newborns/infants

[Alcyone]

Hello. This is my first post over here! :

I am pregnant with our first, and have had awful morning sickness, resulting in lots of time in bed and lots of reading while I can't get up. Currently I am reading Montessori from the Start, which I randomly picked up at a used book store about a year ago. I had heard of Montessori but didn't really know anything about it all.

Well, I am still getting through it but I find this so fascinating! It really seems to make sense to me, although I hadn't considered any of this before. Just when I was getting excited about co-sleeping, now I am reading about floorbeds. I'm not really sure what to think!

Anyway, I am just wondering if any of you have actually done this "from the start" and what your experiences are.

[MattBronsil]

I have not read it. The only thing I can say is Lillard is a fantastic author and very knowledgeable. I have recommended her 3-6 books to people and assume her infant/toddler books can only be just as well done.

Matt

[mamamelia]

i believe in montessori but personally, we didn't do a floor bed and i don't see it as being absolutely crucial compared to everything else that you could do to provide a good prepared environment.
we did not do the typical montessori prepared environment from the start, rather we took more of a continuum concept approach to child rearing (another great book that you might want to read before giving birth). i'd say at least half of CC ties in with montessori (and un-schooling for that matter).
i am endlessly recieving comments on how my daughter is so mature and assure of oneself for a 3yo. she is so lovely and innocent to the point that she can't see much negative in anyone even when bad things happen (and thus prone to bullying). but apart from that, i'd say the result from us implementing the CC approach in the early years really "did the trick" for every other aspect of her personality and talents. she will be starting the 3-6 cycle at montessori this coming monday and i feel that montessori is actually the academic "modern, real world" extension and complimentary to the continuum concept method in the early 0-3 years.

regarding sleep - i believe that a child can and will fall asleep on thier own accord in any bed *only if they want to*. some children want to sleep with thier parents, some prefer to sleep alone right from the start (i've known kids like this). don't make plans from now, just follow your child's cues - your child will tell you what he or she needs.

for the record, both my dd's much preferred co-sleeping and will still sandwich me in between thier bodies every night. and hey, i love it too.

[teagansmama]

I loved the book How to Raise an Amazing Child the Montessori Way. Had great infant/toddler ideas.

We didn't do a floor bed but did co-sleep as well. I had low lying mirrors so she could check herself out, let her feed herself (never messed with purred foods, went straight to table foods), the list goes on!

I suggest reading a few books and they will give you excellent ideas!

[BCFD]

Maybe I don't get the whole floorbed thing, but I know that my 13 mo. old would never stay on that. The minute we would put her down on it, she'd be crawling all over the house (and probably fall asleep on the floor somewhere). She is an extremely light sleeper and we tried co-sleeping with her, but we kept waking her up. So, for now she sleeps in a crib (with the occasional night in our bed). I'm hoping that by the time she is 18 months old we can move her into our bed. I also worry about her falling out of our bed, so I really feel that she is safer in her crib right now. Currently, DP and I sleep with our 3 and 2 year old in bed with us. I love co-sleeping with my children and don't plan on stopping until they decide they want their own bed. I really want our 13 mo. old to join us soon because the entire family is in the room except for her.

[Lillianna]

I would recommend Silvano Montonaro's book: "Understanding the Human Being: The Importance of the First Three Years of Life". Dr Montanaro, collaborated with Dr. Montessori to form the Assistants to Infancy training for AMI. I prefer this book to the Lillards. While a found much of Lillards book on target and well written, I took exception to the advice against cosleeping (especially for infants) and to shutting the door on a crying toddler.

We have done Montessori from the Start. As I'm sure you've realized, this takes on a different form for each family but the fundamentals of respect for the child's individuality and encouraging independence remain the same. We did a modified co-sleeping arrangement. In the beginning, while an infant, my dd would lie next to my bed in the bassinet. When she woke, I would take her in bed with me to nurse and after she feel back asleep I would put her back in the bassinet. When she was about 3 or 4 months, we started putting her to sleep in her own bed and taking her into ours about halfway through the night when she woke. We felt that it was important for her to learn how to fall asleep on her own. This worked great for us and she often still comes into our bed in the wee morning hours (she is 5).
We did a child-sized table instead of high chair and involve her in the daily activities of home life. She was diaper free at 1 1/2.

Also, check this out: http://www.montessori.edu/0-3prenataltext.html

[Alcyone]

Thank you for the other recommendations. I found them all at a UK site so I should be able to get them. I've been lurking in the CC thread for a while so I guess it's about time I get that book too.

I am glad to hear others having success with co-sleeping. I honestly don't know if a floorbed would be possible in our current, small, one-bedroom condo and we are not in a position to move yet. I think we can get creative and make a lot of this other stuff work, though.

The more I read of this book, the more exciting I find it. I remember a lot of my early childhood, more than it seems most people do, and I really feel like this is what I wanted but didn't have… if that makes sense.

[chick]

I am Montessori trained and I knew a floorbed wasn't going to work for us. I co-slept for a while with dd1 but it didn't work for us and so we didn't want to repeat it with dd2. She was in a Moses basket from day 1 and went into her cot at 8 weeks in her own room. I don't think we're necessarily "rebelling" from the Montessori way of life but just adapting it to suit our family.

We don't have stair gates, cupboard locks etc. so she has reasonable freedom of movement throughout the house.

Apart from when she's in bed though!

[chekhovgirl]

We are doing "montessori from the start" although I never read that book! When it comes to sleeping you don't have to do one or the other- and no matter what you decide on, baby might have other plans. Our 13 month old DS goes to sleep in his crib and when he wakes up for the first time after we're in bed, he joins us. However, we're going to try moving him into his own room and will be setting up a floor bed in his room, so we'll see how that goes. DS wasn't comfortable with DS being in something other than a crib (or our bed) until he could move around pretty well, and now he's walking, so we're going to try it.

DS is in a Montessori nido infant class part time at the school where I work and our main Montessori like things that we do are:

Cloth diapers or training pants (we also do part time EC and DS gets offered the potty at changes- school and home)

Self feeding- we've always had him feed himself as much as possible. We don't have a weaning table at home- don't really have room for it- but we do use the Stokke Tripp Trapp. DS pushes himself away from the table when he's done and eventually he'll be able to climb up in it by himself. He also drinks out of a regular cup as much as possible.

Freedom of movement- Of course babies have to be strapped into things sometimes (carseats, etc.) but we never had an exersaucer, used a baby swing that was borrowed very minimally and generally tried to let him be able to move how he wanted to. He never wanted to be in a sling, though we do use other carriers and strollers. I also dress him very comfortably. He very rarely wears jeans, which I think are a bit silly for babies.

Environment- I try to keep his toys orderly and to a small amount that get rotated so he's not overwhelmed by them and can actually see them to play with them! We also try to select quality toys and books for him.

I try not to interrupt him when he's "working" on something and in general try to follow his lead provided that he is safe! I don't agree with some of the stuff I've seen on weaning- like giving your 4 month old teaspoons of juice and other weird things. DS is still nursing and I'm about to attempt not pumping anymore at work- which is just one time a day.

Take what you like from the Montessori philosophy and do what works for you and your family. And have fun! Congratulations!