What is Attachment Parenting?

Attachment parenting is a parenting philosophy that focuses on empathy with and responsiveness to the needs of the child. The term ‘attachment parenting’ was first introduced by parenting experts Dr. William and Martha Sears, although parents often practice this parenting philosophy instinctively and later realize there is a formal set of ideas and language to describe what they’ve been doing.

In the early years, attachment parenting is about the “Seven Baby Bs.” Rigid adherence to these guidelines is not necessary as attachment parenting is more of a philosophy than a strict set of rules. There may be circumstances, such as health issues or adoption, where following all of the “Bs” is not possible. That doesn’t mean attachment parenting is not possible.

1. Birth bonding - in the early days and weeks after a baby is born, bonding between the parent(s) and child is very  important
2. Breastfeeding - a healthy, natural way to feed babies that also promotes bonding
3. Babywearing - carrying a baby in a carrier
4. Bedding close to baby - sleeping with or next to baby
5. Belief in language of baby’s cry - trusting that a baby’s cries tell the parent(s) what they need, and the parents respond to that need
6. Beware of baby trainers - beware of advice about changing a baby’s behaviour for convenience purposes
7. Balance - balance in the areas of life outside of parenthood is important!

Attachment parenting can carry through to the older years. During this time, it is about maintaining an age appropriate physical closeness to children. Gentle discipline and finding the reasons why a child or teenager is misbehaving are part of the parenting approach.

Here are some videos about attachment parenting.

This one, from ParentsTV, explains attachment parenting:

And this one, from 60 Minutes in Australia, is a more critical view of the philosophy.

Part one:

Part two:

Thinking outside the web

All about my failed search to find a conservative Christian through social media and how I came close to crossing the ethical line

The Top Five Challenges of doing this Story

#1 – My techie skills. I still don’t understand why embedding video is SUPER SIMPLE on WordPress and uploading audio is NOT.

1. My techie skills. How long it took me to figure out how to upload audio to this blog is ridiculous and embarrassing. What would I do without a teenage stepbrother who innately knows this stuff? I   know not. All I can say is, this has been a really valuable learning experience. And, Marco you rock.
2. Mom brain. Along with the mental adjustments of raising children which seems to make every parent I know super forgetful about everything – I swear breastfeeding sucks brain cells. I hope readers take this into account when reading my blog.
3. Getting Christians to talk to me. Since starting journalism school, I have never had a problem getting sources. It’s been super simple compared to those other nit picky things like copy editing and uploading audio to a WordPress blog for your multiplatform journalism class. But for this story, it took blood, sweat, tears and breast milk to find Christians. And, if you noticed, none of the sources in this story are very conservative. They are, however, awesome and I’m so glad they agreed to talk to me!
4. The fact that I am a full time mom right now. This project, along with the rest of my school work, happened at night and during the weekends. The resulting lack of sleep accentuated # 2 even more than the breastfeeding.
5. Carting my video camera around Toronto with a toddler, a baby, a diaper bag and a stroller on the TTC. Chasing the story while chasing the toddler. Breastfeeding while video tapping. Baby wearing while tapping. Call it attachment student journalism parenting! (But that was way easier than uploading the audio.)

Attached Parents Interactive – Take the poll!

The whole point of this blog is to find out who attached parents are. So …

Duggar and me

Modesty swim outfits from Wholesome Wear

What do Michelle Duggar of 19 Kids and Counting, Vancouver artist Kate Hansen and a journalism student in Toronto have in common? Breastfeeding!

About me

Feminist lesbian attachment parent seeks same as well as completely different

Where the idea came from

Why try and  bring feminists and conservative Christians together?