Top Ten {Tuesday}: Attachment Parenting and Breastfeeding Resources

Joining up with Angie at Many Little Blessings for Top Ten {Tuesday} once again.

Unless you've been under a rock the past week, you may have heard about this Time article. Myriad ideas—some positive, some negative, some truthful, some fabricated—have made the rounds. As an advocate of attachment parenting myself, as well as a supporter of breastfeeding, it saddens me to think of all the incomplete messages swirling around out there. So this week I am providing a list of AP and breastfeeding resources. This is a very basic starting point for anyone interested in learning more about AP and how it might look in action, as well as an introduction to common topics and questions surrounding breastfeeding. These links answer the kinds of questions I had as a new mom trying to figure it all out.

Attachment Parenting

1. Let's start with an overview of attachment theory from Wikipedia (simple Psych 101 stuff).

2. Next, let's consider What AP Is (from Ask Dr. Sears).

AP is an approach, rather than a strict set of rules. It's actually the style that many parents use instinctively. Parenting is too individual and baby too complex for there to be only one way. The important point is to get connected to your baby, and the baby B's of attachment parenting help. Once connected, stick with what is working and modify what is not. You will ultimately develop your own parenting style that helps parent and baby find a way to fit – the little word that so economically describes the relationship between parent and baby.—from the Ask Dr. Sears website [emphasis mine]

Sibling bonding: The early days

3. It is also important to keep in mind What AP Is Not (another one from Ask Dr. Sears).

4. Attachment Parenting International provides this overview of What Is Attachment Parenting?. 

5. API's Eight Principles of Parenting explores the tenets of attachment parenting in more detail.

Breastfeeding

6. All of the articles on  breastfeeding from the American Academy of Pediatrics can be found at this link.

8. Health Topics: Breastfeeding provides links to all the breastfeeding articles at the World Health Organization website.

Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended up to 6 months of age, with continued breastfeeding along with appropriate complementary foods up to two years of age or beyond. Breastfeeding is the normal way of providing young infants with the nutrients they need for healthy growth and development. Virtually all mothers can breastfeed, provided they have accurate information, and the support of their family, the health care system and society at large. Colostrum, the yellowish, sticky breast milk produced at the end of pregnancy, is recommended by WHO as the perfect food for the newborn, and feeding should be initiated within the first hour after birth.—from the World Health Organization website [emphasis mine]

Toddler breastfeeding: Always normal, often humorous

9. La Leche League International provides a wealth of information (in multiple languages).

10.  While I primarily think of KellyMom as a go-to site for breastfeeding information, it is also a great resource for general parenting questions.

I hope that if the Time article sparked your interest in AP, child-led weaning, or any aspect of gentle parenting you will peruse some of these links to learn more. Feel free to share.

Thanks for reading and have a blessed day.