I gotta disagree. We kept our little one close, never used a sitter, used the church nursery maybe twice. She’s almost always with one of us. And yet she is utterly trusting, never met a stranger, wanders off all the time, that kind of thing. Sure this is anecdotal, but it does belie what the article is saying.
Children need to face the reality that they are economically impossible without daycare or Grandma.
I need to think of this one. My older two are bonded to my mother (their “daycare” provider) and me (breastfeeding, co-sleeping mommy.) My younger two are bonded to my husband and again, me. (He’s with them during my work day.) I guess my kids are a litte bit shy with/distrustful of new people. On the other hand, they have all gone off to preschool and then other school (public for my son with special needs..private for the girls.)
Not good advice; exhausted mothers, especially mothers of more than one child, can unintentionally smother an infant. When they get older (toddlers), that's different - but an infant? NO WAY - NOT IN A BED.
All of my babies were in cradles, parked right next to our bed. My husband used to laugh because I would sleep with my head at the foot of the bed, one arm slung over into the cradle, touching our children. They didnt' move into their own crib until they were too big for the cradle.
In those instances where I needed to "sleep with baby" (baby was sick, cranky, whatever), I would prop myself up on the couch and rest my children on me. Darn uncomfortable; I didn't sleep - I dozed, but that was the point! Any little fuss or movement and I was awake again.
Around a year old, my son had surgery. After 48 hours of no sleep, I finally pulled him into bed with me and snuggled around him while my husband kept watch. My son was a big boy (he'll be a strapping giant when he grows up); there was little chance of my smothering him.
Little devil...he liked it so much, he came back into the bed for the next year and a half! Sometimes he would crawl in between my husband and I and we wouldn't even know it until we woke up. During bad storms (threats of tornadoes), the kids all still pile into the big bed with Mom and Dad.
I'm all for fostering a survival instinct, bonding, having the parents be the guiding force and caregivers - all excellent points. But this one stood out as a HUGE no no!
“Sleep with your baby. Many people will surely sneer at this one, but sleep, like feeding, is a time of trust and deep bonding.”
I join in sneering. There is no way that you can ‘bond’ with a sleeping baby. A baby that’s awake, yes. A baby that’s snoring, no way. Might as well claim you can bond with a sleeping puppy.
We decided before baby was born that we were not going to listen to anybody, or read any books, and just do what felt natural. We’ve ended up sleeping with her every night. She’s six months now and a happy baby, and sleeps good. I can only imagine how stressed out I’d be if I tried to listen to everybody. I’ll do it the same way with baby #2.