The longer I am a mom, the more I am beginning to think that I am more of an Attachment Parenting parent than I thought I was or ever would be.  I always associated attachment parenting with people who co-slept with their babies for years and years or parents who gave in to their child's every whim.  I definitely didn't want to be seen as someone who practiced attachment parenting.

But, the more I think about the last almost-16 months (crazy how time flies), the more I see that my instinct was to be more of an attachment parent.  Here are the 7 B's of attachment parenting, according to Dr. Sears (yes, I actually did research for this blog post...like first time ever!)

1. Birth Bonding--spending lots of time together in the first few hours and days of baby's life

2. Breastfeeding--nursing whenever baby is hungry, needs soothing/comfort, or wants to be close to mom

3. Babywearing--either in a sling or in your arms

4. Bedding Close to Baby--either sleeping in the same bed or baby in the same room

5. Belief in the Language Value of Your Baby's Cry--responding sensitively to your baby's cries

6. Beware of Baby Trainers--discerning the best methods to interact with your baby

7. Balance--taking care of yourself and your marriage in addition to your baby

Obviously I don't do all these things (hello Balance?  It's me, Laura.  I need a little more of you, please.  Thanks.) and I haven't always responded in a sensitive manner when Henry has woken up for the upteenth time in the middle of the night.  And that whole discerning thing?  Yeah, I probably should do a better job of that, too.

But I do agree with a lot of these things.  Spending lots of time together at birth and immediately after was great.  We had a birth plan in which no unnecessary medical interventions took place after Henry was born.  No Vitamin K shot.  No blood drawing.  No silver nitrate eye drops.  No blood sugar testing.  No nothing.  Henry and I spent the majority of his first day of life staring at each other (when he was awake, anyway.) 

Breastfeeding is probably the single best thing I have done for Henry, and continue to do.  Not only does it still nourish him, it soothes him and calms him down when he's tired, frustrated, or hurt.  Additionally, it's also a great stress relaxer for me.  When you nurse, your body produces hormones that are designed to calm you down.  On really stressful days, I can tell a difference after Henry has nursed.  Everything may still be chaotic, but I'm a little less frazzled.

Those are just two examples.  Looking at the 7 B's of Attachment Parenting (wouldn't it have made more sense to do the 7 A's of Attachment Parenting?) it's pretty clear that if you parent this way, you're not going to spend tons of time away from your child.  I'm not saying you'll be with them 24/7 (though at first you might be, but that would be regardless of parenting style), but inherent in these seven principles is the assumption that you will be there.  Ha, that could be #8--Be there.  See, since it starts with B?  :o)

Maybe I am more attachment parent than I thought.  And I guess that's okay with me.  Henry is a confident, independent, happy little boy who loves his mommy but who also loves to explore.  And maybe I don't go on dates with my husband that consist of us dressing up and going out to eat anymore, but we will again one day.  We still find time for just the two of us, and I'm not a fancy date kind of person anyway.  I mean, before Henry was born, our date nights consisted of going somewhere cheap, like Taco Bell or Bojangle's.  Really, I don't think I'm missing out terribly on anything in the food department by cooking more!  lol

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I tend to parent by instinct, and my instincts lean toward attachment parenting.  I think that's because I'm still breastfeeding.  Physically, being away from Henry for long periods of time doesn't work so well because he needs to nurse.  But I don't mind that.  I feel it's important to still be nursing him.  I'm willing to put aside some social engagements for now.  He won't nurse forever, so it's a price I'm willing to pay.  It doesn't mean that anyone else's way is wrong.  That's not what I want to convey here.  I guess that as I am growing as a parent, I'm actually starting to think about what I've done the last 16 months, and it's time to put it into words.  We just all parent differently, and this is the kind of parent I am.

It's almost 5:30, and Henry has been asleep since 3.  When he wakes up, we're going out to eat as a family for supper.  That hardly ever happens.  I do hope Henry will have a reasonable bedtime though!  I'll have to blog about our adventures tonight at a later date!  :o)