Lesson: The National "Back To Sleep" campaign will make you completely insane, especially if it's your first child

I was like most first-time Moms ... I wanted to do the best of everything that I could for my first child, and stressed over the things that I felt like I didn't know. I read everything I could get my hands on, and while sometimes that was helpful, sometimes it wasn't. Case in point: the national "Back to Sleep" campaign, which stresses putting infants to sleep on their backs as a safety measure. Let me say up front that I think this is an important thing to do, and I believe that it has been a major factor in reducing the instances of SIDS (otherwise known as crib death ... where an otherwise healthy infant stops breathing and sometimes dies for no apparent reason) across the country. I have ABSOLUTELY NO DOUBT that knowing the information is both helpful and necessary. That being said, be aware that knowing it will make you completely insane, especially with your first child.

It gets drilled into your head from the first moment you start reading parenting magazines and/or talking to your doctor and various other agencies ... the baby needs to be sleeping on it's back otherwise it might stop breathing and die. You put the baby to sleep on it's back, just like you're supposed to, but the program has done more than that ... it causes you to freak out about anything and everything that affects your child's breathing. Their first cold ... nose is gunked up ... THEY CAN'T BREATHE! Panic time! Was that a cough? Do I need to stay up half the night? You'll find yourself sitting by the crib in a dark room just making sure the little one is still breathing. You'll freak out the first time the baby sleeps through the night, because something MUST be wrong! It's a nerve-wracking state to be in.

The one bright spot is that it seems to be at least some easier as they get a little older, and with each successive child. At least that's been the case with my three. I still worry about their breathing at times, because my family has a history of childhood asthma, and I suffered with it myself. Still, when my third one came along, I was pleased to find that when he had a cold I just plugged in the humidifier, angled the mattress a little bit, suctioned the gunk as well as I could, and put him back to bed. I suppose you live and learn ... it was one of those first Mommy school lessons.