The Lazy Person's Guide to Gentle Parenting

[Winter]

Ok, so I have been thinking about things that work for me & I think they work because inherently I'm a lazy person and I'll take the easiest means possible to get bub to sleep or fed or keep her happy!

I'll share mine, feel free to add to the list, I'm sure I'll use them!

*Co-sleeping - means the whole family gets more sleep!
*Feeding to sleep - baby is asleep, boob solves everything!
*Laying down with bub in afternoon, feeding to sleep, baby falls asleep, mum falls asleep, curry burns...
*BLS - I can't be bothered mushing and its fun to watch her feed herself
*Laying down to feed at just about every feed at home - bed is comfy & I can relax for a bit!

Umm. that's all I can think of at the moment, tell me what short-cuts or lazy ways do you use to keep everyone in your family (you included! ) happy?

[alioops]

use cloth nappies - dont have to duck out to the shops when the nappies are getting low.

[Heaven]

lol, love it.

Wear clingy baby in sling all day bc arms get tired, don't even take it off to go to the toilet

Wake up sleeping dog to come and entertain DD, pmsl.

[Winter]

Wear clingy baby in sling all day bc arms get tired, don't even take it off to go to the toilet

I know this one off by heart!! How could I forget it?

[Ginger]

i have a bath with my 2 ds's every night, saves my back and we all get clean

[Early Kids]

Love it!!

Brendan eats exactly what we eat.I shower then fill the bath up towards the end, and the boys get bathed together, Saves water too

I use a hooded beach towel for Brendan, that way I can slip it over his head and he can run around without it falling off and he gets dry that way too. LOL

[Tinks]

*BLS - I can't be bothered mushing and its fun to watch her feed herself

I used to do that when my kids were babies too..... I was quite shocked when I first found BB that it actually had a name... BLS! So now I can say I did BLS but really it was CBF'd and hope they learn quickly not to choke lmao

I still use a hooded towel for my 6yo DD!

When the kids got bigger I'd trick them into having afternoon naps while Jerry Springer was on by putting them in my bed and letting htem watch a DVD. They'd always nod off and I got to watch Jerry in peace.

[Salad]

Fantastic thread keep them coming, just what I need right now

[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]

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.

[Winter]

I was quite shocked when I first found BB that it actually had a name... BLS! So now I can say I did BLS but really it was CBF'd and hope they learn quickly not to choke lmao

I'm in hysterics! Tinks!!

[Winter]

Got another one for you...

*When laying down feeding and bub has finished first boob (closest to the bed), don't bother rearranging yourself and bub, just roll forward a bit more and squish bottom boob flat while sticking top boob in bubs mouth!

[boomba]

These are great and I do pretty well all of them

Um the only one i can think of is we are toilet training at the moment only cause i cant be bothered putting clothes on ds lol!...or is that just a bad mummy one

[Winter]

Definitely NOT bad mummy - we just need a name for it ...Natural Toilet Training - there you go Boomba! A brand new style of gentle parenting!

[Winter]

I've just walked into the lounge room and DH has DD in her high chair and has the robot vacuum cleaner scuttling around the floor & DD is MESMERISED! He is pottering around making himself a coffee...

Need a babysitter & want the vacuuming done? Follow DH's lead!

Oh yeah, should have added that as the ultimate in lazy parenting gadgets....a robot vacuum cleaner...