Another annoying thing happened earlier when I was at my ABA meeting. Lots of the mums from my MG go there too and one of them had a "bad" night last night where her DS was awake every 2 hours. She said "now we know how Sue feels" and they all laughed.
What? That is so not funny. I'd be tempted to take a week off from them as well. It's so hard, because it's great to have the contact with other mums and share the things that we do have in common, but it can also make me feel like a bit of an oddball, because I do things a bit differently.

Actually, what I have started trying to do is be a bit more confident about my style of parenting. I think I may have spoken about it in a kind of apologetic way before, and I try to be more matter-of-fact about it now. Still doesn't stop the controlled crying type of advice if I ever have a whinge though. I think I have trouble feeling confident about the way I choose to parent, and I wonder sometimes if that's why I'm offered advice - I talk like I'm a bit lost, so people try to help the only way they know how.

Also - I think that the benefits of the 'tough love' parenting are more readily apparent - parents get evenings together, they can go out easily, babysitting is easy etc. The benefits of the more gentle style are harder to notice to the outside observer - more securely attached little people who will hopefully have a really strong foundation to build on for the rest of their lives. When I lose confidence in what I'm doing (which I have been recently), I try to remind myself that this will pay off in the end - for DS and for our relationship with him as he grows up. Thanks for this thread hun - it's reminded me again to try to stay on track.

You are doing a fabulous job with your DD, and she is lucky to have you as her mummy