advice on dangling baby

[bids1]

hi
i am on way to being 3rd time mum. and my mum has called from australia in a panic.

brother is visiting with partner and 5 month old bundle of joy. they play roughly with her and we are now getting more worried.

they throw her up around a foot and catch her (worried about detached retina, shaken baby syndrome/ catching injury/ dropping her!)

plus mother dangles her from her ankles - which she loves - but could be dangerous.

i would appreciate any advice about this/ experience/ tips on tackling it??? i am waiting to speak to my gp as well.

thanks.

we each have our own tolerance of what we deem acceptable

some babies love being roughhoused and can make it plain by their body language, gestures or sounds made whether they like it or not

show me a baby that's not been dropped at least once in it's life and I'll eat me hat

are they in Oz with your mother at the moment?

DH has done the same with 3 DC & they turned out fine (all now school age).
Really depends how rough -- technique counts 4 a lot. Get a Utube video?

ahh. maybe i am being a bit precious. thanks for perspective.... x

I dangle both my boys by their ankles. I'm still strong enough to pick up 3 and a half year old by one ankle sometimes.

Shaken baby syndrome almost exclusively happens in anger not play. That is when people fail to moderate their actions. It also tends to happen in younger babies whose head control is not as good.

Smaller children can stand being upside down for longer than adults. Because they are so much lighter and shorter, the blood pressure differential is much much less. When an adult might be dizzy, sick or blacking out, a child is just having fun. Watch out for the child's head going red when upside down for a long time. This means it's time to right.

We throw and catch our boys. I have to remind myself when with my friend's toddler that one can only ever throw one's own children. I'll swing my friend's son up, but not let him catch any air.

hmm well i throw mine in the air and catch them and they love it
and dp is forever dangling the older 2 by their ankles!

but we don't do it roughly, and they all seem to enjoy it!

it's impossible to tell though witho9ut actually seeing them do it, if they are being overly rough.

gotta depend on how and who. some 5 months are stronger than others. some enjoy a bit of rough and tumble some don't. some parents are confident about toss and catch, some are not.
catching a baby is not dropping a baby, the catchers arms absorb the energy.

BALD - eat yer hat please, I have never dropped my DS (he's 2, so unlikely to happen now!)

gromph gromph gromph

was it tasty?

no

[hands cake]

hurrah