The Best Gift for Your Baby – Learn to Trust Your Instincts

This post isn’t new, but I really wanted to revisit it today as part of the Green & Natural Mama Thursday linky at I Thought I Knew Mama.

As a new or expecting parent, what’s more overwhelming – all that baby “stuff” or all that baby advice?

I’ve been there. You have to weave through the living room to avoid the swing, pack & play, vibrating chair that plays music, activity mats, and toys designed to make your newborn smarter.  To tell you far “in” we were with the stuff, we actually returned a bassinet because the baby wouldn’t sleep in it… we thought it was the product’s fault our baby wanted to be with us instead of a ruffly box.

And then there are the questions and unsolicited advice.  As expecting parents…  ”You better sleep now ’cause it’s all over when that baby gets here,” and “Have you thought of any names?” Does anyone else think that’s just a way for non-expecting couples to stake claim on names they’ve thought of?

Or as new parents, we were often told to… “Put that baby on a feeding schedule.”  ”Is he sleeping through the night?”  and my favorite, “What does the doctor say about that?”

Generally the people giving you advice are well-meaning, but they can actually sabotage your confidence as a new parent.  By no means am I saying to isolate yourself… that’s a whole other recipe for disaster. If you read our blog often, you know we think life is all about balance.

Find a Support Network

Finding a support network with like-minded new parents can make a real and lasting difference in your ability to parent successfully.

When my second son was born, I was exceptionally blessed to have a network of Green Mommy friends who supported me during the early months of breastfeeding and attachment parenting.

But it still wasn’t easy.

After one of those first rough nights home with a newborn, my husband and I told my lactation consultant we were really hoping this baby would learn to sleep on his own and become independent faster than his older brother had. I can still see her face – with her head tilted to the side and her mouth open like she was thinking carefully before she responded to these two sleep-deprived people.  Then she said, “But your oldest is such a gracious and content child.  It’s no accident how he became that way.”

Hearing that from someone with an extensive background in birth, nursing, and child development was such an affirmation.

She told us that we had instinctively raised our oldest via attachment parenting.  We hadn’t actually realized it at the time.  She explained how he didn’t have to waste a lot of energy crying and worrying whether his needs would be met.  He was able to go about the process of adapting and growing.  She also gave us the science and studies to back it up.

But no one in my family or previous circle of friends talked about this when I’d had my first baby. No one but my copy of The Baby Book by Dr. Sears. Otherwise, I was surrounded by the mainstream views that the baby should be put on a feeding schedule, trained to sleep in his crib alone all night, and a bunch of other rules that my baby wasn’t born knowing.

That’s why your support group is critical.  With my second son, I was surrounded by nursing mothers, baby wearing, and attachment or Continuum Concept parenting.  And these days, you can even build your support network online.  I’ve seen so many helpful, insightful posts on Facebook and Twitter about attachment parenting, breastfeeding, non-commercialism, safe toys, organic foods, etc.

New mothers now can be plugged in at all hours of the day or night. Imagine just knowing somewhere another new mom is awake nursing her baby at 1:00 in the morning. What a relief to that feeling of isolation that can creep in when our new mommy brains are vulnerable!

With the right support group, you don’t have to be subject to only what your friends and family says.  Or even worse – the media.

The baby marketing industry has fed us a line of crap, convincing us (and we as nervous moms and dads-to-be, or sleep deprived new parents are so desperate to believe ) that if we have enough “stuff” then we’ll be equipped to handle the challenge of a new baby. Or that these “things” will make us a good parent.

We’re scared by those people who tell us during the last month of pregnancy, “Get your sleep now, cause you won’t get any when that baby gets here”  And all the woes of how awful it’s going to be to never have a life of your own again.

I loved an interview I read with a then-pregnant Sara Snow, where she was asked if she had a ton of eco-friendly gear all ready for her baby’s arrival.  Her response was something along the lines of, well, we have a crib and some cloth diapers… otherwise, we’re just going to wait and see what she needs when she gets here.

Now that’s the kind of mom I want in my support network!

Tagged as: green baby gifts, green gifts for kids