...but I feel the need to talk about Babywise again. A lot of my close friends and family used this parenting technique and have sworn by it, but I honestly cannot wrap my mind around the whole concept of letting your brand new baby (who has only known your womb) cry ALONE in his/her crib for a period of time. I don't get it. Ok, maybe older babies I can understand this a bit more, but brand new babies? And I don't really get the scheduled feeding thing either. I get it to a point, but honestly, aren't some babies little bellies maybe just smaller and need to eat more often than every 3 1/2 hours?
It isn't necessarily the long distance between feedings that bother me, but the crying alone in their crib. What in the world is wrong with rocking your baby to sleep? It isn't like you are going to be rocking a twelve year old to sleep. I understand that this is just a preference in parenting, but I honestly just don't understand it in the least bit. Everything inside me SCREAMS to go and pick up Maisie when she cries. I am not talking a little whimper of, "Mom, I don't like this." Although, I have been known to more often than not pick her up when she has those cries as well. Maybe I spoil her, or maybe I am just showing her that right now her mom is going to be there for her.
I am not claiming to have all this figured out or even that MY way is the right way.
I just wish that people wouldn't take such a strong stance on the whole thing. I wish churches would offer classes on attachment parenting as well as Babywise. I wish moms would listen to that feeling inside them (their motherly instincts...which are there for a reason by the way), I wish that Christians wouldn't claim to have all the answers, I wish things could be a bit more natural. I guess I am more of a hippie than I thought.
I personally LOVE the way we have chosen to parent. I think back to how insecure I was in those first days, weeks, months, but Justin and I can now look back and be quite satisfied with how we have parented. Is that cocky? I don't mean to be. I am just saying that I love being a parent and I think a big part of that came from listening to myself.
For you seasoned parents out there, next time someone asks you for advice with a newborn, simply tell them to listen to themselves. I think it would work best 99 percent of the time. I know that co-sleeping isn't for everyone. I know that feeding on demand isn't for everyone, I know that rocking your baby to sleep most nights isn't for everyone. But those things are all for us and I am not ashamed of it in the least bit.
The funny this is that I read Babywise two times before I had Maisie and even skimmed through it during her first month of life. Reading it before I had her I thought that it was something that I would probably follow, but once Maisie actually came into the picture, I realized it was definitely not for us.
To all you new moms out there, LISTEN TO YOURSELF!!! You will know what to do. Shut out those outside voices and listen to your instincts. That is the best advice I was given when I had Maisie. It is actually quite empowering to know that you have what it takes to parent this child and you don't have to learn it from a book, although they can be quite helpful at times! :)
Sorry to go off about that, it has just really been on my mind the last couple days.
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