4 ms·

> We did okay for hundreds of thousands of years. Yeah, why don't we just go back to the "okay" times of 40%+ child mortality rates instead of the current <1%

by sumeno 7mo ago

> We did okay for hundreds of thousands of years. Yeah, why don't we just go back to the "okay" times of 40%+ child mortality rates instead of the current <1% You're a genius

echelon 7mo ago
Child mortality saw steep improvements in the 1900s - 1940s all over the world. I didn't think I had to clear myself of this argument. "Helicopter parents", the desire to call CPS for unattended children - these are new and novel phenomena that are symptoms of society's desire to raise the cost of parenting through marketing, social norms, and peer pressure.
- sumeno 7mo ago
  "Helicopter parents" are because of the rise of national media amplifying relatively rare cases of things like child abductions, not a conspiracy by big diaper
db48x 7mo ago
I’m no expert, but I suspect that going from disposable diapers to cloth diapers would not be quite that bad.
- throwaway173738 7mo ago
  No, but if you have a kid with no support system you’re going to find it really hard to add just a few more hours per week to clean diapers out every other day on top of everything else. If it was easy for you congratulations you had an easy one.
- UncleMeat 7mo ago
  Babies are incredibly difficult even in the best case. Sleep deprivation is intense. Breastfeeding is difficult. Adding in small additional difficulties adds up. "This is a bit more difficult" becomes a huge mess when you are on three hours of sleep and there are 10 different "this is a bit more difficult" things that people are suggesting to you. Add this on top of any sort of complex baby (illness, allergies, colic, slow weight gain, etc) and suddenly the slightly less complex disposable diaper becomes a godsend just to save a few minutes or a bit of mental load.
  - basket_horse 7mo ago
    Couldn’t agree more. This entire comment section reads as a bunch of 20 year olds with no kids talking about parenting.
  - bombcar 7mo ago
    Babies are incredibly difficult even in the best case. Sleep deprivation is intense. Breastfeeding is difficult. Adding in small additional difficulties adds up. "This is a bit more difficult" becomes a huge mess when you are on three hours of sleep and there are 10 different "this is a bit more difficult" things that people are suggesting to you. Add this on top of any sort of complex baby (illness, allergies, colic, slow weight gain, etc) and suddenly the slightly less complex door dashing a warm bottle of formula becomes a godsend just to save a few minutes or a bit of mental load. Anything can become normalized.
    - UncleMeat 7mo ago
      I don't judge people who order out all the time or pay for a night nanny or do any of a million things that make life easier with an infant. Infants are fucking hard.

by sumeno 7mo ago

> We did okay for hundreds of thousands of years. Yeah, why don't we just go back to the "okay" times of 40%+ child mortality rates instead of the current <1% You're a genius

echelon 7mo ago

Child mortality saw steep improvements in the 1900s - 1940s all over the world. I didn't think I had to clear myself of this argument. "Helicopter parents", the desire to call CPS for unattended children - these are new and novel phenomena that are symptoms of society's desire to raise the cost of parenting through marketing, social norms, and peer pressure.

sumeno 7mo ago
"Helicopter parents" are because of the rise of national media amplifying relatively rare cases of things like child abductions, not a conspiracy by big diaper

db48x 7mo ago

I’m no expert, but I suspect that going from disposable diapers to cloth diapers would not be quite that bad.

throwaway173738 7mo ago
No, but if you have a kid with no support system you’re going to find it really hard to add just a few more hours per week to clean diapers out every other day on top of everything else. If it was easy for you congratulations you had an easy one.
UncleMeat 7mo ago
Babies are incredibly difficult even in the best case. Sleep deprivation is intense. Breastfeeding is difficult. Adding in small additional difficulties adds up. "This is a bit more difficult" becomes a huge mess when you are on three hours of sleep and there are 10 different "this is a bit more difficult" things that people are suggesting to you. Add this on top of any sort of complex baby (illness, allergies, colic, slow weight gain, etc) and suddenly the slightly less complex disposable diaper becomes a godsend just to save a few minutes or a bit of mental load.
- basket_horse 7mo ago
  Couldn’t agree more. This entire comment section reads as a bunch of 20 year olds with no kids talking about parenting.
- bombcar 7mo ago
  Babies are incredibly difficult even in the best case. Sleep deprivation is intense. Breastfeeding is difficult. Adding in small additional difficulties adds up. "This is a bit more difficult" becomes a huge mess when you are on three hours of sleep and there are 10 different "this is a bit more difficult" things that people are suggesting to you. Add this on top of any sort of complex baby (illness, allergies, colic, slow weight gain, etc) and suddenly the slightly less complex door dashing a warm bottle of formula becomes a godsend just to save a few minutes or a bit of mental load. Anything can become normalized.
  - UncleMeat 7mo ago
    I don't judge people who order out all the time or pay for a night nanny or do any of a million things that make life easier with an infant. Infants are fucking hard.