Save Our Sleep

[Shanti]

i just wanted to know what all the fuss was about gentle parenting. honestly i had not heard the term till a few weeks ago when i looked around bb.
after doing a bit of looking around i found i had tried/failed some of these tactics, and still use others that work for me.

What's all the fuss about Gentle Parenting you ask? I wouldn't call it "fuss" as such... it's actually an effective way of raising babies and is also quite often called "attachment parenting" and also "responsive parenting". It's an instinctual way of raising babies to meet all their needs 24/7. It's about keeping a close bond with your baby through co-sleeping, breastfeeding, baby wearing etc those sort of things.... of course, just because a parent doesn't do all those things doesn't mean they aren't 'gentle' parenting or attachment parenting. But sticking along those general lines.....not leaving babies to CIO or CC etc....

Here is an extract from Dr Sears website - interesting to read......
"Attachment parenting is not a new style of parenting. Attachment parenting is one of the oldest ways of caring for babies. In fact, it's the way that parents for centuries have taken care of babies, until childcare advisors came on the scene and led parents to follow books instead of their babies. Picture your family on a deserted island and you've just delivered a baby. There are no books, advisors, or in-laws around to shower you with child baby- tending advice. The baby B's of attachment parenting would come naturally to you as they have other cultures who have centuries more child-rearing experience and tradition than all of us have. "

My journey has been similar to Anna's in terms of finding what worked for us at different times with DD but then reaching a point where you go "you know what? THIS, what we are doing is working just fine, why try and fix something that aint broken???" and going with the flow.
I too would like to point out I think we all do a wonderful job as Mum's and parents. It sure is the most challenging (yet rewarding!!!) thing we could ever do and its a huge responsibility raising these little precious people!!! No matter what our choices are as parents, we do need to support each other at the end of the day.

[Arcadia]

Love your work Shanti!

[BabyQ]

I'm not implying anything to anyone in this thread but just thought I'd put a note in since it came up a couple of times since my last post, but my friend didn't notice her ds had a blank stare either.

[onthefly]

Ok, I know it's off-topic, but I just have to add this

Every parent will parent differently because our children and circumstances are different. I think we can all understand and respect this.
Every parent makes choices with their chilldren's best interests at heart. I think we can also all understand and respect this.
There are many variables that can affect a child's development, only some of them relate to parenting (i.e. we can't take the credit or blame for everything). And, it's really impossible to point to one aspect of parenting as the cause for anything in particular.