Wow... Just tuned in. Weird conversation.
I took my breastfeeding 4-month-old to the Galapagos and to the Amazon 16 years
ago, along with my 56-year-old (at the time) parents, after an unplanned
C-section.
The parents were definitively more trouble and at greater risk. The C-section
was long healed, after 4 months!
A dear friend of mine was raised along with his four sibs traveling up into the
sierras by mule for a month each summer... Cloth diapers boiled in a big pot,
the whole deal. Not only did they all survive, they grew into happy,
respectful, well-adjusted adults.
You should really try some of this stuff personally, before you form too strong
an opinion.
I've also had a fieldworker think it would be interesting to pick up a
rattlesnake skin... Not thinking. The whole field day was shot when we had to
take the person to the hospital to make sure the ensuing bite was indeed "dry".
You guess the gender and age (yep, old enough to know better). Stuff happens,
we take care of it. The more of us who are involved in taking care of that
stuff, the more satisfying the whole project will be.
If ecologists eschewed fieldwork that involved hazards (ranging from broken
ankles to Poison oak to tick bites), we would stay indoors. But we all know
that's even more hazardous. Even for babies.
My girls (now 11 and 16) climb trees and rocks (definitively not safe). I only
lament that now that they are older and I am busier, I don't make time to take
them to the mountains enough!
Gear? A really comfortable front wrap carrier that faces both in and out so you
can breastfeed while walking. And everything else in your regular kit. And
maybe a mule.
Have fun!
Sent from my iPhone
On Apr 9, 2012, at 5:29 PM, Wayne Tyson wrote:
> Well said Lis.
>
> For what use the information might be, some young friends of ours do a lot of
> work in the field all over the world and they frequently take their children
> with them rather than consigning them to "caregivers." They took their
> first-born son to Borneo at ten months. A few years ago when he was eight, he
> was towing the canoe up the shallows of the river to the research station by
> wading with the tow-rope over his shoulder and remarked, "Gosh, here I am in
> Borneo, wading up a jungle river and my friends are back home in Boston
> playing with video games. He got his scuba certification that year in
> Indonesia even though he has to "wait" until he's ten to get certified in the
> US. His little sister learned scuba last year at eight even though she has to
> be nine even in Indonesia to get a card. The family that scubas together . . .
>
> What kind of adults will these kids make, I wonder?
>
> Oh, to have had parents like this . . .
>
> WT
>
> - Original Message - From: "Lis Castillo Nelis"
> To:
> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 3:31 PM
> Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Backpacking with an infant?
>
>
> I reassert that advice concerning the child’s well being was unsolicited in
> the original post. If a colleague over 50 asked for gear recommendations, no
> one would have recommended that they avoid fieldwork because of the risk for
> heart attack. We assume they are intelligent enough to take care of
> themselves.
>
> We need similar assumptions for parents. The original poster probably
> already spoke with their pediatrician. They may even have a medically
> trained babysitter joining them at the top of the mountain. We don’t know and
> it isn’t our business. Instead of assuming the worst of each other, how
> about assuming the best?
>
>
> In the future, if we are concerned about someone’s life choices, a short
> email directly to the sender may be the better option. Many young
> researchers read this forum. We need to be careful what message we send out.
> This thread showed some terrific support for families in science.
> Unfortunately, it also showed that many colleagues doubt parenting decisions
> of others, and that some colleagues think parents can’t be good scientists at
> all. If we want to diversify science we need to accept those who make
> decisions different from our own.
>
>
> Good luck to all parents out there who choose to take your kids with you into
> the field!
>
>
> Lis
>
>
>
> Lisa Castillo Nelis
> NSF Postdoctoral Fellow
> Stanford University
> Gordon Laboratory
> Department of Biology
> Gilbert Building, Room 109
> 371 Serra Mall
> Stanford, CA 94305-5020
>
> Phone: 650-725-6791
> Email: lne...@stanford.edu
> Home page: http://www.stanford.edu/~lnelis/
>
>
> -
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