Options and Opinions

The baby has come - and I definitely have a lot to say about it. I've got stuff on my mind and don't want to play catch up. So, I'm diving right in.

I'm in the mommy camp of "if it works for you, don't sweat what other people say/think." Of course I recognize that there are some things that are safer than others - but we are all making a thousand decisions as they relate to our children every week and we can't really be second guessing everything we do - we'll go nuts!

I certainly felt this way about decisions when it came to giving birth. I wanted to have as few interventions as possible - hoping to give birth without a bunch of things connected to me or lots of chemicals in my system. Pablo and I took classes. We practiced. We made a birth plan. We talked about the continuum of what we would do if it were necessary. And then, my water broke and labor did not start. I needed an IV with antibiotics because I was positive for Strep B. After quite a bit of time with very little labor, I needed pitocin. And, then I was exhausted and got an epidural. Each of these was the right thing for us at the time. But, it wasn't my ideal. And honestly, I have no ** very little judgement when it comes to what any other person does in this situation.

It seems like this pattern continues into other areas. We are using cloth diapers - sometimes. We still have yet to use a cloth diaper over night. And, there are days that we just put a disposable on because it's easier. And, I don't care what decision other parents make.

So far, I am making all of my son's food - until I don't. There will be a time, I'm sure, when I just don't have time or make the decisions that it's easier to buy something at the store rather than make it myself. (We're also thinking of doing Baby-Led Weaning, but at the recommendation of G's allergist, we have already started to introduce some foods to test for allergies. Since he's not yet 6 months, we've been doing purees.)

All of this is to say, I get that this parenting thing is fluid. Sometimes you just have to do what is best for you and your child at the time. As a lactation specialist (whose job is to promote breastfeeding) said to us, "You're main goal is to make sure your child is fed." It isn't the end of the world if things don't quite go according to plan, as long as the needs of your child are being met. We learned that on Day 2 in the hospital - and gave our little tiny fussy baby formula because he was so hungry and wasn't getting much from me.

But, right now, I'm wishing there was a guaranteed step-by-step method to getting a child to sleep. Our little one was a decent sleeper from about 2 ½ months to almost 4 months. And now, as we approach 6 months, we are realizing that we need some way to help him fall asleep. There are so many different recommendations of what to do - but the one consistent seems to be that we should be consistent. So, we haven't started anything yet - how's that for consistency?

**I realize I have some opinions against convenience C-sections. If you are scheduling it so you can have your baby born on a special date or for some other non-medical timing issue, I have opinions.