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Natural Birth
Natural Birth & Attachment Parenting
Are most of you planning natural births also utilizing the Attachment Parenting philosophy?
It seems to have naturally progressed into this for me. We'd decided to bed share, baby wear, etc., and, as I was doing research on these issues/items, I found that Attachment Parenting really fits with what we are planning anyway!
I'm currently reading Attached at the Heart: 8 Proven Parenting Principles for Raising Connected and Compassionate Children, as well as some things by Dr. Sears. It just really resonates with me. Natural childbirth seems to grow seamlessly from this movement.
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Re: Natural Birth & Attachment Parenting
This also...My birth was the start of our parenting decisions...we just sort of fell into the AP mold. I am not extreme about it either. The AP board on here is pretty nice.
I do somewhat, baby wear and BF, but we don't cosleep.
I think it is related to wanting to do what feels natural, whether that be in childbirth or parenting.
Not really. We did bedshare at first, but only out of necessity (DD wouldn't sleep otherwise). We moved her into her own room at 3.5 months, though. For me, it was important that DH and I have our own time together, and nights are usually the only time that is possible. I don't have any issues with the concept, though.
I also wore DD as much as she would let me - a lot in the beginning, but not so much afterwards. I wish she would let me wear her more often ... it's so much more convenient than a stroller!
<a href="http://s5.photobucket.com/albums/y161/putalittlepolkainyourdot/?action=view
Nope.
I'm more of a do what works rather than an adhere to a philosophy kind of gal. We're more in line with the natural family lifestyle (which overlaps with AP somewhat), but even that goes out the window since we're vaccinating and using disposables.
The *plans are that he'll be in his crib--across the hall--from day one. I think everyone will get more sleep that way and I don't have to worry about passing out with him in our bed. We won't do CIO until he's older, though. Although I will breastfeed, I have zero qualms about supplementing when everyone is in tears at two a.m. There's gonna be a schedule eventually. I bought an Ergo because a stroller seems less than ideal in New England in winter, not because I intend to have him on me all day. I'm not concerned about his "attachments."
I know AP works for a lot of people, but I can't read Dr. Sears with a straight face.
*All subject to change.
Yep, it was the same with us. I had heard the term "attachment parenting" before DS was born, but didn't know much about what it meant, other than it had a negative connotation to some people. Turns out the way we parent DS was in line with AP principles even though we didn't plan on it. It has been wonderful for him and for DH and me.
DD #1 passed away in January 2011 at 14 days old due to congenital heart disease
DD#2 lost in January 2012 at 23 weeks due to anhydramnios caused by a placental abruption
Yeah, we've slipped down the road of hippie parenting. I think our choices have to do with what has felt right, but also a general skepticism of the traditional way of doing things in the US - a really, really good book to read is "Our Babies, Ourselves" - it's an anthropologist's view on how things that are important in society (in the US, independence) are translated into parenting philosophy...
We did co-sleep with DS a decent amount, but I'm hoping not to for this baby, so the other part of our parenting has come from neccesity/what DS needed at the time. But I'll breastfeed again and definitely babywear - you're in the city, also, right? It's freaking indispensible when you don't have a car!
DS2 - Oct 2010 (my VBAC baby!)
no.
i'm not terribly familiar with the philosophy of AP. but, i have lurked on the board enough to know that my parenting style is not fully in sync with AP. there are some things that i just don't agree with.
i believe in extended BFing and child-led weaning. my son self-weaned at 2.5 years. i had intended to co-sleep, but that only lasted until 6 weeks. my son was too noisy of a sleeper for me to get any sleep, so he got booted to his crib in his own room. we had strollers, which we used only occasionally as i preferred to wear him. but that wasn't always possible/convenient, etc. and at a certain point, he got too heavy for me to wear with my bad back.
i don't believe in always having the baby on you or never letting a baby cry. i think babies need to learn that they don't get everything they want as soon as they want it. (obviously not at the newborn stage, i'm talking older babies). we did CIO around 8/9 months to extend night-time sleeping (went from 3 wakes to 2). this is not consistent with what i know of AP.
additionally, i work FT, and my children will have to go to daycare. i think a baby raised with AP would have a difficult time in daycare, as the care is substantially different and that would be confusing to the baby.
Except for bed sharing (we aren't decided on that yet), this pretty much sums it up for me.
Mother's Day, 2011
Agreed. we're actually planning to follow the BabyWise methods (to a common sense degree that is
). That's more our style than AP.
I will baby wear some, as I did with DD. I will BF as much as I can up to 1 year, as I did with DD. But we won't be co-sleeping. The baby will stay in our room for the first 8 weeks or so but not our bed.
I don't think that's true at all... DD adjusted very well to daycare - in fact she's more well-adjusted than a lot of kids her age and has never had separation anxiety issues or anything. They learn (just like every kid) that there is a difference between moms/dads and other caregivers.
Being "attached" is not meant to be taken literally. The attachment is the emotional bond that gives them a sense of security whether with or away from their parents.
Sure we looked for daycares that were in-line with (or at least willing to follow) our principles, such as feeding on demand, letting her nap without a schedule, etc; but I don't think any kid receives the same care at daycare as they do at home do they?
Mucho likes purple nails and purple cupcakes
I agree completely.