Looking for a Parenting Manual?

s a parent, you will no doubt make hundreds — probably thousands — of important decisions.

But before you get to the question of where your child should attend school, you'll probably make a few early decisions that will shape your parenting style. Co-sleeping or sleep training? Strollers or slings? Breastfeeding or formula?

When it comes to child rearing, how you raise your little one is a personal decision every parent must make. While many parents don’t follow any particular method, there are a few popular philosophies that have been helpful to a great many new moms and dads.

ATTACHMENT PARENTING
RIE (RESOURCES FOR INFANT EDUCARERS)
NATURAL/ALTERNATIVE PARENTING

ATTACHMENT PARENTING
This philosophy, started by famed pediatrician Dr. William Sears, encourages moms and dads to nurture and create strong emotional bonds by being “responsive” or “instinctive” parents. Starting right at birth, attachment parenting encourages the “7 Baby B’s”:

• Birth Bonding
  Start holding, loving and snuggling right from the beginning – stay close!

• Breastfeeding
  To help read your baby’s cues and to promote the “right chemistry” between mother and baby – bring on the breast milk.

• Baby Wearing
  Because “closeness promotes familiarity” – break out the sling and wear that baby for hours a day.

• Bedding Close to Baby
  To keep you connected to your infant at night – either in the same bed or within close touching distance.

• Belief in the Language Value of Your Baby’s Cry
  Helps build trust when parents respond sensitively to their baby’s cry – hey, they’re just trying to communicate.

• Beware of Baby Trainers
  Let yourself be the expert in your baby – steer clear of rigid styles and schedules.

• Balance
  Keep in mind the needs of yourself and your partnership – give baby lots of attention, but try not to neglect you and/or your sweetie.

In a nutshell: If you dig the idea of breastfeeding, wearing your baby all day, and sleeping with them at night, then attach away! You may want to hold off on investing in that crib, stroller, and bouncy chair, too.