A day in the life of an Attachment parent

Today, I was talking to one of my friends, and she was saying how she was afraid to have another child because she was afraid that she's not a good enough mom. She's a GREAT mom. She wants to see her daughter, and the mother loves her daughter. I think that she's the type of mom who could have 12 well behaved kids. However, it got me to thinking that part of being an attached parent is the desire to be around your children. I don't think that an attachment parent needs to be around her children all day long every day, but I think that attachment parents miss their children when they can't be around each other, and the children miss their parents, too. Another part is the desire to be a better parent and do with your kids. I think that those desires are the very core of attachment parenting.

Introduction to ECing

ECing, also called Elimination Communication is a form of infant potty training. It also travels around the internet with other names such as Tickle Treat, Elimination timing, Infant Potty Training, and some others. The reason that I choose to use Elimination Communication as my wording is because that is what I really think it is. I do not think that I am going to really "train" my four month old to go potty in the potty every time immediately. That is what I think of when I think of potty training. Elimination Communication fits very well with attachment parenting because it is another way to communicate with my children. Elimination communication started for me when I was a mother with my first six month old baby. My friend said, "Check out this website, it's an interesting idea." And I went to www.freeweb.com/freetoec. It showed me that I could "catch" a pee or a poop. It also taught me to really watch my child to see what she needed before she had to resort to crying to get what she needed. Most breastfeeding mothers know their child is hungry before the child has to cry to eat. Babies cannot talk, but they have cues to tell you what they need. Babies cue before they eliminate, too. A baby may grunt or pass gas before he or she poops.

How often have you seen a mother look at her child and say, "She needs to pee." Or "He needs to poop." And then encourage their child to use the diaper so the mother can change the diaper after the baby is "completely finished." However, moms are still sometimes surprised when the baby waits until the rest of the diaper comes off and quickly proceeds to eliminate. Babies associate pottying with diapers, but sometimes we still insist that they can't possibly know. Babies also associate a breastfeeding pillow with breastfeeding. If a baby can associate a diaper with elimination and a breast feeding pillow with "It's time to latch on." Then the baby can also associate the toilet with a sound and a position. This log is going to be a practical place for my learning as I go throughout the process with my son, and I am planning on reminiscing on my experience with elimination communication with my two and a half year old daughter. This blog will also discuss my trials and victories in parenting and some fun antics of my children.

Introduction to attachment parenting blog

This is my blog about attachment parenting. Attachment parenting is a certain style of parenting where the parent and child become attached to one another. It is a child led parenting style. The idea is that children are born with needs and that in meeting those needs the parents and children become attached. One of those needs is to be held, so baby wearing is part of attachment parenting. Attachment parenting is a form of parenting that when a baby cries it is because the baby needs something. You cannot spoil a baby. Therefore, holding a child who is crying is a necessity instead of a way to spoil children. Attachment parents rarely, if ever, subscribe to the "cry it out" method. We work to find the root of a problem and solve it instead of just working to pacify a child. In the end, attachment parenting is a way for parents to have a guide in helping their children become more independent.

Introduction

As an attached parent, I am going to keep a journal of my time as I parent as an attached mom. My husband is also an attached dad. I had an interesting experience the other day while in Wal-mart. I was picking up some pictures that I had ordered online, and I had already come once to pick them up, but they were misplaced, so I trooped into Wal-mart with my two year old daughter and my four month old son. As we're driving up, Jackie (the two year old) announces that she has to potty. This presents a problem. I was planning on putting Ben (the four month old) in my sling and putting Jackie in my other sling (It was too cold for her to walk by herself.) So I put Ben in the tube sling, and I scooped Jackie up for a run to the potty before we had an accident.

We arrived at the bathroom and pottied uscathed, but then came the trick of putting both of my kids in the slings with nowhere to put them down. Add this to the fact that I had never worn both children at the same time. So, I pull out the diaper changing table, stand right by it, and proceed to tie my daughter onto my back. Then, I put Ben in my tube sling. As I was inserting Ben into the tube, a stranger walks in and states, "I'm so glad that there are still people in the world who believe in carrying their children. And I thought, I think that there are quite a few of us.