Attachment Parenting Essay

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I have chosen attachment parenting as my topic for this journal because I have used some aspects of this parenting theory in raising both of my daughters. According to Whitborne (2013) “Attachment theory emphasizes the nature of the relationship between children and their caregivers (usually the parents)”. While pregnant with my first daughter, I read many baby books, and researched many parenting theories. Attachment parenting intrigued me, I met many other mothers in my community who parented using the attachment parenting theory. I watched how they attended to their babies and how happy their children seemed to be. This helped me choose that style of parenting after I gave birth to my first daughter. The aspects of attachment parenting that I incorporated into our life was co-sleeping (in our room, but the babies own cot), breastfeeding on demand, and some baby wearing in a sling during the first few months. …show more content…

I was a nervous first-time mother, I was terrified of SIDS and read many articles and studies that promoted that the infant should sleep in the room with the mother until at least six months. I co slept with my first daughter until she was three, after that she moved into her own room on her own decision. I also breastfed on demand exclusively until six months, and then up until she turned two and half. It was a mutually based decision to stop nursing at that time. I used a sling for the first few months of my daughter’s life as she was a very colicky baby and did not want to be put down for any period of time. She also detested the baby swing. I found that using the sling and baby wearing quite easily to adapt to, she seemed to be happier, and I was able to be hands free to do daily errands and chores. I felt that this also helped us to bond. She is now a happy and very independent

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