Gentle Potty Training

Since I just added a few "Nurturing the Baby" links about being diaper free, I thought I'd tell you a little of my experience with that idea. For years now, I've been the kind of person to "take what I like and leave the rest," so I can't say I've followed any of EC guidelines verbatim. But the idea of making potty training as gentle as possible and respectful of the child's readiness makes total sense. And mostly, I really don't relish the idea of a week of "potty training bootcamp," which is how many parents approach it. I'm too lazy for that!

I read once about someone's Russian grandparents teaching that you can simply hold an infant over the potty, making a "shh-shhh" sound (like the sound of water), and eventually they associate being over the potty with peeing, and can be reliably potty trained by one year old. This coming from a generation of people who didn't have the luxury of diapers, so this is simply what was done.

Well, of course, I thought. What did the rest of humanity do before cloth, then paper disposables? I'm sure they managed to keep their babies and selves and houses clean from constant pee and poop.

With my older 2 kids, I didn't understand any of this, but being too lazy to organize a potty training week, I simply waited until they were good and ready. That maybe took a little longer than it needed to. With my 2 year old, I've been putting her on the potty since she was about 8 months old, and she can pee on it whenever we do that. Poop is another matter, but it will come. What it comes down to is that it has been a gradual thing, but started early, and she's showing signs of being *really* ready soon here, and she's barely 2 years old.

And my methods are still a long way from "diaper free," but incorporate the parts that work for me. What about you?

~s~

Babywearing School in Logan

Beate, of Children's Needs, just informed us that there will be a Babywearing School in Logan, very soon. It will be Wednesday, October 1 to Sunday, October 5, at the Comfort Inn. You can download the registration form for cost and other details, and check out the faq. The instructors are flying in from Germany, and it appears they will be going over a lot of information. These classes are intended to certify you to teach babywearing to others.

I googled the website for the instructors in Germany, and had google automatically translate the pages for me. Have you ever done that? It's not perfect, but you get the gist of it. I thought it was pretty neat. Try it!

~s~

World Breastfeeding Week at API

Attachment Parenting International (API) has jumped on the World Breastfeeding Week bandwagon. They are giving away a copy of LLL's The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding. Leave a comment on that blog post to enter the contest.

Liz brought this to our attention. Here is the email she received from API :

Attachment Parenting International (API) is proud to participate in World Breastfeeding Week August 1-7, 2008. Started by The World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA), World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) is a way for those who support breastfeeding to help achieve WABA's vision of "...a world where breastfeeding is the cultural norm, where mothers and families are enabled to feed and care optimally for their infants and young children thus contributing to a just and healthy society."

La Leche League, a WABA Core Partner, encourages everyone to participate in the WBW celebrations. API is pleased to join as one of the many LLL WBW participants, as well as honor its long-standing support of breastfeeding and LLL.

And consider making a donation to La Leche League today to help LLL continue its good work.

API shares many of the LLL philosophies having been born from LLL Leaders turned Co-Founders Barbara Nicholson and Lysa Parker. Please join API in celebrating WBW, and all of the organizations who are working hard to make WABA's vision of a breastfeeding-friendly world a reality.

Consider the following facts and recommendations about breastfeeding:

The American Public Health Association (APHA) "affirms that exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life with continued breastfeeding for at least the first one or two years of life is the biological norm, and that all alternative feeding methods carry health risks in comparison, with rare exceptions...Identifies the exclusive breastfeeding rate as a leading health indicator in the goals of the nation."

"Human milk is the preferred feeding for all infants, including premature and sick newborns. It is recommended that breastfeeding continue for at least the first 12 months, and thereafter for as long as mutually desired." American Academy of Pediatrics Breastfeeding Policy Statement: Breastfeeding and the Use of Human Milk.

PEDIATRICS, a publication of the American Academy of Pediatrics, found that "The protective effect of breastfeeding on the attainment of gross motor milestones is attributable to some component(s) of breast milk or feature of breastfeeding and is not simply a product of advantaged social position, education, or parenting style."

Breastfeeding has been shown to provide some protection against the following common diseases:

Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) - American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2007

Diabetes - The SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Case-Control Study

Cot death/SIDS - The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID)

Respiratory & ear infections - PEDIATRICS

Obesity - The United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) 2003

In addition to the substantial benefits to the infant, Attachment Parenting International also stresses the importance of breastfeeding in the bonding process after birth. A 1996 study by Uvnäs-Moberg & Eriksson showed that oxytocin, a hormone released during breastfeeding, promotes the initiation of maternal behavior and bonding between mother and baby and has a sedative, anti-stress effect on the mother. This study also found that breastfeeding mothers reported that they feel calmer due to breastfeeding and are less likely to overreact to everyday stressors, probably due to decreased blood pressure and cortisol levels that occur in response to breastfeeding.

API reminds mothers everywhere that breastfeeding satisfies an infant's nutritional and emotional needs better than any other method of infant feeding. API recommends breastfeeding as part of your overall parenting approach. For example, feed on cue, before baby starts to cry whenever possible. Breastfeed for the first year and beyond; it is important nutritionally, immunologically, and emotionally. And don't forget that nursing is an excellent tool for comfort during illness, tantrums, and other times of upset.

Do you enjoy receiving information on current events that are relevant to the parenting community? We value your feedback!

Sincerely,

Julie Artz
Communications Coordinator,
Attachment Parenting International
julie@attachmentparenting.org

They are also having a promotional discount for LLL members on API memberships in honor of World Breastfeeding Week and La Leche League: if you join API before August 30, 2008, and enter the code: APIWBW2008, you will receive 25% off the membership fee, and they will make a donation to LLL.

Here's some evidence FOR Natural Parenting

This link is to a study defending natural parenting. It's pdf, and a little long, but easy reading. Here's the abstract:

"This review examines an age-old approach to parenting recently rediscovered in Western industrialized societies and known by names such as natural parenting, attachment parenting, and instinctive parenting. Its leading principle is utmost sensitivity to the child's innate emotional and physical needs, resulting in extended breastfeeding on demand, extensive infant carrying on the caregiver's body, and cosleeping of infant and parents. The described practices prevailed during the evolutionary history of the human species and reflect the natural, innate rearing style of the human species to which the human infant has biologically adapted over the course of evolution. An overview of research from diverse areas regarding psychological as well as physiological aspects of early care provides evidence for the beneficial effects of natural parenting. Cross-cultural and historical data is cited to reveal the widespread use of the investigated parenting style. It is concluded that the described approach to parenting provides the human infant with an ideal environment for optimal growth both psychologically and physiologically. It is yet to be determined how much departure from this prototype of optimal human parenting is possible without compromising infant and parental wellbeing. The review also invites a critical reevaluation of current Western childrearing practices."

It comes out of Helsinki, Finland, researched by R. A. Schön and M. Silvén, and was published by Evolutionary Psychology. You can find it here.
~J~