Attachment parenting my ass. That comment about “prepackaged” parenting is dead on. Both sides would have you believe that you’re either raising a massively entitled little brat by co-sleeping or that you’re psychologically destroying your child’s beautiful independent rainbow-colored soul by not co-sleeping. My major concern with co-sleeping is that it may not be safe. The “co-sleeper” item is great, though, and I wish we’d bought one. It’s the right height for pulling out baby / popping her back in. Which the bassinet isn’t, and the car seat or other baby recliner isn’t much better (too low instead of too high).

Finally: “Cry it out” is NOT for babies who don’t yet have enough brain to do operant learning. Take it from a clinical psych grad student with a fair grounding in development. Also: “Cry it out” is NOT about just letting them cry all night long. Take it from a clinician in training who DOES exposure therapy and knows that throwing people in the deep end ain’t civilized.

I was adamant that no babies would ever sleep in my bed too, until I had them. It’s just easier, especially with breastfeeding, to let them stay after they’ve been fed and changed. Everybody gets more sleep that way.

For once you got it exactly right. A lot of young adults have strong ideas about how parenting should be done. Many of them come out of that attitude once they have to raise children themselves. I sure did!

Attachment parenting, shmattachment parenting. Pick and choose what fits you best. The important thing is that your little daughter learns through your actions that you’re always there for her and thus can grow into a confident young woman–and, as all the parenting books say, you can’t spoil a baby. Of course, those books don’t tell the reader when the “baby” status ends. I’m guessing with senior prom maybe. Or the 25th birthday.