The poll about "how many AP things do you do" got me thinking...
What do you "have" to do to be considered AP? I read a few of Sears's books while I was pg, and I think I am raising my son according to his philosophy, or at least what I took to be his philosophy - i.e. responding to your child's cues, lots of physical contact, respect for your child's personhood, etc. - but above all, the biggest thing I got from his books was to listen to your instincts as a mother and act according to them, not according to a "schedule" or a bunch of rules someone else thinks you should follow. Am I right so far?
OK, so now I am learning a lot more about it on this website, and I find out that there are a lot of specific things that AP mamas do or do not do and I am wondering, what do you consider essential to being part of the AP movement? For instance, in my case: I only breastfed DS for 3 months, and it was expressed bm in a bottle. I saw 3 different lactation consultants and none of them were able to help me with our latching difficulties. So after 3 months of pumping, I switched to formula. Of course, I never prop and I demand feed. We coslept for the first 6 weeks - now, sometimes he sleeps in his crib, sometimes with us. He sleeps fine either way. I have never left him to cry in any situation - he cries, I respond IMMEDIATELY. I don't "wear" him around the house, but I do carry him a lot and I am always with him, playing on the floor or holding him on my lap, etc. I only use the sling when we go out - I don't have a stroller. I have a swing, but I only use it for his morning nap. We have some plastic toys but they aren't bad ones, LOL! One is a little piano and the rest are teethers. I don't think plastic toys are inherently bad, but maybe I'm wrong about that - perhaps someone can enlighten me. Plus I use disposable diapers (but I'm considering switching to cloth.) I plan on making my own baby food when he starts on solids, which he hasn't yet. I don't know if I'm AP or not! LOL I just do whatever works for us, as I know you all do. So what do you all think? (Not necessarily about my particular situation but about the subject in general.)
edited to add: I have residual guilt about not bfing anymore, so that's probably why I feel compelled to say this. HOWEVER, I did want to add that switching to formula was a good thing in my case, maybe not nutritionally but relationship-wise. I was always so stressed about the pumping and whether or not I would have enough milk for his next feeding and the time I spent on the pump was time I could've spent with DS. Sometimes I would be pumping and he would cry, and I would have to ignore him for a few minutes while I finished or stop pumping and risk damaging my supply or not having a bottle ready for the next time he was hungry. So for us it was better to go to formula, as much as it pains me to say that. TMI?? Sorry!
What do you "have" to do to be considered AP? I read a few of Sears's books while I was pg, and I think I am raising my son according to his philosophy, or at least what I took to be his philosophy - i.e. responding to your child's cues, lots of physical contact, respect for your child's personhood, etc. - but above all, the biggest thing I got from his books was to listen to your instincts as a mother and act according to them, not according to a "schedule" or a bunch of rules someone else thinks you should follow. Am I right so far?
OK, so now I am learning a lot more about it on this website, and I find out that there are a lot of specific things that AP mamas do or do not do and I am wondering, what do you consider essential to being part of the AP movement? For instance, in my case: I only breastfed DS for 3 months, and it was expressed bm in a bottle. I saw 3 different lactation consultants and none of them were able to help me with our latching difficulties. So after 3 months of pumping, I switched to formula. Of course, I never prop and I demand feed. We coslept for the first 6 weeks - now, sometimes he sleeps in his crib, sometimes with us. He sleeps fine either way. I have never left him to cry in any situation - he cries, I respond IMMEDIATELY. I don't "wear" him around the house, but I do carry him a lot and I am always with him, playing on the floor or holding him on my lap, etc. I only use the sling when we go out - I don't have a stroller. I have a swing, but I only use it for his morning nap. We have some plastic toys but they aren't bad ones, LOL! One is a little piano and the rest are teethers. I don't think plastic toys are inherently bad, but maybe I'm wrong about that - perhaps someone can enlighten me. Plus I use disposable diapers (but I'm considering switching to cloth.) I plan on making my own baby food when he starts on solids, which he hasn't yet. I don't know if I'm AP or not! LOL I just do whatever works for us, as I know you all do. So what do you all think? (Not necessarily about my particular situation but about the subject in general.)
edited to add: I have residual guilt about not bfing anymore, so that's probably why I feel compelled to say this. HOWEVER, I did want to add that switching to formula was a good thing in my case, maybe not nutritionally but relationship-wise. I was always so stressed about the pumping and whether or not I would have enough milk for his next feeding and the time I spent on the pump was time I could've spent with DS. Sometimes I would be pumping and he would cry, and I would have to ignore him for a few minutes while I finished or stop pumping and risk damaging my supply or not having a bottle ready for the next time he was hungry. So for us it was better to go to formula, as much as it pains me to say that. TMI?? Sorry!
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