What Attachment Parenting Is Not (And What It Is)
Breastfeed Your Baby. This not only gives her the best nutrition and protection against illnesses, allergies, and diseases, but it helps you feel more relaxed around her. The mothering hormones produced when you breastfeed, prolactin and oxytocin, help you feel calm and relaxed so you can better read her cues and respond to her. Working away from your baby will not prevent you from breastfeeding her when you are together. Breastfeeding is particularly helpful for working mothers because it helps them release tension from a busy day and reconnect with their baby. Make the most of breastfeeding by teaching your baby to latch on correctly and by nursing frequently according to her cues. Allow her to wean naturally. The longer you breastfeed, the greater the health benefits to you and her.
Carry Your Baby. "Wear" him in a baby sling or other carrier that keeps him close to you for most of the day. This allows your baby to spend more time in a state of quiet alertness, the state in which he learns the most about his environment. Carried babies cry less and grow better. Keeping him close also allows you to be more sensitive to his signals.
Respond to Your Baby's Cries. Respond sensitively to her cries, so she learns to trust you to meet her needs, and so she learns to trust her ability to communicate. This helps her learn to talk.
Sleep Close to Your Baby. You and he will both likely sleep better when you sleep together. When he wakes during the night next to you, he is more likely to drift back to sleep than if he wakes alone. Sharing sleep allows parents who are away from their babies during the day to reconnect. Many experts believe that Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), also called crib death, is a disorder of breathing control during sleep, during which your baby is unable to wake himself. Your presence helps him breathe better, and keeps him from sleeping too deeply, the time when episodes of irregular breathing and apnea are more likely to happen.
Care for Yourself. Meet your own needs so you can adequately meet your child's needs. She needs healthy parents. Accept help and support from family and friends, set priorities, put people before things, and don't try to do too much.
Trust Your Instincts. Never do anything that doesn't feel right. Beware of detachment advice from well-meaning friends, family, and "experts."
Latest Articles