and along with his undergraduate students, continues to study family sleeping arrangements and the importance of breast feeding in promoting the health of mothers and infants.

Supporting Article:

Facts About Co-Sleeping and SIDS
Linda Folden Palmer, DC and Jeanne Ohm, DC

From the Article:

In our Western societies, more and more parents are choosing to return to the natural practice of co-sleeping. Simply defined, this practice is consciously choosing to sleep with your infant to provide him or her with the essential physical, emotional, nutritional, neurological, and nurturing benefits of continued contact from womb and throughout infancy. The numerous benefits are well documented, although not well known by most parents and certainly practiced by far too few parents...

About the Authors:

Linda Folden Palmer is the author of Baby Matters, a comprehensive book about current issues that receive far too little attention or scientific discussion elsewhere. By unraveling the newest research, Dr. Palmer gives parents the power to make better decisions about important issues in baby care.

Jeanne Ohm, DC is the executive coordinator of the ICPA and editor for Pathways. She can be reached via the ICPA doctor's directory: www.icpa4kids.com

Resources:

Additional facts about SIDS and co-sleeping are available on Dr. Palmer’s website here: http://www.babyreference.com/Cosleeping&SIDSFactSheet.htm

Additional information on the benefits of co-sleeping can be found here: http://www.icpa4kids.org/research/children/bonding.htm
http://www.icpa4kids.com/pediatric_chiropractic_articles_cosleeping.htm
http://www.attachmentparenting.org

More References:

The AAP: http://www.aap.org

The Chicago Study:
Access the link by clicking here

Consumer Product Safety Commission: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/5091.html

CPS Press release: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml99/99175.html

SIDS Network on Bed-sharing and SIDS:
http://sids-network.org/experts/bedshare.htm

Nutritional Nuggets:

Nourishing your Independent Toddler
Cathie Olson

From the Article:

Somewhere between 12 and 18 months of age, your easygoing infant becomes a toddler striving to take control of his or her activities. When you want her to get dressed, she decides pajamas would be perfect for the park. When you call him to come in, he runs away laughing as you chase him.

Mealtimes are the worst. While your baby used to eat anything you put in front of her, you may now have a finicky eater on your hands...

About the Author:

Cathie is a freelance writer and the author of Simply Natural Baby Food and The Vegetarian Mother's Cookbook. She has studied vegetarian, macrobiotic, and whole foods nutrition and cookery. Cathie cooked at natural foods restaurants and delis in the San Francisco Bay and Central Coast areas of California before settling down with her husband Gary to raise a family. She works at home while caring for her daughters Aimie and Emily. For more information or to order a book, visit: www.SimplyNaturalBooks.com

Chiropractic for Life:

Questions Parents Frequently Ask about Children and Chiropractic
Jeanne Ohm, DC, FICPA

Some frequently asked questions about chiropractic care are answered in this article.

From the Article:

Children are susceptible to trauma in their spines from various activities and events. These microtraumas can cause nerve system stress. Doctors of Chiropractic describe this nerve system stress as subluxations or misalignments of the bones of the cranium and the spine. Nerve system stress, left unaddressed, impairs the child’s ability to function in a state of optimal health and well-being...

Pregnancy Matters:

The Due Date
Henci Goer and Ann Frye

From the Article:

The concept of a due date is based on a gestational length established by fiat in the early 1800s. Franz Carl Naegele officially declared that pregnancy lasted 10 lunar months (10 x 28 days), counting from the first day of the last menstrual period). However, when Mittendorf et al. measured the median duration of pregnancy, they found that healthy, white, private-care, primiparous women with well-established due dates averaged 288 days and multiparas averaged 283 days, values significantly different from both Naegele’s rule and each other...

About the Authors:

Part of this article is excerpted form Henci's book: Obstetric Myths vs. Research Realities. Her compilation and explanation of published research is outstanding and all practices interested in birth should have her books. Practical knowledge and ability to present is are revealed in her books. You can read about her and order her books through her website here: www.hencigoer.com

Part of this article is excerpted from Anne's book: Holistic Midwifery. Her practical knowledge and ability to present is are revealed in her books. Order her book through Midwifery Today here: www.midwiferybooks.com

Birth:

Things You Can Do to Avoid an Unnecessary C-section
International Cesarean Awareness Network

With the frightening rise in medically unnecessary c-sections it is important that parents-to-be find become informed beyond what is offered in today's routine OB/ Gun's practices. This article outlines valuable steps parents can take to broaden their perspectives about births and make choices prior to birth that may avoid these unnecessary c-sections. Visit the International Cesarean Awareness Network here: www.ican-online.org

From the Article:

The Public Citizen Health Research Group in Washington, D.C. has estimated that half of the nearly 1 million Cesareans performed every year are medically unnecessary. With more appropriate care during pregnancy, labor, and delivery, these Cesareans could have been avoided. Clearly, there are times when a Cesarean is necessary; however, Cesareans increase the risk to both mothers and babies. Here are suggestions of things you can do to avoid an unnecessary Cesarean and to help ensure that your birth experience is as healthy and positive as possible...

Breastfeeding:

Nursing Discreetly- Breastfeeding in Public
Part One

This article addresses a rising concern about breastfeeding in public and offers solutions to help change the limited views about this normal, natural process.

From the Article:

The term ‘nursing discreetly’ typically refers to covering up the breast and especially nipple while breastfeeding in public. Some women use a blanket to cover the whole situation, including the baby. The need for discreet nursing stems from the idea that seeing an exposed breast supposedly arouses sexual feelings. Indeed it does so in the United States, but only because this society is so obsessed by women’s breasts and has MADE them into sexual objects. However; this perspective is peculiar to United States and some other countries that have been influenced by US culture...

This article was reprinted with permission from the owners of this website: www.007b.com/breastfeeding_public.php

Parenting:

5 Reasons to Stop Saying Good Job
Alfie Kohn

As with all of our Parenting articles, this one offers a fresh perspective about today's accepted parenting practices and takes a deeper look into these practices and their effects on our children's emotional well-being.

From the Article:

Hang out at a playground, visit a school, or show up at a child’s birthday party, and there’s one phrase you can count on hearing repeatedly: ‘Good job!’ Here’s why it may not be the best thing to say. Even tiny infants are praised for smacking their hands together (‘Good clapping!’). Many of us blurt out these judgments of our children to the point that it has become almost a verbal tic...

This article was published in Young Children, September 2001; and, in abridged form (with the title "Hooked on Praise"), in Parents Magazine, May 2000. Reprinted with permission by the author.

About the Author:

Alfie Kohn is also the author of Punished by Rewards - The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise, and Other Bribes. For more on this topic, please visit www.alfiekohn.org and the book Punished by Rewards.

Mind Body:

Intent
Greg Stern, DC, DACCP

This article gives greater insight into the power of intent in healing and all aspects of our life.

From the Article:

According to Dr. Deepak Chopra: Intention = Information, Attention = Energy. When you focus your attention on your intention, you cause your intention to manifest itself into physical reality. In essence, with good intention and focused attention, you can make wonderful things happen and the inverse is true as well. So, I ask you, where is your heart and mind when you do what you do?...

About the Author:

Dr. Stern is an ICPA member and avid supporter. He has successfully completed both the 120 hour certification and 360 hour Diplomate and was recently awarded diplomate status by the Academy of Chiropractic family Wellness. You can contact him via our doctor's directory: www.icpa4kids.com

Family Life:

The Well Balanced Child
Claudia Anrig, DC

As with all of her articles, Dr. Anrig contributes information about the family wellness lifestyle that parents appreciate and welcome. This article addresses the need to "stay balanced" in our busy, often over-scheduled family lives.

From the Article:

Every parent wants to raise the perfect child: healthy, happy, loved, and respected with high achievements and even higher goals. We want our children to have the things we didn't have and to achieve their dreams. This is all well and good, unless we become so focused on our desires for our child that we forget what’s inherently best for the child...

References:

A Little Boredom is Healthy by David Elkind, http://enews.tufts.edu/stories/083002BoredomHealthy.htm
The Over-scheduled Child – Avoiding the Hyper-Parenting Trap by Alvin Rosenfeld, M.D. and Nicole Wise (Griffin 2001)
Reclaiming Childhood: Letting Children Be Children in Our Achievement-Oriented Society by William Crain