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Original poster

To be stunned....babies feel no pain statement.

211 replies

salsmum · 12/10/2010 22:01

I work as a carer and a lovely lady who I work with told me that her grandson was circumcised a week ago (part of their religion) at 4 weeks old, by a priest and although hes still a bit sore its better to have it done when they are little because babies don't feel pain Shock.
Having 2 kids who are now adults I'm afraid I'm inclined to disagree with her.
I'd like to clearly state that I'm not against circumcision for what ever reason I just find it strange that she should think that babies dont feel pain Confused.

OP posts:
spikeycow · 12/10/2010 22:03

How ridiculous

JBsMonsterMummy · 12/10/2010 22:04

Stupid and uninformed statement. You should ask her, so the only reason we anaesthetize babies if they happen to have to have surgery is so they don't wiggle? As they feel no pain?

What a twat.

DancingThroughLife · 12/10/2010 22:04

Try telling that to my DD who screamed the place down when she had her newborn heel prick test and her 8/12/16 week jabs.

Don't feel pain Hmm

At least they don't remember it...

CarGirl · 12/10/2010 22:06

Up until 50 years (or so) ago that was the belief. A friend has surgery as a baby without anaesthetic!

booooooooooyhoo · 12/10/2010 22:07

i dropped my mobile on my newborn's head (was trying to take a photo) and he screeched. was he just offended then? Confused

LutyensLikesCake · 12/10/2010 22:08

My MIL (from another country/culture) wanted dd's ears pierced at birth because "she wouldn't feel it" Shock. I ignored her then and for the next 18 months while she kept jibbering on about how evil I was being forcing her to have her ears pierced later in life when it will hurt her, instead of doing it when she was a baby.

She stopped when dd was 18 months old, so I assume that's when babies start feeling pain according to her Hmm

ShowOfBloodyStumps · 12/10/2010 22:08

I had to leave the room during dd's heel prick test. She screamed once (I can still hear it now), then held her breath and wouldn't release it. She was very, very cross.

HeadFairy · 12/10/2010 22:08

I was just going to mention the heel prick, ds didn't bat an eye lid but he was on the boob at the time :o DD however howled like she'd been, well, pricked with a needle! And she screamed and screamed when she had her tongue tie done too. At what age are they supposed to start feeling pain?

octopusinabox · 12/10/2010 22:09

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ladybirdladybirdflyawayhome · 12/10/2010 22:09

My dughter contracted septicemia at 2 weeks & had to endure a lumber puncture & IV antibiotics & I can assure you that my little girl felt every inch of pain she endured duing that time - it was uwfull Sad

unfitmother · 12/10/2010 22:10

This myth still perpetuates amongst the ignorant.

sonia77 · 12/10/2010 22:11

So my newborns screams for hours while they tried to get canulas in him and needles were because of what exactly. Those screams still haunt me and he still has bruises six months on where they were holding him down. Twat.

Sufi · 12/10/2010 22:11

My 3 day old son had an IV catheter inserted in his arm. It was brutal, bloody and yes he was in a lot of pain. Babies don't scream, turn puce and desperately try & wriggle free for the fun of it.

maktaitai · 12/10/2010 22:11

Used to be common belief, and sadly I heard it again only 6 years ago from dh's rabbi Hmm. I guess more parents might start deviating from the religious norm if they weren't fed this line. Wish I had - I know Jewish women who refused circumcision for their sons, and I'm not even Jewish.

Her own statement undermines this - his penis is a bit sore? How could this be, if he feels no pain? Hmm

EdgarAllInPink · 12/10/2010 22:16

it is thought puppies don't feel pain after birth - though if you look at them they don't react to pain-stimuli (sometimes with terrible effect, as they take injury without making a sound) so this may be true

babies react from birth.

booooooooooyhoo · 12/10/2010 22:18

really edgarallen. as much as i like to stick to the facts i am afraid i am happy to believe that all animals and humans feel pain from at least birth.

DBennett · 12/10/2010 22:18

Part of this, in my understanding false statement, is based on the idea of avoiding anticipation.

An older child who is aware of what is going to happen will suffer some anxiety and dread (understandibly).

A baby won't, not having the cognitive abilty to understand what is going to happen.

So, I think pain is the wrong word to use to try and justify early surgery.
Suffereing would have been better.

IMO, circumcision is unjustified.
But if you're going to do it to your child without their consent, they'd be better off having it done when they couldn't understand it.

Dawnybabe · 12/10/2010 22:20

My dh clipped dd2 in her baby bouncer when she was about 2 days old and caught her finger in the catch. She really screamed.

What a horrible woman. Has she never ever thought to question that little bit of belief?

EdgarAllInPink · 12/10/2010 22:24

booyho you don't think it is at least possible that though the neural pathway for pain-stimuli is there, the signals make no sense to the little brain until a few days after birth? in puppies etc i mean, babies react, therefore they feel it...

i have heard some very sad stories about bd things happening to the little weans and no-ne noticing due to lack of noise.

Original poster
salsmum · 12/10/2010 22:24

Maybe what she should have said was 'he wont remember and hate us when he's older' Hmm

OP posts:
booooooooooyhoo · 12/10/2010 22:27

oh yeah, i totally believe that is possible, but my animal lover heart won't let me think otherwise. i am a big softie, i really hope they don't feel pain the way we do as adults but i couldn't bear the thought of tehm feeling it and not being able to cry out. Sad

PaisleyPumpkin · 12/10/2010 22:29

We were talking about this article here recently.
It's only since the 50s that doctors have believed babies feel pain and "Babies subjected to surgery were given anaesthetics to put them to sleep but not analgesic drugs for the pain, as children and adults were."

EdgarAllInPink · 12/10/2010 22:30

i just realsed the punctution in my earlier post left it very open to interpretation..

i totally believe any creature reacting to pain-stimuli feels pain. including babies, but not limited to them.

WinterOfOurDiscountTents · 12/10/2010 22:33

But animals don't feel pain in the same way as humans. its not unreasonable to say that babies don't feel pain in the exact same way as adults or older children do.

And why be so nasty about the woman? So maybe she misunderstood what someone told her, or she was told that by someone she thinks knows better than her? Whats with all the "twat" and horrible old woman stuff?

Perhaps it would have been better to calmly say that you think she was mistaken. No, much nicer to slag her off to a bunch of randoms on the internet instead.

I've been on MN a long time, but I think its time to go. I can't take the constant criticising of anyone and everyone for amusement. Its so bitchy and nasty.

EdgarAllInPink · 12/10/2010 22:38

to be fair, i would be loath to subject any child to anaesthesia back pre-1950 as you'd wonder if they'd get the dosage right or kill them.

my grandmother had an op with no-anaesthetic due to it being too risky (lots of blood loss, too weak for pain relief)..back in 1931.