An excellent article on basic parenting practices. I particularly support the idea of co-sleeping. I never thought I'd be planning on sleeping with my (future) infant, until I got a dog. I always feel much better with him sleeping next to me, and while a popular concern of co-sleeping is danger to the baby, I've yet to roll over on my dog. In fact, I have occasionally woken up in odd and contorted positions, due to unconsciously conforming and working around him in the night. Plus, who wants to drag themselves out of bed and schlep to another room to breastfeed at 3am? Not me. It's bad enough my dog wakes me up to go outside.
The article does express surprise that only 22% of American babies are still being breastfed at 12 months. Frankly, I'm surprised a quarter of American babies are still getting breastfed when they're a year old! There are a ton of reasons why breastfeeding is better the longer you do it, but I've also known quite a few babies who didn't want mommy's milk after a few months. I guess it's one of those things that you decide as you go.
Another idea supported in the article is that babies do best in households that aren't quite so structured. AGREED. Why does a baby need to be "on a schedule"? They'll get on one when they learn there's a world outside their crib. The oft-cited idea that always picking up a constantly-crying baby "spoils" them or teaches them improper habits is negated in this article as well, which I like. Secretly, I can't help but wonder if this American idea was started by busy career moms who didn't have time to pick up their screaming baby. But I digress. Anyway, the article is a good one, and cites a lot of valid studies.
As a seasoned mom, I have to say, we tried the co-sleeping and it was not as great as it says. First of all, I didn't get any sleep and Blake didn't get any sleep. My movements/breath/etc woke him up and his stirring kept me from getting into a deep sleep. As a new mom, getting GOOD quality sleep is the best thing you can do and having an infant in the bed is the best way to interrupt it. Our solution was to use a moses basket next to our bed. That way he was safe, close, and didn't get disturbed as much by our movements. There was a point where even being in our room made him wake up all the time and as soon as we put him in his own room he slept, well, like a baby lol
ReplyDeleteI could also talk about my views on crying, but since this is your blog, I think I'll leave that discussion for another time