Part 3: What Are the Five Tools of Attachment Parenting

by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger

10 Jul 2009 04:34 AM

Attachment parenting is a very personal decision, but a parenting method that I highly recommend. Parents who practice attachment parenting sometimes get criticized for putting the baby first, which confuses me, since I see this as a normal part of parenting a young infant.

I have been discussing the five tools of attachment parenting, as laid out in The Baby Book , by Dr. and Mrs William Sears. So far, we have discussed for previous tools of attachment parenting. Now, let's discuss the final tool, and the one that may be the most controversial.

5 "Share Sleep with Your Baby"

Sharing sleep with your baby can mean either bed sharing or room sharing. When it is time for a baby to sleep at night, you have three choices. You can put the baby to sleep in his own bed in his own room, you can put the baby to sleep in his own bed in your room, or you can out the baby to sleep in your bed with you.

Sharing sleep can be a wonderful way to forge that bond with your baby, make breastfeeding easier and to monitor your baby at night (who hasn't woken up in a panic and checked to make sure that their baby was breathing?).

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that a baby shares the same room as the parents at night, although because of safety concerns, they don't recommend the same bed.

Here is what we did.

When our babies were very young and we were concerned about accidental suffocation, our babies slept in a bassinet right next to our bed. My husband would often sleep with his hand dangling into the crib (don't ask me how he could sleep like that, but having his hand there instantly soothed any fussiness from a baby). Once the baby was past the danger zone, we welcomed him or her into the bed.

And despite what people tell you, you will be able to get the baby out of the bed when he or she is older. My boys started sleeping in their own bed around the age of two. For my daughter, she stayed until about two-and-a-half.

What do you think of attachment parenting?

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Related Articles:

What Are the Five Tools of Attachment Parenting

Part 2: What Are the Five Tools of Attachment Parenting

The Importance of Touch

Learn more about Mary Ann Romans

Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat.

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