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Attachment Parenting

Many parents confuse the concept of attachment parenting with that of natural parenting. This confusion is understandable since both styles are based on baby-led care. Attachment parenting differs, however, from natural parenting in that the style does not focus just on anticipating the baby's wants and letting he or she set the schedule, it also focuses on bonding with the child and forming a very close relationship with the child.

The main key areas that characterize attachment parenting are as follows.

• Rapid response to baby's cries. Those parents that use attachment style parenting do not let their baby cry for long periods of time. They do not believe that responding to a baby's cries will spoil that child. Instead, they believe that a child uses his cries as a survival tool, and that all cries deserve an answer. By answering their child's cries, they believe they are developing a trust with their baby and a foundation for future communication skills.

• Breastfeeding. All most all parents that believe in attachment parenting believe in the importance of breastfeeding. While they believe in the nutritional importance of breast milk, they more adamantly believe in the importance of contact during breastfeeding. Attachment parents believe that children should be exclusively breastfed and that the continuous contact of brought about by this method more readily meets the needs of the infant as they transition from the womb to the outside world.

• Baby-led scheduling. Parents who practice attachment-parenting techniques do not let the clock or the calendar dictate their baby's schedule. Instead, these parents allow the child to naturally choose feeding times, nap times and behavioral milestones, such as when they sleep alone, stay with a sitter, or decide to be held.

• Gentle discipline. Attachment style parenting focuses more on changing behavior than it does on punishing it. For example, these parents will more than likely move a forbidden object from their child's reach instead of trying to squelch their child's natural curiosity with rules. These parents are also less likely to use physical acts to punish their children and opt instead for positive punishments such as rewarding good behavior, time-outs and role-modeling.

• The family bed. Parents who practice attachment parenting usually believe in the concept of the family bed. They like the idea of the contact that sleeping together provides and they also like to be near their child in order to better meet his or her needs.

• Baby-wearing. Parents who practice this style are also known for carrying their babies in slings. They feel that their baby feels more secure this way and like how this arrangement promotes close contact between them and their baby. While these parents will use a stroller, or even a baby carrier, they do so only if their child expresses an interest in riding in such things.

• Stay-at-home parenting. Attachment parents are big fans of having at least one stay-at-home parents, especially during the early years of their child's life. They feel that this arrangement is more conducive to forming a lifelong bond with their child. They also feel as though the job of raising their child should not be handed over to a sitter or daycare provider.

While attachment parenting may not be right for everyone, promoters of the concept stress the benefits of the arrangement. Attachment parenting allows for the parents to truly get to know their child and to develop their own unique parenting style based on the needs and the personality of that particular child.


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