New Member from Portland, OR

[gottaknit]

Hi. I just recently "discovered" these boards, and am so glad I did! It's great to see so many like-minded people sharing information in one place! Previously I was a member on the due date club on babycenter.com and let's just say it was a different sort of environment...

I live in Portland, OR and am expecting our first baby October 24, 2004.

A question: What exactly is Attachment Parenting? Is it a philosophy of physical attachment (ie you always carry the baby and don't use a stroller), or is it about psychological attachment (child raised by a SAHM/D and not daycare)? OR is it some combination of both, or something else altogether?
Thanks! I've got a lot to learn!

-gottaknit aka Nancy

[Court]

Hey there, welcome! I'm in Portland, too! Here's a link to a good description of attachment parenting link . There aren't hard and fast rules to AP, though some things go hand in hand usually like breastfeeding as long as the babe needs it, co-sleeping, not letting a baby "cry it out", slinging, and gentle discipline. Though there's plenty of people who are attached parents who use strollers or formula or whatever. I've found that these boards contain a wide spectrum of mothers. I'd say AP is a combo of both things you mentioned. There's even mom's here who have to use daycare, so there really aren't any specific "rules." Anyways, that link gives a better explanation than I could. Good luck figuring it all out!

[Cranberry]

Welcome to the Mothering boards! oops, didn't realize this was the due date club -- i'm not a member of the club -- but welcome to Mothering!

[Piglet68]

Hi nancy - welcome to MDC!

Defining attachment parenting is hard. It's a philosophy of parenting that encompasses various parenting techniques, but most people don't do all of them, and it really isn't about how many of those things you can tick off on a list. It's more about your overall attitude to babies and children. And I'll also add, a lot of it is based on really good science, too. Mostly looking at the environments under which babies have evolved for millions of years, and considering that in defining the needs and the nature of babies. Two great books are "The Baby Book" by Dr. William and Martha Sears, and "Attachment Parenting" by Katie Alison Granju.