AP=no highchair or sippy??

[barefootmama0709]

I was watching a show on Discovery Health and it featured attachment parenting. The mother who practiced AP said that because she was AP, her kids didn't sit in a high chair or use a sippy. Does anyone else see this as some tenet of AP or is she misinterpreting? I am AP and my 2-year-old uses a sippy because he doesn't "get" a regular cup yet. Opinions, please!!

[DevaMajka]

I'm AP, and I used a high chair with ds1, and use a booster seat for ds2 (same thing, as far as this goes- just saves room). Ds2 LOVES his booster chair!
Ds1 used sippies, and I'm sure ds2 will, unless he just really prefers not to.

The only time I can imagine that high chairs or sippies would be non-AP would be if the kid didn't like them, and you (general you) insisted they use them. Or if you kept your dc in a highchair after they clearly indicated they wanted out. But that's a very different issue from saying they are non-AP altogether.

[To-Fu]

Odd! I hadn't heard that before. We used a booster seat and (briefly) a sippy for my toddler. The sippy was sort of a transitional thing between boob and actual cups. He uses regular cups now that he's a little more coordinated.

[lotusdebi]

My opinion is that AP isn't about the tools you do or don't use, but about forming an attachment to your child and meeting your individual child's needs the best that you can. Each child is unique. The tools that are so often cited as being AP don't always work for every child. If that person was stating that highchairs or sippy cups would create barriers to her building an attachment with her children or meeting their needs, then I can see how not using them would be AP. I don't think that those tools would create problems for most parents.
From my personal experience, the things in sippy cups that keep them from dripping out liquid caused problems with my older son's latch. He had to suck so hard on the sippy cup that he started sucking hard while nursing (OUCH!). Once I removed those things, the sippys were no longer an issue. And highchairs definitely helped me out a lot! I would've collapsed from exhaustion without highchairs! How could I meet my children's needs then?

[nextcommercial]

I think that as with anything, some people take things to the extreme. Sometimes those same "AP parents" who go on television give AP a bad name.

I used a high chair. But, I don't like sippy cups. I just have a personal problem with sippy cups. I DO think there is a time and a place for sippies. (and an age to stop using them) My own feelings on those have absolutely nothing to do with AP though.

I watched a Youtube of two or three AP families, and I thought it looked bizzare and extreme. ANYBODY who might have wanted to look into AP would run away from it because these parents seemed so weird. It was as if the tv station found the strangest people they could just to shock the mainstream into saying "SEEE??? That is exactly what I never want to be".

[Carhootel]

I agree with DevaMajka but it frustrates me when I see stuff like this. It's no wonder there are so many misconceptions about AP when people say stuff like that! FTR, my ds uses both a high chair and a sippy cup and I don't have problems with either from an AP standpoint or my personal philosophy

[GoestoShow]

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Edited by GoestoShow - 1/11/11 at 10:44am

[*Aimee*]

I've been doing it wrong! Oh no!

[philomom]

Nope, not true at all. There are times when the safest place for baby is the high chair. And sippy cups are fine.. I don't know anyone in real life who would not give their kids a cup.

[orangefoot]

Interpret AP however you like. For me it is more about intent than actual stuff you buy or things you actually do.

I realise this is a very open statement but this in an AP board and I'm sure you know what I mean.

[barefootmama0709]

So many answers already! Wonderful! I also worry when AP becomes more about the "tools" then the kid. I am AP but my youngest is not breastfed and doesn't co-sleep-I couldn't keep up my milk supply and he was NOT interested in co-sleeping. I found this frustrating because they're treating it like in order to be a "good" AP'er you have to wear baby ALL the time (unless they're asleep) and not use anything artificial to feed them. I feel like it alienates people who might want to explore AP but feel intimidated by all the criteria they have to meet.

[Youngfrankenstein]

Originally Posted by nextcommercial

I But, I don't like sippy cups. I just have a personal problem with sippy cups. I DO think there is a time and a place for sippies. (and an age to stop using them) My own feelings on those have absolutely nothing to do with AP though.

I agree, we use Sippy cups in their place but I don't let my kids walk all over the house with them or have drinks "all the time". I think it's become where kids expect food and drinks to be available all the time. (I'm not talking about babies).

I do see some parents using sippys for years....

[mamadelbosque]

in that case i/we are definetly NOT ap!! DS1 used a sassy seat and is currently using a booster seat, ds2 has just started sitting in the sassy seat at the talbe w/ us the past week or two. DS1 still uses sippies about half the time - I ask him 'do you want a lid?' and he'll say yes or no. I think their invaluable for in the car (though we've switched to straw cups over the past year or so as DS1 seems to prefer them), and I honestly can't imagine why you'd be against high chairs of some sort. Wheres your kid eating otherwise? On your lap 100% of the time?!?!

[velochic]

Originally Posted by Youngfrankenstein

I do see some parents using sippys for years....

That would be us. Dd has to have her drinks other than water in a Sigg with top if she wants to take them anywhere other than the kitchen. It's a sippy cup, essentially. She's 8. And I do the same for myself. I personally don't see anything wrong with cups that are spill-proof and actually kind of see them as practical for many situations.

I agree with the PPs who say that ridiculous statements like in the OP give AP a bad name. Not necessarily a bad name, but spreads misconceptions. It's sad.

[KempsMama]

Originally Posted by barefootmama0709

I was watching a show on Discovery Health and it featured attachment parenting. The mother who practiced AP said that because she was AP, her kids didn't sit in a high chair or use a sippy. Does anyone else see this as some tenet of AP or is she misinterpreting? I am AP and my 2-year-old uses a sippy because he doesn't "get" a regular cup yet. Opinions, please!!

This is one reason why I don't put a name to my parenting method. We do what works for us, as a family unit. If I go around saying I'm an X type parent, there's bound to be someone who looks at us and says, but THAT's not X!!! Kids don't fit into molds, why should parenting methods?

[Pepper44]

It's kind of silly to think you aren't meeting your child's needs (practicing AP) if you do or don't do something, or use this or don't use that.

I mean the entire point of attachment parenting is to respond to your child's needs and every child/family situation comes with so many variables.

We never used a high chair just because it seemed like a waste of space in our teeny kitchen. DD has a booster seat that has a detachable tray, I guess that's pretty much the same thing as a high chair.

We used sippy cups and straw cups. My DD is 3.5 and she still has a few random sippy cups that she loves. She calls them her baby cups. Doesn't matter to us, it's not like a pacifier or something that could be harmful dentally speaking. She knows how to drink from a regular cup without a lid or straw just like an adult too.

We have cats, and I've found that sippy cups are important--DD likes to keep a drink of water by the bed now that my milk has dried up during pregnancy. If it isn't spill proof sure enough a cat will spill it in the middle of the night, or a cat will try to drink out of it, or get fur in it--yuck! (I keep a stainless steel bottle on the night stand for myself...)

[dogretro]

Originally Posted by Pepper44

We have cats, and I've found that sippy cups are important--DD likes to keep a drink of water by the bed now that my milk has dried up during pregnancy. If it isn't spill proof sure enough a cat will spill it in the middle of the night, or a cat will try to drink out of it, or get fur in it--yuck! (I keep a stainless steel bottle on the night stand for myself...)

LOL, dh and I use sippy cups at night for the same reason! Plus, you don't accidentally dribble any out the side of your mouth and onto the bed during the night

[Shellie]

I've never read/heard that highchairs are anti-AP. But I've also not agreed that baby buckets and strollers are anti-AP. I've used all three and they haven't kept me from parenting the way I do, which is responding to my child's needs in a respectful manner, following my instincts, following their instincts and allowing them to lead when it's safe and reasonable for them to do so.

I've found that my babies sometimes needed some downtime from me. They loved to be held a LOT, but also enjoyed a break from me for short periods throughout the day. 10-15 minutes in the high chair practicing picking up and eating O's or chewing on a frozen banana in a mesh baggie while I'm a few feet away making dinner or washing dishes....how is that anti-AP?

Sure if you stick a kid in a high chair and shove them in front of the TV and ignore them for hours, then that would not be AP at all. I've known people who do that or who use reclining high chairs to hold a baby with a propped bottle for hours on end. Perhaps that is misuse of a highchair. It doesn't mean that anyone who uses a highchair isn't practicing AP.

[Alyantavid]

We used both, but my kids did switch to a booster seat pretty early instead of sticking with the highchair.

[gcgirl]

Originally Posted by GoestoShow

What people call AP is astounding.

AP is essentially this:

Respond to child's needs in a timely and appropriate manner.
.

Well and succinctly put! The various permutations of putting this ideology into practice will vary with the child and the circumstances.