So I've been thinking lately about my "crunchy-ness" and WHY I'm crunchy in the areas that I am. There are really good reasons behind the way I do things. Really! There is! But I think there's also an underlying secret reason too. Let me explain....
Extended Breastfeeding
I breastfed Craz-E until he was 22months old and plan on going as long as PrincesS wants to.
Good Reason - American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that babies be exclusively breastfed for about the first 6 months of life and should continue to breastfeed for a year and for as long as is mutually desired by the mother and baby.
Secret Reason - I'm LAZY! Who wants to deal with sterilizing, mixing formula, toting around bottles and stressing over how much the baby is eating, waking up in the middle of the night to prep a bottle for midnight feeding!? With breastfeeding, its pre-mixed, no bottles necessary. We can run out the door and not worry if I've got a bottle packed in case we're out longer then expected.
Co-Sleeping
Craz-E has never spent more then 20 minutes in a crib in his life. PrincesS only sleeps in the Pack-N-Play for naps and at night until I go to bed as a safety measure after I caught Craz-E "playing" and he had piled all the bed pillows on her. But at night, they are both cuddled up with Mum and Dad in the Family Bed.
Good Reason - Dr Sears reports several findings on Co-Sleeping research that basically boils down to babies are happier and healthier when they are in a sleep-sharing environment, especially for the first year.
Secret Reason - I'm LAZY! Craz-E was an accidental co-sleeper. I couldn't get up fast enough when he was born to get to him in the bassinet due to a damaged tailbone during child-birth. So I just brought him into bed with us to make night-parenting easier. Of course, he was a fussy, high-needs baby and I ended up in the glider most nights anyhow. But once he got past the colic, co-sleeping was still easier then hearing him cry. But really, with breastfeeding and co-sleeping, I didn't actually have to wake up in the middle of the night. I got more sleep cause I wasn't having to physically get out of bed.
Baby-Led Weaning/Feeding
Craz-E started with a soft banana when he was about 5 months. I just put it on his tray and let him chase it around. He cornered it and kinda chewed on it for a few minutes. He very much enjoyed it! But I never did the spoon-feeding cereal or jars of pureed food.
Good Reason - It's natural and allows babies to grow into confident, skilled and happy eaters.
Secret Reason - I'm LAZY! I detested the idea of sitting in front of a highchair and shoveling purees into my baby's face just to scrape it off his chin and stick it back in his mouth. It made me frustrated just thinking about it. You see it on TV - mom or dad is spoon-feeding baby, baby flings pureed peas and it splats mom or dad in the face. That was just NOT my idea of "cute dinner-time activities. With BLW, I was free to eat my dinner in peace while Craz-E happily played with whatever I gave him from my plate. I didn't worry about what he was ingesting cause he was still breastfeeding and getting all the nutrients he needed from that. BLW was just EASIER!
Of course, there are a few areas of my "crunch" that seem to be contra-indicative of my Laziness.
Cloth Diapering involves extra laundry and just throwing away a disposable would be way easier. But for all the other benefits, a few extra loads of laundry are worth it to me.
Baby-Wearing is a work-out, carrying around an ever-increasing weight on my chest or back. I could use a stroller exclusively and it would be a lot less work. But having PrincesS safely strapped to my chest just kinda makes sense. I still use the stroller but mostly so if I have to chase after Craz-E I don't have worry about dropping PrincesS.
So there you go. My family sees me as "weird" for some of my parenting choices. But when it comes down to it, it's just cause I'm LAZY. ;-)
LOL! I identify with a lot of this!! And isn't it interesting that the "easy" way is also (according to research) the BEST way?? I think God did that on purpose, so that babies would be more likely to get the kind of nourishment and love from their mothers that they need.
ReplyDeleteNow I am NOT saying that a mother who puts her baby in a crib is "doing it wrong". I believe there are exceptions to EVERY rule and I personally know mothers who would have gotten NO sleep if their baby had been in bed with them. A mother's health and state of mind is pivotal when it comes to taking care of a baby. This is why I don't judge mothers who parent differently than I do. In my experience over the last few years, MOST of the mothers I come into contact with are truly trying to do their best - they're are struggling just as I am with the balance of taking care of a baby and taking care of oneself. What works for me is not going to work for everyone else and vice versa.
I discovered on accident that having this kind of attitude actually makes it a lot of FUN to get to know other mothers and their parenting styles because I inevitably LEARN something from them! Before I had this "why you shouldn't judge" epiphany, I had a lot of anxiety about being around other mothers because I was SO worried about them judging me if I did something differently than them (or I was worried about making them feel bad because I was doing something they WISHED they could do but they weren't able to...).
So long story short, (see, we are both ramblers! LOL) you do what you've gotta do. Hold your head up high because you're a mama who loves her baby, NOT because you're a mama who does XYZ. It's the love that matters. That is all. <3