Daddy came across this website yesterday...http://www.laurieacouture.com/category/blog/ I am not sure how, but he found it. He asked that I read some of it over.
The first item I read was titled "(Putting Joy Back Into) A Day in the Life of an Industrialized Child". I found the article rather interesting so I thought I would share some portions of it with you because I feel a lot of what this women has written really represents who I am when it comes to raising my kids.
Perhaps I should start by telling you a little about how I am raising Bug and how I will continue on with the 2nd little boy in my belly.
-I co-sleep
It's something I've done since the very moment I gave birth to Bug. Co-sleeping is right for our family. It may not be for everyone but it is for us.
-I breastfeed
Again, I have done this since the second I gave birth and at 34 weeks pregnant with my 2nd child I am STILL breastfeeding.
YES, my plan is to continue to do both, with Bug & with Baby #2 once he is born.
I understand that the majority of the population considers me to be a little "radical" because I co-sleep and I also know that I am probably considered REALLY "radical" because I plan to breastfeed two babies-one that will be 2 and the other a newborn.
I have always taken the philosphy that Bug will stop nursing when he is ready and that he'll move out of our bed when he is ready for that as well.
I believe that breast milk is a cure all and it contains so many healthy properties that I don't see why I should stop nursing my toddler when he is not ready.
It's always bothered me that the society we live in expects us to start turning our new little precious babies, fresh from our womb, into independent little people as soon as we give birth to them. I know there is probably a lot of "snickering" that goes on behind my back because of some of the choices I've made in raising my child but I also know that not one person can find anything wrong with him. In fact, if I didn't just tell you that I co-sleep and nurse you wouldn't know.
Okay, so here are a few parts from the article. I wanted to share them with you so that perhaps you could have a little better insight to why I do some of the things I do.
We are born, often into a frightening hospital setting, removed from our mother, who is the one person nature critically needs us to be with the most. Every nerve ending screams to be with her, and the first taste of pain and loss is felt when we are removed from mother and put in a bassinet or incubator. If a baby is a boy, the most sensitive, intimate part of his body is subjected to excruciating physical, emotional and sexual agony as the foreskin is amputated, further delivering the bond to the mother another wound. Before we are even brought home, our lives are already about pain and having to suffer the emptiness of unmet needs.
Once home, we will be put in an isolating crib, causing us to scream all the more for our mothers. We are unnaturally bottle fed liquid made in some factory, plastic in our mouths, transported in strollers and carriers and isolated in playpens and swings. We are wired to be with our mothers, we are wired to need her touch, her skin against ours, her breast milk and her emotional attunement in order for our brain and psyche to be activated, but we receive so little of her that it just can’t satiate the void. When we, two, ten 13 or 20 years later, begin to act out our pain and emptiness in ways that are self destructive or destructive to others, no one will make the connection.
Now that you have read those two paragraphs, read the one below....
Now, imagine how nature intended our lives to be: We are born into a loving family who attunes with our bliss, meets our needs and blankets us with the rapture of skin-to-skin touch, nurturing and affection. We are cherished. We are breastfed for three years, held constantly in arms our first year of life and are rarely put down. Our cries are soothed as soon as we breathe them and our connection to our mothers is warm, empathic, passionate and deep. We sleep in the family bed.
What sounds better to you?
Yes, again you may think I am crazy but what I am doing for and with my family is right for us!
I encourage you to read the whole article and once you have done so I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions.
Lots of Love~SL
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