Comments on Analytical Armadillo - The Booby Whisperer: Message For Expectant/New Parents.

On the other hand, there's the parent who read...

2012-02-23T19:45:38.364Z

On the other hand, there's the parent who read books of type A, and yet winds up with an infant who poos with every other feed (and if you accidentally fall asleep before you drag yourself out of bed to change the nappy it sort of solidifies and is a pain to clean off, and then he developed nappy rash). And a baby who is happiest up on someone's shoulder, head staring over your back, which doesn't fit in with the design of the sling you bought (indeed I haven't seen a design that allows for this). And who is apparently quite capable of going from a sound sleep to instantly screaming with hunger (maybe there's some subtle cues I'm missing). Oh, and apparently the described sleep-inducing breastmilk effects for mom don't work for her, so she winds up lying awake at 4 in the morning while baby slumbers peacefully which is really annoying.

And the merry issue of what to do when you need a long sit on the toilet, having been ordered by doctors not to strain, and there's no one to take the baby. (Now he's amused by sitting in a bouncer facing me while I sing him silly songs, but that didn't work when he was younger).

I do find books of type A&B have their own tendencies to unrealism. I am continuing with co-sleeping, and slings, and am prepared to believe that overall this is easier than X&Y parenting but I do think that the books have their own tendencies to idealism, and the way they talk about X&Y parenting does add to the stress when your baby screams anyway.

Hi BabyJsMama - This post is really aimed at newbo...

2012-01-24T10:48:41.886Z

Hi BabyJsMama - This post is really aimed at newborns, rather than 6 month olds :)
But on the subject of older infants, I had a frequent waker and found it much more exhausting when I had to get up and go get her rather than just open my eyes. However the more older infants I see with ongoing frequent waking, the more I see many have underlying reasons why that is - addressing the cause of the problem rather than trying to modify behaviour may be the kindest option all round?
AA

As usual a very eloquent post AA, very thought pro...

2012-01-24T08:43:23.722Z

As usual a very eloquent post AA, very thought provoking. My concern a lot of the times comes when I think of balancing certain situations. What do you tell a mom that must go back to work and has a child 6+ months old who still feeds every 1.5-2 hours and happens to wake up just as much if not more when they bedshare? How is such a mom expected to provide good parenting and be a functional employee when she cannot complete one sleep cycle? More so when mom happens to work in a high stress environment where one mistake could cost her the job she uses to provide for her child. There are many things to consider and certainly many shades of grey here. We all need to be a little more compassionate towards eachother since it is impossible to know everyone's circumstances. I say the same thing to both camps: that it worked for you doesn't mean that it will work for someone else. Just my two cents.

Those two types of parents could be described as c...

2012-01-20T17:36:08.319Z

Those two types of parents could be described as child-centric and parent-centric.

Great piece AA.

I'm still doing the feeds every 90 minutes wit...

2012-01-19T08:24:33.958Z

I'm still doing the feeds every 90 minutes with my 13 month old. We're still trying to get to the bottom of why. No one warns you how hard it can be, and everyone who tells me to leave him to cry has no idea how absolutely gut-wrenchingly heartbreaking it is to listen to him cry for even a minute.

2012-01-18T22:39:13.231Z

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2012-01-18T22:23:24.227Z

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I could write a long gushing comment, but will jus...

2012-01-18T21:36:55.389Z

I could write a long gushing comment, but will just restrict myself to saying thank you, particularly for the bit in big letters.