I too am a baby wearer -carrying mine around in a sling when little (and even as toddlers too!). I have found carrying my baby around in a sling invaluable when running around after an active and full-on 2 1/2 yr old - although I agree that it gets hard on your back with all the bending down and getting back up again - with a 10 kilo baby attached to you!!! It is also VERY handy when I need to go to the shops - as I have my 2 1/2 yr old in a pram - and baby in the sling. I normally lie on my bed and feed both baby and toddler to sleep..... but when my baby won't easily go off to sleep...(and I can't top him up with more milk - as he will explode!!!) I pop him in the sling and rock and sing to him... and he falls asleep beautifully..... My toddler likes to be in the sling on my back - he calls it a horsie ride!
kindest regards, Nicole ----- Original Message ----- From: "Juliana Brennan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, March 21, 2004 8:49 PM Subject: RE: [ozmidwifery] Parenting - instinctual or learnt? > This is a great discussion! > > My son slept in our bed while he was a baby, and I also carried him a lot in > a hug a bub sling. He had some of his sleeps during the day in the sling, > wakeful times in the sling, and I found it very handy when I wanted to get > something done as he would be guaranteed to sleep if I put him in the sling. > I used the hug a bub when we went shopping, out on walks, and just about a > lot of the time. He did sleep in his cot from time to time, and also during > the day he would sometimes sleep in our bed. > > I asked Cas a question (sleep issues) about how she settles her son Daniel > during the day, yet I didn't receive a reply. I was going to suggest > perhaps carrying him for some part of each day so he feels close and secure. > This may help him sleep better at night. > > I didn't receive much support from my parents or mother in law regarding my > style of parenting. My mother would gasp if she saw Harrison in the sling > and ask 'Can he breathe in there?'. I was also spoiling him according to my > mother in law, and she also told me he may be a clingy boy, and I should > teach him independence and not carry him. These comments always did hurt, > yet my gut instinct was to just go with what I felt was best. > > Harrison is now 27 months old. He can entertain himself, he is relaxed and > comfortable with my separation from him, and all round he seems to be a very > well adjusted little boy. (My mother in law tells me he has been the > easiest out of 11 Grand children to look after). > > During my second pregnancy (Grace), my husband and I moved, and our bedroom > was much bigger so we decided to upgrade our bed to a king size to > accommodate ourselves and the children. My daughter Grace sleeps in a bed > beside our bed as she would NEVER sleep when she was in our bed. Our son > Harrison has also decided that he likes to sleep in his own bed, and sleeps > very well. So my husband and I have a very big bed to ourselves. I'm sure > there will be times they will want to sleep in our bed, and we'll be > thankful for the extra space. > > Grace has been more unsettled than Harrison, and when she was about 8 weeks > old I was discussing her unsettled behaviour with my husband who said 'well > you don't carry her anywhere near as much as you did with Harrison'. I > agreed and decided to use the sling again as much as possible. It is more > difficult to carry Grace as much, as I have to bend a lot for Harrison, yet > she has been much more settled since I've carried her more, and she started > to sleep for longer periods at night (which may be totally co-incidental). > She seems happier when she is awake and settles more easily when she's not > in the sling. > > I'm a big advocate for carrying babies and young children, as this has > worked for me. > Juliana > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Sue Cookson > Sent: Saturday, 20 March 2004 7:02 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: [ozmidwifery] Parenting - instinctual or learnt? > > > Hi, > I also am enjoying this discussion. > > Pinky, you asked me if I co-slept with my parents, and, no, I didn't, but I > was always welcomed into their bed for a cuddle anytime, as was my husband > with his mum and dad. > > I guess that childhood experience probably imprinted the safe comfortable > bed-place on me as a child. Why my husband and I decided to cosleep was > nothing that we'd talked about, but an instant decision made after a > wonderful homebirth. Tucking into our own freshly made bed with our > firstborn after a torrid 18 hour labour, was the greatest joy I can remember > to this day. > > And I guess there may start another thread to this discussion. Motherhood > and parenting, as we all know can be and is, difficult. Some would say is > not instinctual but has to be learnt. > > Well, I was wanting to be sterilised at 19 - kids?? no way, not for me!! I > was the least maternal person I'd ever met! And yet somehow, for some divine > reason, I chose to birth my first baby (and subsequent 3) at home, > surrounded by those I loved and those who loved me. Within a few hours of my > first baby arriving into my arms, this amazing feline-type enormous love > feeling enveloped me, and is still with me to this day. There is nothing I > would or could not do for my children. > > If you read people like Michel Odent or Sarah Buckley, Leilah McCraken > (sp?), there is a lot of literature and interest these days in what exactly > is released with uninterfered with birthing; hormones. cortico development > (of baby - maybe me too?), etc. I certainly know how it felt, and I would > say that some deeply-held intuitive parenting knowledge basically burst > forth through me. I did not struggle with co-sleeping nor breastfeeding nor > immunisation issues nor schooling. I have always felt that I have known > what's best for each of my brood (and it wasn't always the same.). I'm not > saying that it was all easy, but I can say that I had no direct role model, > no precedence, no overbearing hubby or parents. I simply just did. > > And maybe that's why I've devoted all those years since my first birth to > assisting other women and their families achieve normal, uninterfered > births, coming up to 24 years. I am also therefore constantly around couples > with disempowering birth experiences, and am totally convinced that birth > remains one of the most potentially empowering or disempowering experiences > anyone can have in their lifetime. > > I'm still with my partner after nearly 30 years (31st March!) and I'm 48 > soon, but as a couple we are both intensely proud of our kids and also of > ourselves as parents. That parental instinct was certainly 'born' with our > first great homebirth, and no doubt added to with each of the other three. > > A passionate normal birth advocate! > > Sue > > > > > > -- > This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. > Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe. > > > -- > This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. > Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe. > -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe.
