Sorry.

[Seekrit]

I'm sorry.. I'm sorry all you AP parents whom I used to roll my eyes at when I was TTC and Pregnant.

I'm sorry I hated your way of life, making fun of it with my friends, talking about how unstructured and needy it would make your children.

I'm sorry for thinking that breastfeeding, co-sleeping, baby-wearing and gentle discipline were for saps.

If only I realised how much mothering was instinctual and not book based before he came along.. I would've joined you lot ages ago. :kiss: :yes:

[Pippi Longstocking]

If only I realised how much mothering was instinctual and not book based before he came along.. I would've joined you lot ages ago. :kiss: :yes:

I think you hit the nail on the head there. Parenting doesn't have to be hard and it certainly doesn't have to be book-based. It's not something you need to study for - in fact, I think studying for it can hinder your parenting.
Instincts rock. :yes: . Books could make a nice warm fire to sit in front of while breastfeeding through the winter months...:p

[Shanaynay]

I'm glad you've found this 'way of life' :hugs:

[Lunar]

I forgive you Nikki!!! lol... see things are not that bad are they! Your not a sap! You're a great mum, you should be proud! :yelclap:

[TinyStar]

ROTFLMAO oh Seek you hippy you!

Each to their own, it's funny how your expectations of parenting end up being soooooo different from the reality.

[Pixie]

Peace man.
I didn't realise there was any other way :p

But then I was conceived in a barn and born in a field so no wonder I am a hippy :D

[dragonflyblu]

Seekrit, I used to look at attachment parenting and think it was extreme, had same ideas as you about creating a dependant child etc etc. now I have my 10 day old baby and she breastfeeds whenever she wants - she is never off my boob! she spends about 2 hours a day asleep on my chest. I carry her around for hours while I do house chores (amazing what I can do with one hand) She sleeps in a bassinet pushed up against our bed and sleeps in our bed during the day with me when I have day naps. In fact she is always within a metre of me. I am a hippy mum! We are going shopping for a sling as soon as baby payment comes in the pram looks so lonely!:D

[Shanaynay]

But then I was conceived in a barn and born in a field so no wonder I am a hippy :D
Really?

[nats]

Seekrit, I used to look at attachment parenting and think it was extreme, had same ideas as you about creating a dependant child etc etc. now I have my 10 day old baby and she breastfeeds whenever she wants - she is never off my boob! she spends about 2 hours a day asleep on my chest. I carry her around for hours while I do house chores (amazing what I can do with one hand) She sleeps in a bassinet pushed up against our bed and sleeps in our bed during the day with me when I have day naps. In fact she is always within a metre of me. I am a hippy mum! We are going shopping for a sling as soon as baby payment comes in the pram looks so lonely!:D


Oh I wish I could sling my bubs but my back is always aching from the stupid c/s. I don't trust myself not to faint while i'm carrying him!

But I make up for it with the BFing :fingerscrossed: to 12months or more. Co-sleeping day naps and wrapping his bum in a towel all day:)

[H&B'sMum]

You're forgive........LOL

Glad you are enjoying your parenting.

[emilysmumma]

Sorry to hijack your thread Seekrit but I need to jump on your bandwagon.

Here goes..................
I'm sorry to all those parents I scoffed at and thought they were creating rods for their backs with my conservative views.
I'm sorry I thought co-sleeping was the worse thing you could possibly do to your child.
I'm sorry for thinking breastfeeding older toddlers was bizarre.

I now sleep with my baby and am regretting not doing it from day one.
I am still breastfeeding and will continue to do so until she wants to.
And for those conservative views, :thumbsup: think that thumb as a middle finger because those views can go and get f..........k...........d

Way to go Seekrit for being brave to admit we don't always get it right and for making me realise it too.

[Lunar]

:yelclap: YAAAAAY for all the new hippies!!!!:laughing:

[motherlylove]

ROTFLMAO oh Seek you hippy you!

Each to their own, it's funny how your expectations of parenting end up being soooooo different from the reality.

hell yeh

[emilysmumma]

I'm actually an old hippy from many years ago, but I locked it all away.
Look out, I'm breaking out :laughing:

[Seekrit]

I have another apology.

To all you "Homebirth Hippy Mums"... oh I never thought I'd say this... but if husband were more willing I think I want one.
*ducks and hides from friends through rotten fruit from the peanut gallery*

[kymmy]

I think you hit the nail on the head there. Parenting doesn't have to be hard and it certainly doesn't have to be book-based. It's not something you need to study for - in fact, I think studying for it can hinder your parenting.
Instincts rock. :yes: . Books could make a nice warm fire to sit in front of while breastfeeding through the winter months...:p

Instincts rock!
Also have to say that is all that I trust now - my instincts.

btw I am not a hippy....;)

[mother of six]

lol join the club..... my daughter is now 15 months old i still carry her in a sling, BF, co- sleep an we are so close. She is so happy and content. very affectionate and not clingy at all. some people are shocked when I say I'm still bf and make comments like thats so bad or how annoying it must be but i love when we goto bed and she feeds and touches my face and we are nice a snuggly theres nothing better. :smiliedance:

[dragonflyblu]

is 15 months consiodered old for bf? we planned to bf ours until at least 2. should i learn to dodge the crticism now???

[kymmy]

Some ppl think babies should be off the boob at 6 months :eek: Others say 12mths you need to wean. When I had my girl I was led to believe the latter was true. But with my boy he self weaned at 18mths. My bub is almost 15mths and he still feeds. I hope he feeds as long as he wants. I feed him in public and no one criticises me. I do get funny looks when I use the slings but hubby gets lots of admiration :confused:

[ShadyCharacter]

is 15 months consiodered old for bf? we planned to bf ours until at least 2. should i learn to dodge the crticism now???
Yup. But it goes away again, people get used to it and shut up. I am feeding my 2.5 year old and feed him anywhere, anytime. Mostly the only comments I get are people who are really curious about why I am still feeding him. My family have learnt just to shut up :yes:

To the OP, you're forgiven... welcome to the dark side :D

[KapowSchazam]

That's the thing with parenting... you do what feels right at the time for each individual bub. When I had DD, I planned on BFing till she got teeth, but she was tongue-tied (like her dad) and couldn't physically attach :crying:

Now, I have actually looked into relactating, with wanting to BF till whenever... (But I think that bub is milk/soy intolerant, so I need to see a dietician first, I think!)

We co-sleep most nights, sometimes days! And I usually carry her, in preferance to the pram (despite being a wriggly worm! lol)

Nothing like what my ideas of parenting before I was preggers!!! :eek: But I feel sooo close to DD, and for me, there's nothing better then her being upset, me picking her up, and she snuggles into my shoulder, and then her world is ok and safe again!!! (hehe I even like it when DH is holding her and she puts her arms out for me to hold her :p )

[LotusMum]

Oh I copped the critisism big time with DD1, but now that I have DD2, no-one bothers. Unfortunatly for us bf never worked (and oh boy did we try!!! :thumbsdown: ), but we co-sleep, and I ring-sling DD2 with me ALL the time. Silly prams, why were those things invented? ha ha

[cupcakemafia]

I never considered myself as a hippie... I have a brown thumb, as opposed to a green one... but I sort of fell into natural parenting techniques. I just relied on my instincts.

I use disposable nappies (cos I hate poo, and don't want to scrape it off ANYTHING), I co-sleep with my husband and our baby daughter, she sleeps on my chest sometimes during the day, I carry her round in a sling when I'm doing housework and I don't want her to be scared of the vaccum chasing after her (lol), and I breastfed her until she was 6 months and threatened to bite my nipple off (I love you dear, but I love my nipple too).

I don't know, its just "do what you feel is right". And my daughter is bright, sociable, cheeky, emotionally secure and she crawls around the house like she's on speed (obviously she's not.. put the phone down!! Don't call family services on me!!), so all that carrying around hasn't affected her ability to move around by herself.

Good work Nikki, do what you think is right. Unless, of course, you think the right thing to do is give your kid speed. :)

[jessgray]

i thought co-sleeping was wierd till i had ds1. then when he was abot 3 or 4 months old i fell asleep with him on my chest and DP forgot to move him lik ehe had so many times before. and i liked it. form then on ds1 would occasionally sleep with us. then he was scared of cot and became full time in our bed. there was something special about him cuddling my pregnant belly and sleeping.

when i had ds2 he decided on his own it was time to sleep in his cot. we co-sleep with ds2 now. at first dp was worried with all the stuff you hear about sids and stuff when we first co slept with ds1 but now he isnt so worried.

we are slowly converting to cloth we stil use sposies.DS1 was FF and ds2 is BF. i feel i have th ebest of both worlds. sposies & cloth, BF &FF, co-sleeping and not :D

[Duchessa]

I'm sorry.. I'm sorry all you AP parents whom I used to roll my eyes at when I was TTC and Pregnant.

I'm sorry I hated your way of life, making fun of it with my friends, talking about how unstructured and needy it would make your children.

I'm sorry for thinking that breastfeeding, co-sleeping, baby-wearing and gentle discipline were for saps.

If only I realised how much mothering was instinctual and not book based before he came along.. I would've joined you lot ages ago. :kiss: :yes:

Aww wow! What a lovely post! Good for you Seekrit! And before you burn all those books, there are a couple around that are very useful for warming the ole reluctant hb to a homebirth too... ;)

[jessgray]

i thought i could learn everything about being a mum from books :laughing: boy was i wrong:laughing:
i'm the proud owner of a sling i'm yet to get DP to wear it though:laughing:

[shed]

I always knew I would parent this way. I don't know how I knew, I just did.

(I didn't know about the cloth nappies, there was no way I was going to do that...but things change).

I didn't know I was "allowed" to co-sleep but I was going to do it anyway!

I go by what feels right but I am a voracious reader. I read up about everything, I am a hippy geek. I read about twenty pregnancy books, about ten or so breastfeeding books, birth books, child development books, everything I can get my hands on.

I even read books on parenting techniques that I don't agree with. I just like to know what I am disagreeing with.

I like to find out all the facts and then make my decisions from my instincts, using all the information. It makes me feel more confident.

It also helps to be able to spout statistics and technical words whenever anyone questions my parenting methods.

So the books have helped me.

I like bubhub because there are people on here like me, which is great. Otherwise I would feel quite alone in the way I do things, and that would suck

[Two Little Buggalugs]

I think my DD must have read your post Seek. She wants me to be a hippy... She fell asleep in bed with DH this morning and both slept happily for 3 hours (meanwhile I spent 3 hours doing housework!).

The other day she was grizzly and I normally comfort her while she's in the cot. But she looked up and said what sounded like 'mum mum mum'... Well she was up in my arms like a shot!

Now if only she can help convince DH on the MCN's, she's halfway to hippy!

I must admit, I'm like Shed, a book person... I can't help it, even if it's not my thing I always find them interesting. But I haven't seen one on attachment parenting at the library. What else does the hippy stuff involve?

[tanni_83]

Oh I copped the critisism big time with DD1, but now that I have DD2, no-one bothers. Unfortunatly for us bf never worked (and oh boy did we try!!! :thumbsdown: ), but we co-sleep, and I ring-sling DD2 with me ALL the time. Silly prams, why were those things invented? ha ha

prams: storage/trolly when shopping or at an outing :laughing:

[Mother Duck]

Yay Seek - parenting styles aside if there is one thing that I absolutely ADORE it is a person who is able to admit they have been wrong!

Three Cheers for you

and three cheers to co-sleeping and home birthing!!

*and closet hippies!*

[*Sal*]

I didn't know I was "allowed" to co-sleep but I was going to do it anyway!



That's exactly how I felt when I had my first. I got all the comments (and still do) about making a rod for my own back, and you need to let the baby cry a little bit etc.... we ended up co-sleeping "on the sly" but now I am openly proud of it, and sometimes I sleep with all 3 kids and kick DH out :yes:

[KapowSchazam]

I go by what feels right but I am a voracious reader. I read up about everything, I am a hippy geek.

:yes: Yup, I agree. Each bub is different, but they all need to feel safe and loved!


I like bubhub because there are people on here like me, which is great. Otherwise I would feel quite alone in the way I do things, and that would suck

LOL no, you're not alone, we're all strange too!


I think my DD must have read your post Seek. She wants me to be a hippy...

That's what happened to me! I started off one way, but DD is changing thind around to suit her! And I love it! I rarely use the pram now, just pop her in the sling, and off we go! Before, I had a Baby Bjorn :barf: and used the pram all the time! Not anymore, gotta cuddle my lil one all the time!

And, on top of being cuddled heaps, she started crawling at a couple of days over 6 months! Doesn't affect their development at all!!!


making a rod for my own back, and you need to let the baby cry a little bit etc....

Ha! Sounds like my Mum AND MIL!

[MordecaiAliVanAllenO'Shea]

I know what you mean about reading all the books, my motto now when I do something that I'm not MEANT to do according to books/ so called experts, is that people raised babies long before there were books to tell them how. I feel so strongly connected to my bub when I parent according to my instincts and what seems to make us both happiest.

Mel