Monday Teeny Poll
By Glinda
It’s a tie! An equal number of you both hate and love the Oscars. 28% gave a big “meh.” Which taken overall, is a bad sign for the Oscars. I’m somewhere in the middle, but I think it has a lot to do with being born and raised in Los Angeles, there’s a sort of hometown pride thing going on. We don’t have a football team, but dammit, we’ve got the Oscars!
Attachment parenting has been around for a while, and it seems to be a topic which raises similar feelings to the Oscar telecast. It’s all about co-sleeping, wearing your baby, and breastfeeding. OK, well, there is more but you get the picture. People seem either hate it, love it, or couldn’t care less.
March 5th, 2012 at 10:06 am
I think it’s a nice concept, but I am uncomfortable with any parenting technique that is too rigid to account for each individual child’s peculiarities. I read an account of a woman who was ready to go full throttle with the attachment parenting, only to discover her infant was really much happier sleeping alone, etc.
I also dislike the extreme pressure it places on women with respect to breastfeeding. Sure, breastfeeding is great, but no woman should be made to feel like a failure or a bad mother if she can’t or doesn’t want to breastfeed.
March 5th, 2012 at 11:34 am
You don’t have to follow the rigid teachings of AP to be mindful of your child and his/her needs. I wear my baby in a sling because it is easier for the both of us but we both sleep better when we are not in the same room. Breastfeeding did not work out for any of my kids but I feel pretty darn connected and bonded with them despite(?) that. I really think that if you pay attention to your children and their needs you don’t have to follow a particular philosophy to be a good parent and I resent people who think that just because I don’t do it their way that I am doing it wrong.
March 5th, 2012 at 12:26 pm
It’s very different from what I did with my two kids, by a mile, but if it works best for the kids, knock yourself out. I could never get behind the co-sleeping thing, but I was pro-breastfeeding. I figure you do what works for the kid and yourself. Parenting is hard enough without anyone telling you it HAS to be a certain way.
March 9th, 2012 at 9:09 pm
My understanding of attachment parenting is not that all parents should force these things — co-sleeping, breastfeeding, babywearing, etc.–on their kids, but that these are techniques that very often work to soothe babies and ease their transition into the world when more modern western ways don’t. But every kid is different. Some babies are easy and adaptable. Others are not. AP worked for me and my kids, but each child was ready to stop at different times. It’s more about reading the individual child and her/his needs than it is about committing to particular techniques for a set period of time even when they aren’t working.