Decisions, decisions.....

Being a parent is all about decisions, right? What to feed my baby breast milk or formula, cloth diapers or disposable, bassinet or crib? And then later in life it will be more like private or public school, how much tv should they watch, is junk food ok..etc etc you get the point! Well since Gabriella has grown a bit more now there are several questions we've asked ourselves if we're doing right. After all they don't sell a "Dummy for Parents" or some sort of manual that instructs you how to raise a happy, healthy, independent, sociable, successful human little being. You simply gather your morals, values, opinions, and experiences and put them to the test on your child and hope for the best.

So here's the dilemma, since Gabriella was a baby we rock her to sleep. That is one of the most precious moments that has allowed us to bond with her and I will cherish that forever. Thankfully she is a great sleeper (knocks on wood). We rock her and pat her back/butt and she's out for the night. It sounds wonderful, right? I mean it doesn't bother me one bit to have to put my baby to sleep. But then we've heard of people talking about sleep training, hmm? Sleep training, this is basically a way to wean baby from being put to sleep by their caregivers. You put your baby down in their crib and walk out to allow them to learn to fall asleep on their own. Well that would be glorious if your baby wouldn't cry which is also a part of sleep training- letting them cry-it-out, as many old school folks did to "let their child's lungs develop"...that's pretty funny but a whole different story to talk about.

So of course we want the best for Gabriella and since I read about how wonderful The Ferber Method by Dr. Ferber is, well we put it to the test on Saturday night. My god, was that just pure torture? Gabriella cried for an hour-ONE HOUR people, my poor little baby! We went in there to soothe her but we could not pick her up, that is part of the plan. Now talking about it makes me sad, because sure she fell asleep but because she was completely exhausted from crying for her mommy, is that even necessary? I want my baby to enjoy falling asleep and feel secure while doing it. Of course the advocates for this method would probably tell me that it gets better in time and its the best thing for baby, but really the best thing is what works for each individual family. PERIOD.

I started reading more about the subject and honestly sleep training is just not for us. I mean why even have to sleep train my baby when she is sleeping wonderful on her own. And better yet, I love rocking her to sleep anyway. Isn't that why I had a baby to begin with, to nurture, snuggle, put to sleep and meet her needs? Now of course if it works for you that's great! I think its also about different personalities, just not for us.

Before I know it Gabriella won't be a baby anymore and definitely will not want to be put to sleep, so for now I will cherish and enjoy every.single.night that I have to put sweet Gabriella to sleep.

I am not by all means, disrespecting any parenting style, because that should be left to what works for each individual family. Here is one of the many articles I read about attachment parenting, which mostly describes us.