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I think terms like "night time parenting" don't help. To me it sounds as if the inference is that those who don't follow this method are choosing to simply not parent at night. JMO
The term can be off putting but all it really means is responding to your child's needs at night whether it be for food or for comfort or something else. Rather then sleep training or letting a child "cry it out" one would trust that their child will eventually be able to sleep through the night on their own when he or she is ready and trusting that the child is crying because he or she really needs Mom or Dad to respond whether it's for comfort or something else. Co-sleeping often makes sense for a parent who feels this way because it makes it easier to respond at night when the baby is close by but by no means is it necessary.
AP is a lable that means NOTHING. People parent their own way and do a little of this and a little of that. What to know what AP is? MARKETING.
There is one born every minute you know. People LOVE lables, they LOVE to say they are "this" or "that". Everyone fears not being part of something and it's that insecurity that drives everything. I don't buy into it but I've always been a bit of a loner and a rebel
I think terms like "night time parenting" don't help. To me it sounds as if the inference is that those who don't follow this method are choosing to simply not parent at night. JMO
Like the two examples below.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ADVentive
Responding compassionately doesn't mean always giving in. It's not that my child never cries, but she doesn't cry alone without a compassionate caregiver for comfort.
Most parents are compassionate caregivers regardless of the "ideology" they follow.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ADVentive
I think that non-AP parents also tout "self-soothing" to be a much more important goal than AP parents. I don't expect my infant to self-soothe. I would rather she learns love and trust than self-soothing as an infant.
The term can be off putting but all it really means is responding to your child's needs at night whether it be for food or for comfort or something else. Rather then sleep training or letting a child "cry it out" one would trust that their child will eventually be able to sleep through the night on their own when he or she is ready and trusting that the child is crying because he or she really needs Mom or Dad to respond whether it's for comfort or something else. Co-sleeping often makes sense for a parent who feels this way because it makes it easier to respond at night when the baby is close by but by no means is it necessary.
I understand the whats and whys... I just think it's an unfortunate term which adds to unnecessary divisiveness. Even people who don't practice AP still parent 24/7....when I got up at night for whatever reason throughout my child's life I just thought that was called parenting.
I understand the whats and whys... I just think it's an unfortunate term which adds to unnecessary divisiveness. Even people who don't practice AP still parent 24/7....when I got up at night for whatever reason throughout my child's life I just thought that was called parenting.
I hear you but I don't think anyone is trying to be divisive. It's just a way to describe what something means without a long explanation. Just like the terms, "sleep training" or "cry it out" are labels used to describe aspects of parenting.
The term can be off putting but all it really means is responding to your child's needs at night whether it be for food or for comfort or something else. Rather then sleep training or letting a child "cry it out" one would trust that their child will eventually be able to sleep through the night on their own when he or she is ready and trusting that the child is crying because he or she really needs Mom or Dad to respond whether it's for comfort or something else.
There is one genuine issue called a sleep association. When the child cannot sleep more than 45 minutes or so (about one sleep cycle) because of a sleep association, then cry it out makes a good deal of sense.
There is one genuine issue called a sleep association. When the child cannot sleep more than 45 minutes or so (about one sleep cycle) because of a sleep association, then cry it out makes a good deal of sense.
I can see that and if that makes the most sense to a parent then by all means they should go with it. All that I'm trying to do is explain the perspective of "nightime parenting" from an AP standpoint and that is that babies and children will learn to fall asleep on their own when they are ready. I'm not saying that everyone should agree with this or that this is the only way to look at sleep or that people doing things in different ways are wrong. I'm just trying to explain the AP perspective on it.
I can see that and if that makes the most sense to a parent then by all means they should go with it. All that I'm trying to do is explain the perspective of "nightime parenting" from an AP standpoint and that is that babies and children will learn to fall asleep on their own when they are ready. I'm not saying that everyone should agree with this or that this is the only way to look at sleep or that people doing things in different ways are wrong. I'm just trying to explain the AP perspective on it.
Not a problem. Just offering a different circumstance that might prevent learning to fall asleep on ones own without some intervention.
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