Today is the second day in a row that my baby girl has gone down for her naps by herself. Usually I nurse her to sleep and then sneak away, but lately she is showing signs of self-soothing - yay! We're still not quite there for bedtime, but I'm just happy to start off with naps. She only fussed for a couple minutes before all was silent and she was off to dreamland. My baby's growing up!
There are so many different parenting books out there with different parenting styles and philosophies. I read quite a few of them in the first few months of parenting and I picked out what I thought was useful and applicable to our family and disregarded everything I didn't agree with. In the initial months I was determined to do what was "right" with our baby; what I didn't realize is that there is no pre-determined by-the-book solution that will fit each family. Instead, Scott and I are discovering on our own what works for us.
I still remember a lady telling me that I was making a "huge mistake" by letting our baby sleep with us. That bothered me for a while and I spent some time wondering if I was, in fact, making a big mistake. But at the end of the day, Scott and I agreed that until she was able to sleep through the night, we wouldn't force it. This way we all got a good sleep and woke up rested. We did not make a mistake, we made the right choice for us.
It seems that on one side of the spectrum are the proponents of baby-wearing all the time, breastfeeding into toddler age, and bed-sharing into toddler stage and beyond. The opposite side advocates the "cry it out" method to make sure your baby sleeps the whole night through. I think we tend to fall somewhere in between the extremes of parenting styles.
At the end of the day, the most important thing is that our babies are healthy and thriving. Whether you formula feed or breastfeed, co-sleep or have your little one in a crib, babywear or use a stroller - seeing your baby's chubby little cheeks break into a beaming, toothless smile is one of the biggest rewards and makes all the learning ups and downs of parenthood worthwhile, don't you agree?!
Penny
4 comments:
lol teaching them to self sooth is my preference.. but not that i've ever had a chance to try!! haha i'm glad she's starting to learn that on her own!! penny you need to come help me make my blog pretty like yours!
Sandy...yeah for Little Nab #2 we'll have the benefit of hindsight and I think we'll start the self-soothing process quite a bit sooner! Let me know when Annika and I can drop by one day and I'll bring you your tin too!
I agree with you one hundred percent. There is no perfect parenting strategy and each family has to find the balance of what works for them!
-Lisa
I totally agree Penny. Most of all, I think you are a FANTASTIC mommy! I hope I can be as good a mom as you- you are an inspiration!
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