One thing I find to be useful in our chosen parenting strategy is to check in with Hubby quite often about the successes and struggles we are having, both individually and as a family.
Thus far our struggles are generally centered around sleep. Baby sleeps when we sleep plus about two or three naps during the day. He has, I am very glad to announce, stopped wanting to get up and play in the middle of the night. However, he does continue to wake up frequently and need nursing or rocking back to sleep. His sleep habits do seem to be ironing out by themselves but at a much slower pace than one might expect or hope. I had a night this past week that I can only describe as difficult. When four in the morning rolled around and Baby was still ready to play (this is not usual), I really wondered if I was doing the right thing. The very next day, I woke up and read this article: http://fiercemamas.blogspot.com.au/2009/10/saving-my-baby.html. I was immediately reminded about all the reasons I truly believe this to be the best fit for our family. Until Baby is Toddler and able to communicate what he wants/ needs, I will absolutely answer every cry with attention, love, and any kind of comfort of which I can think.
We also bought bed rails. Baby started getting the urge to Bungee jump from our bed without the Bungee cord, so we added some guardrails (something VERY advisable if you're co-sleeping). I was happy to find that the bed rail would attach to an adult bed just as well as a toddler bed.
Our successes are plentiful. The one at the very forefront of my mind is how very advanced Baby is. He took his first steps the day after he turned eight months, so that should debunked all of the "If you carry him everywhere he'll never learn to walk" comments. Baby has yet to have stranger shyness and is generally very confident in everything he does. I attribute this to the fact that he never feels scared or alone at this point in his life. He is also very happy most of the time.
Another success we have had is discipline. Many people view Attachment Parenting as permissive, but I can assure you it is not. In fact, Attachment Parenting encourages discipline from birth. Yes, that's right, I said (Okay, I typed) discipline from birth. Note that this is different from punishment. Discipline is not synonymous with punishment. Discipline is teaching behavior. One method of Attachment Parenting is creating a "yes" environment. This means that rather than chastising a child for getting into something she shouldn't, that something is not made available to her. For example, in our home, we have a bird who throws empty seed shells out of her cage. Rather than tell Baby, "No, no, no," we barricaded the area where the seeds fall. By doing so, we eliminated a "no" and thus created a "yes."
That's it for now. I'll give more updates on the Attachment Parenting as the milestones come!
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