I never even knew what attachment parenting was until after LO was born. I googled parenting styles and realized my natural instincts were just to parent this way. LO is 4 months old and is "high maintenance".. I guess? From day one she would have a fit if set down by herself. There have been a few occasions in which she slept for a little while on her own. I wear her in a woven wrap during nap times and we bed share at night. I swear she can sense when I'm gone and will wake after 10 minutes or so if I get up. This really doesn't bother me so much because I know this is what she needs right now and that it is only temporary. However, I'm starting to wonder how anyone has more than one baby! I know that no two babies are the same so if I were to have another they may not need to bedshare etc. but they are just as likely to need it. I do want LO to have a sibling close in age but I just can't bedshare with a toddler and an infant. It sounds dangerous, DH is a super heavy sleeper so I would worry about even a toddler sleeping next to him.
Re: How to Attachment Parent with a Second Child?
You don't have to bed share as well. Co sleeping is a very broad term. You can side car the crib, use a bassinet, pack n play, there are also bassinets that fit in your bed, etc. Same for your toddler. You can put a toddler sized mattress in your room if he/she is not ready to sleep on their own yet.
My toddler is still in our bed. I am a huge believer in transitioning when baby is ready. They are only little for such a short amount of time.
We are still debating how we might achieve a safe family bed if dd still wants to sleep in with us when #2 comes along but what we have figured out so far is #2 sleeps in moses basket on my side of bed until 6+ months and dd goes in between us. Once #2 comes in the bed, we move the matress against the wall so that baby is safe beetween the wall and me; dd stays where she is, between A and I.
We're still ironing out the wrinkles in attachment parenting 2. For example, my short stature and A's bad back make tandem carrying difficult and unless we're all out together, someone will have to go in the stroller. The key is to just improvise. Do what works best for baby (ies) - and *you*
My 5yr old starts off in his bed (which we started when he was around 3) but he always ends up in bed with us. It goes hubby, 5 yr old, me then baby in my arms. She moves from one side to the other depending on where she last nursed but so far it's working ok.
I was super nervous about all this but you'll figure it out. In a perfect world my 5 yr old would just stay in his bed but it is what it is.