Monday, January 30, 2012

Hippie at Heart

The way I parent on a daily basis is in no way the parent I thought I would be before I had a baby or even when I was pregnant.

 I was the mom whose kid was:

going to be on a eating/sleeping schedule by 4 months

who would never sleep in our bed

no way was I going to nurse past 6 months (I mean that is practically a 5 year old)

a baby has to learn how to self soothe

he will eventually have to cry it out so he learns how to sleep all night

 you can spoil a baby so, "Please don't hold my baby too long"

we will promptly move him into his crib by 6 weeks old

I will not be THAT mom who is overprotective and runs to snatch her baby out of someone else's loving embrace the minute second he wimpers

If anything is wrong we will only go to the doctor. None of this hocuspocus stuff.

Then THIS happened to me


And everything that seemed "right" prior to him being here, flew out the window and fast.

We might ease into a schedule for a few days and then it will switch up and look completely different.

Sleeping on the couch and in our bed is the ONLY way I survived the early days and still when he is sick

14 months later we are still nursing, nuff said.

Crewe has had a handful of times that he has had to cry longer than a few minutes becuase a) momma was in the bathroom b) momma was in the shower or c) momma was at her wits end and just needed a few minutes to gather herself.

Cry it out = ripped my heart out. None of those books warned of that side effect. I tried it once and I vowed I would NEVER do it again. I will take the "rod in my own back" or whatever that phrase is, just to not have to ever experience that again.

I quit listening to everyone else's advice on what worked for THEIR baby, because last time I checked Crewe was MY baby (and John'stoo  of course)


I still don't believe a 14 month old understands what spoiling is so therefore I don't think they can be spoiled.

Crewe slept in a pack n play in our room until he was 9 months old and he probably still would be if I hadn't had a gentle shove from the hubs that is was time to move him to his crib.

And OH MY WORD I had eagle ears and eyes when it came to him being upset and in loving embrace somebody else's arms.

Oh and we see a chiropractor once a week for his ears to get adjusted to try and avoid tubes.
The list could go on and on about how much of a hippie I think I am about parenting, but you get the idea.

Last thing to add to the list of hippieness (pretty sure that is not a word or spelled correctly even if it was)! If you have a teething baby you have GOT to give these a try.


As you can tell, Crewe is a little unsure of having a necklace on, but I assured him it was a manly necklace and nothing to be ashamed of. He quickly agreed.


In all seriousness thougth, it is an amber necklace that can be purchased for teething discomfort and inflammation. If you are uncomfortable, like I was, about giving them tylenol everytime they are close to cutting a tooth these are priceless. You can read more about them and if interested here.

I am even considering getting one for myself due to all the benefits of amber.

So there you have it. I should have been a parent in the 70's.

Hope everyone had a great weekend.











6 comments:

  1. I have to say that necklace is way less girly than i thought it would be! ;-)

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  2. Um... Yes. I'm the English teacher who wanted control at home like in my classroom. Flashforward to now and not so much! We would cosleep if it didn't kill my back, natural birth, nursing, and didn't even introduce solids until 6 months and 1 day at the earliest. I hear ya! And love the picture of the boy in the shirt that says no advice. It's a hard road to walk at first though when you're hormonal, a new and unsure mommy and bombarded with advice. I hope people leave us alone on subsequent babies!

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  3. I've never heard of those necklaces, I'm am going to have to check out the link.

    And I feel you on the mom you thought you were going to be compared to the mom you are... Haven will be three next month and is still in my bed. :)

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  4. "I quit listening to everyone else's advice on what worked for THEIR baby"

    I still LOVE listening to the advice of what works for others because you never know when you'll run out of ideas in your bag of tricks.

    I take listening to other moms about their babies and what did and didn't work as reading several books/magazines/websites on parenting, except it's real life, not what some writer (who may or may not have children) thinks. Some advice you like, some you don't, but it can all be stored away for use another day, perhaps.

    I followed you here from Holly's blog.

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  5. Found you through hollys blog and I love your blog already after reading one post! I got lots of eyebrows when I told my family that my daughter sleeps with me because that's the only way I can get her to sleep. But what about SIDS? Hello, humans have been cosleeping since the beginning of time! I really want a shirt like your sons, that is awesome.

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  6. What a cutie!! Love your blog!

    http://sincerelyarizona.blogspot.com/

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