attachment parenting
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| Mon, 08-14-2006 - 3:17pm |
A woman I know (I used to work with her dh) practices "attachment parenting". Here is a definition (for those who don't know what it is):
"Attachment Parenting includes respecting your child's needs, feeding on demand, and answering your baby's cries. Other parts of Attachment Parenting include co-sleeping, nursing on demand, sling or other baby carrier wearing, and cloth diapering. Not all Attachment Parents practice all of the above, but never the less love the idea of Attachment Parenting and comforting their children.
Attachment parenting uses mild discipline methods and avoids all physical or emotional punishment, such as inflicting shame on a child for inappropriate behavior. Children are encouraged and allowed to sleep with their parents, and you treat your bed as the family bed. Meeting your child's needs according to the child's time frame during the early years of development is an essential part of attachment parenting. Children will be allowed to grow and learn at their own pace and not according to standard time frames."
What do you all think of attachment parenting?
I don't see attachment parenting as something a WOH parent could do, or could they? What do u think?
I am also curious to see if SAHPs vs/ WOHPs will have different opionions on this topic.
If anyone here practices attachment parenting - was your decision to do so closely linked with your decision to be a SAHP?
josee

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Hey here's a thought...maybe the TV is helping make people fat vs the comfort food? Instead of sitting on ones deriere for a few hours a day (min) a bit of exercise would go a long way toward offsetting the results of constantly watching Oprah and the like. LOL.
MM
"I'm not suggesting that you can look at a child and know they were formula fed due to some obvious difference, but I am saying that children who are formula fed are sick more often or to a greater degree than their breast fed counterparts"
I find this to be quite the opposite. My 2 children were formula fed and they've never been sick other than normal colds and those hae been on average of twice a year. My DD has been on antibiotics once and my DS never, knock on wood. Never had a problem with ear infections or strep. On the contrary it seems to me that BF babies were the ones that were always being carted off to the doctor with some malady. Maybe it's just coincidence. My 6 siblings and I were all formula fed and we were all very healthy. Never any hospitalizations. My one sister would get a few ear infections now and again, but that's it. So, I've never seen the correlation between BF=more healthy and FF=more sick.
"Why would a nursing mother have to watch everything she puts in her mouth? Even in countries where nutrition is inadequate, the World Health Organization recommends that mothers nurse their babies for at least two years--so the babies DO get adequate nutrition."
So, a mother who eats a diet of junk food, her milk is more healthy than formula?
"Are you going to tell women they shouldn't get pregnant because a few people are stupid enough to take drugs that risk their baby's health?"
I am not going to tell women anything. That's a ridiculous statement.
"And, not all drugs that are dangerous while pregnant (like nicotine) are dangerous to a nursing baby."
So, would you smoke while breasfeeding your infant?
"Why would a nursing mother have to watch everything she puts in her mouth? Even in countries where nutrition is inadequate, the World Health Organization recommends that mothers nurse their babies for at least two years--so the babies DO get adequate nutrition."
I specifically stated "in this country". In some parts of the world, one doesn't even have access to formula.
"So, I've never seen the correlation between BF=more healthy and FF=more sick." That may be your experience IRL, however, it is very well documented that a typical BF baby has fewer illness than a FF baby.
"Breast-fed babies have fewer illnesses because human milk transfers to the infant a mother's antibodies to disease. About 80 percent of the cells in breast milk are macrophages, cells that kill bacteria, fungi and viruses. Breast-fed babies are protected, in varying degrees, from a number of illnesses, including pneumonia, botulism, bronchitis, staphylococcal infections, influenza, ear infections, and German measles. Furthermore, mothers produce antibodies to whatever disease is present in their environment, making their milk custom-designed to fight the diseases their babies are exposed to as well.
A breast-fed baby's digestive tract contains large amounts of Lactobacillus bifidus, beneficial bacteria that prevent the growth of harmful organisms. Human milk straight from the breast is always sterile, never contaminated by polluted water or dirty bottles, which can also lead to diarrhea in the infant.
Human milk contains at least 100 ingredients not found in formula. No babies are allergic to their mother's milk, although they may have a reaction to something the mother eats. If she eliminates it from her diet, the problem resolves itself."
http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/895_brstfeed.html
"So, a mother who eats a diet of junk food, her milk is more healthy than formula?"
Yes.
"So, would you smoke while breasfeeding your infant?"
No, I'm not a smoker.
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