Baby Yoga: Baby Care Tips From The Controversial Clip [Video]
A video of what has come to be known as Baby Yoga—but actually doesn’t seem to have much to do with baby yoga as we know it—made the viral rounds last week, showing a rather attractive Russian woman swinging around a newborn baby like a rag doll. The clip had people up in arms: What will happen to those vulnerable newborn arms?! In the U.S., we are told to treat our newborn babies gingerly. But while the video is indeed somewhat shocking (see it after the jump), I think there are actually some lessons to be learned about newborn baby care from this extremely unusual (and somewhat disconcerting) baby exercise technique.
When my first baby was born, we had a wonderful woman come and help us. She was more of a doula than a baby nurse, but her real strength was understanding newborns, and helping parents to learn to understand them too. When I saw the baby yoga video, I was reminded of some of the most valuable lessons I learned from her:
Newborn babies don’t really like to be held gingerly. What comforts them is firmness and confidence. They also love motion. I can’t say it was easy for me to watch this Russian baby exercise technique on video. Seeing a floppy newborn baby flying through the air like that is disconcerting. But is that because it’s unsafe, or just unfamiliar? I can’t imagine this technique will be taking off in our neck of the woods anytime soon, especially considering the outrage it seems to have provoked in American viewers. But maybe seeing that a baby can supposedly be swung around safely can help you feel more confident about holding your newborns once they are born…and worry less that they’re going to break!
Read more about Baby Yoga on Strollerderby.
Umm three words: Shaken. Baby. Syndrome.
Shaken baby syndrome occurs as a result of violently shaking the baby in a way that forces the head in back and forth motions in one or more directions. Symptoms range from irritability to vomiting to seizures, and the long-term consequences of SBS can include learning and physical disabilities, cerebral palsy, behavior disorder, cognitive impairment and death. This happens because the brain is still immature and easily injured, and the baby’s neck muscles are not yet strong enough to support its head, which makes up 25 percent of its body. That means, while the baby is being flung through the air, the neck cannot stabilize the head’s motion. SBS injuries may go unnoticed for years – long-term consequences may not be fully apparent in children before age six.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/01/19/try-home-russian-baby-swinging-yoga/#ixzz1BcH5dNr3
It looks very dangerous. Even if it is a healthy thing – on mistake and baby gets a serious boo-boo.
http://babyyogabooks.blogspot.com/
to me, the baby does not look real
KJG: I’ve seen a few threads on the Shaken Baby risk as it relates to this video. I had a lot of conversations with my pediatrician about SBS because I was afraid I might somehow move my baby in the wrong way by accident, while playing or something. He was very specific about the kinds of movements that are associated with an SBS risk: a violent forward and back motion in which the head is forced against the skull repeatedly. He said SBS does not happen from swinging. And although those movements were certainly bizarre, I can’t say I would describe any of them as violent.
I agree that this does not look safe. Even if SBS was ruled out, what about baby’s shoulders and hips? those are still not completely developed enough and can easily be dislocated by those types of motions. I understand that babies like to be moved around alot, but this woman has take it to a completely insane level.