Attachment Parenting
Jul 12 '00
Follow your heart in the love you share
Making the best decisions for your own child can be difficult. Especially if the path chosen is the road less traveled. It becomes easy to second guess the thoughts that led to a decision in the first place. My best advice is to follow your heart even if others urge you to stray.
Especially when it comes to something as essential as the affection you give your child.
No one can bear responsibility for the choices you will make for your children except you. With that in mind following your heart becomes the only reasonable answer.
Breaking away from the beaten path
We are not the traditional american household nor do we follow all the traditionally beaten paths in our walk through parenthood. Rather we follow our hearts melding a mixture of what we feel is best for the welfare of our children. Sometimes this can be a difficult choice to make as we tend to be judged quickly and harshly by others.
What is attachment parenting??
In simple terms we tend to fall into the category of what is known as Attachment parenting. Put simply this means that we put our child's needs before our own most of the time. Sometimes this makes life a bit more difficult, but the benefits outweigh any temporary negatives in our minds.
Bedsharing, Breastfeeding and Babywearing Oh My!
What is involved in attachment parenting? Well to begin with we practice bed sharing with our youngest child. It began simply enough and I used to be one of the people who swore I would never advocate such a thing as a parent myself. Being a parent is a learning experience and you learn quickly to follow your heart. When it comes to the comfort and security of my child I quickly learned there was absolutely nothing I wouldn't endure for him. The closeness and security that have resulted in having my child nearby can not be measured. The confidence my child has developed as a result make any scrutiny we undergo worthwhile.
We also to our surprise find that as our child is approaching two years old we are still breastfeeding. The bond our child shares with both of his parents as a result of this special relationship is unbelievable. We initially had thought that we would want to wean by six months of age. We are ever thankful for our ability to change as needed in our views. Each child has very individual needs. Striving to fulfill these needs and to promote love, security and confidence in my child is the most worthwhile task I will accomplish in my lifetime.
A changing tide
While there will always be someone willing to judge you for the choices you make for your children the tide is changing. Studies are beginning to show that bedsharing, breastfeeding at least two years, babywearing and responding to each and every need of your child is extremely beneficial to their future independence, confidence and security.
Teaching children how to make the right choices is part of giving affection
This doesn't mean we allow our children to be hooligans, but rather that we give them strong guidelines for what is right and wrong, acceptable and unacceptable behavior. We are doing our best to teach our children strong morals. In our minds discipline is one of the strongest ways we can show our children that we love them and hope for them to grow to be good moral people. Pared with these guidelines comes unconditional love teaching them we are here for them when they make mistakes.
Above all else readily giving children affection and letting them know there is always someone there who cares gives them confidence to make the right decisions in a world where it is becoming easy to go with the flow.
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nalyr98
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Location: San Antonio Texas
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