The Lazy Person's Guide to Gentle Parenting

[beckoes]

Love this thread....all the things that *some people* try to make you feel bad for doing....

As soon as DD wakes in the night be it 12 or 3 she comes in with us....who wants to sit up for hours in the night trying to get baby back to sleep when you can snuggle down and have a cuddle and fall asleep together.

Feed to sleep 100% of the time. she will sleep most places aslong as she can have boobie!!

I used to feel presured to keep house tidy but i gave up....i tidy once a day (if your lucky) after DD has gone to bed for the night...If you want a clean house come round after 7pm!

Did BLS aswll, tried mashing for about a week....spent all my spare time boiling and pureeing...NO THANKS.

Save laundry...eat in the nude (DD not me)

Winter...i thought i was the only one doing the 'roll and squish'...sometimes its too comfy to swap sides!

looking forward to more time saving tips lol

[~Saram~]

I am loving this thread!!! And ladies it's not laziness it's the fact that you are following your instincts and doing things the way your human nature intended them to be done that makes life easier!

And it gets better
you breastfed so later in life bub has less allergies and gets sick less often
you coslept so bub is more confident/less fearful which leads to a more settled independant child
you wear you baby so bub has a better understanding of social cues and a better relationship with you so less tantrums/less discipline issues

And best of all a calmer, happies household and happier mummies :-)

Love your work, can't wait to hear more!

[Arcadia]

Wow, great thread.

I agree...most of this isn't laziness. When I feel lazy, I ditch the cloth for sposies, and pull out the jar food and let DH put DD to bed!

It takes a lot of mummy energy to Gentle Parent. Most people don't do these things because our society has trained us to have more personal space and be 'independent' from a young age. Gentle Parenting requires patience, persistance and loads of time spent with the baby. That's why it actually isn't that easy for a lot of people...and why we created alternatives (like CIO etc) in an attempt to help mums and bubs be more independent of each other (which also serves the capitalist society we live in, as mums can then re-enter the workforce).

I feel privileged to be able to practice gentle parenting with DD, and I certanly don't feel lazy doing it!

[Winter]

I've got another one for you....

*When you've made something for bubs that *probably should* be mashed since she's been sucking on it for a good while and nothing is going in...don't mess around with all that blender bollocks....

get out your garlic press and give it a squeeze!

Easy to do small batches and much easier to clean than a whole dizzy-whizzy outfit!

[Winter]

Save laundry...eat in the nude (DD not me)

Sure its just DD. Beckoes!! I have an image of you all having a lovely dinner party in the nuddy!!

[Heaven]

Oh I almost forgot. Don't move DD into her own room bc I really couldn't be bothered having to actually use my legs in the night.

[Salad]

I am not sure if this is classified as lazy gentle parenting but after I have fed georgia her BLS I then get the dog in to pick up the larger pieces that have fallen to the floor

[Winter]

That's just CLEVER!! Salad! Whoever says BLS is less messy is LYING!

*Winter goes off to find me a dog...*

[Indadhanu]

OMG yes I tried one of the "fruit gels" back when we first started solids. We were out longer than expected, so bought one. Jazz almost spat it back in my face. I tried it, and BLERK! We went and bought a banana instead. Can't believe I didn't do it first, but I thought the gel would be like a 'treat', what a joke!

anna - so true, its really not laziness at all. I often say I fell proud of my strength to be a gentle parent, because it DOES take strength to breastfeed for so long, to put up with the crap from ignorant people, to allow your child to learn and feed themselves rather than spoonfeeding them. It's actually scary to allow them to do BLS. Sometimes I feel on nervous breakdown when I watched her work out she needs to chew, or how to use a spoon herself LOL. It's hard to do baby-wearing and co-sleeping as you really do lose your own space. We're STRONG in that we parent in ways nature intended. Many people just can't let go of their 'rules' and 'stereotypes' and turn away from this image of a parent who can 'have it all' work, social life, and the perfect children....
We should DEFINITELY be proud of ourselves
At the same time, I love to say... NAH I'm way too lazy to bottlefeed WAY too lazy to be up and down ALL NIGHT trying to resettle. And way way WAY too lazy to blend-mash-pulverise food The looks on their faces.

[Early Kids]

I agree, most of this isnt laziness but us being smart, enviro savvy ect..

I dont pick food up off the floor, we have TWO dogs who can do that!

When either boy wakes they come in with us, regardless of time. I cant be bothered trying to resettle for hours when they will fall straight back to sleep in with us! I do have a rule that they start off in their own bed though.... and this is always the case with Brendan and most of the time for Tristan.

My kids go to sleep when they are tired because I cant be bothered fighting them.
My kids also eat whenever they are hungry, a clock does not run this house!

Another thing I do is accept peoples offers! Brendan spends at least one night a month with the IL's ... he has SID and is hyperactive along with a few other things which can make him somewhat difficult to handle sometimes. He loves going and I love the break! Plus my house is clean for the whole time he's gone LOL.

We eat a LOT of roast vegies because it's so much easier to cook than doing vegies on a stove. I roast a lot of things actually, because its easier LOL.