Amen, Brit B!!!! LOVED her comments!! And so true, so true!!!

I have two daughters, both breastfed until self weaned (one after about 4 months and the other at around 13 months). I never let them "cry it out" I held them when they wanted to be held. They slept with me and my husband until late in the toddler years. I carried them when they wanted me to for as long as I could physically handle it and loved every minute of it. That's part of being a mother to me and yes it was tiring. I was exhausted  a lot of the time, that's part of the job. They are now 17 and 13 years old and have grown into caring, compassionate people. They are honor students and my oldest is off to college. I couldn't be prouder and I'm so glad I never left them in a room crying on their own.

This book looks intriguing. We are  hoping to start a family soon. I just ordered a copy of the book. Can't wait to dive into it!

As my children developed (baby-toddler) I began reading books made by the Love and Logic Father - Son team, Jim and Charles Fay.  These books are fabulous and based on the premise that we actually WANT our children to make mistakes...they are opportunities for us to teach them while they are young and the consequences are not serious.  I have attended their seminars before too.  My mom who is a Principal introduced me to this school of thought and it is fantastic.  http://www.loveandlogic.com/ 

Gretchen

www.veggiegrettie.com

Well..I thought it was pretty easy to implement this lifestyle with my kids but everyone needs to remember you dont have to be perfect!! voice your needs when you need help.

Interesting comments, my daughter is 3 and I have attachment parented her the whole time and have not found it difficult at all. She's still breastfeeding (all the time it seems!), co-sleeps and still insists on being carried a lot. I couldn't see any other way to bring her up as all the other ways, for me, go against my natural instincts. Sure I can't go back to work, and I don't go out at night for meals etc, but where I do get my "entertainment" is by meeting other like minded mothers who have since become best friends, and that's my outlet in terms of adult company. I also have a very supportive husband, although he would he happy to support me however I had chosen to parent my daughter.

What supported me THE MOST to really settle into the attachment style was NAOMI ALDORT - this woman is a genius, and where The Continuum Concept isn't written about babies in our particular society (ie. saying they shouldn't cry if you do all the attachment stuff, well, hello, they do, mine cried all the time!!), Naomi has a much more realistic take on the whole thing, and talks about babies crying A LOT and how to handle it.

Becoming a new mum is the biggest shock in the world, and doing it the attachment way requires such a devotion to this way that you do have to give up a lot of your own needs. And this is how I've chosen to do it and I wouldn't do it any other way, but I also understand if it's too much for people so I would never judge another way. To each their own, after all we all love our children like no love before.

For anyone interested, Naomi Aldort has CDs you can buy which are amazing & has written a book called "Raising Our Children Raising Ourselves". Her website is naomialdort.com  SHE became my support during that difficult first year of settling into parenting. I would play her CDs every day.

My daughter slept in her own bed from day one and we could not possibly be closer.  I could not agree more with the comment from the mom who said the mom is happier and a better mom when she can get some decent sleep and put the baby down to play by himself/herself.  I am a stay at home mom and if I didn't have a few minutes to myself each day I would go crazy.  For me, this book is great in theory, but difficult in everyday practical application.  

My daughter is a healthy independent child.  The other day at a play area another little girl was being a bully and pushing her down.  She hopped up each time and kept playing.  She never cried or ran to me for comfort.  Two little boys came in and were bullied by the little girl's brother.  They instantly ran to their mothers and were crying.  (And I will say I carry my children as often as they need it and always hold them whenever they want it.)  I know each child is different but I know I am raising my daughter right.  She comes to me for comforting when she hurts herself, but I am glad she is independent.

And, please do not put your marriage in jeopardy!  If both are on board, great.  But if not, you have to respect your partner's opinion.  I had trouble breastfeeding both my children.  I absolutely hated that it did not come easy for me (and this after three months with my daughter).  I know I gave up too quickly with my son, my second child, but I just couldn't go through the multiple bouts of mastitis and the cracked, bleeding nipples.  I know I had a proper latch.  It was checked over and over again by nurses and lactation consultants.  And pumping was great with my daughter and didn't work at all with my son.

I would tell each mom out there to do what feels right.  Books are wonderful and can give you some great advice, but go with your instincts and what works for your family!

I wanted to chime in for any new or expectant moms out there who I know read every bit of information they can find. :-) I really wanted to do this when I had my daughter four years ago, and I wanted to breastfeed her for as long as possible, and I bought every baby carrier out there and had all these plans for wearing her constantly, co-sleeping, bfeeding on demand etc.  Well, in my experience the reality is that this is very very hard to do unless you have some help other than your husband/partner.  Parents never in history tried to do all of this on their own the way that many parents do now.  In my case, we live in the nw and my family was on the ec and my husband's are in Europe and we thought we would just handle it ourselves the way we handle everything else. 

I had terrible problems bfeeding even thought I tried everything under the sun, saw a lactation consultant weekly for 9 wks, pumped in between feedings, slept with my baby & fed her constantly. Took reglan, herbs, drank tea, ate hops. She cried constantly & never slept - for four months.  Turns out she was always hungry b/c I had undiagnosed thyroid disease - bfeeding is all about metabolism & I don't think I was producing enough or rich enough milk for her.  I became so sleep deprived that I couldn't think straight and was begging my husband to quit his job and stay home with me just so I could have some help. We finally hired a post-partum doula to help us and we saw a therapist who suggested some techniques so that he could take over more and I could sleep. This meant that we had to give her formula and while I was not happy about it, you do what you have to.

I guess my point is, yes, try it all, but be prepared for things to not go as planned and by all means arrange for help and don't try to do it alone.

I now direct programs for a non-profit parent support agency and hear similar stories fr new parents all the time.