Have you ever heard any of the following misguided statements?
“She needs to learn to separate from you and be independent. Just leave and I’ll get her to take a bottle.”
“You’re spoiling that child by picking her up so much!”
“He’ll never want to leave your bed!”
While my family supports my attachment parenting style, I have read and heard those statements elsewhere. Of course I have ignored them entirely and done what’s best for my family.  Still, I always wanted to say, “Just you wait and see! My daughter will blossom into an independent, self-assured child! The time and attention I am giving her now are an investment …read more

When my preschooler was three, all she wanted for Christmas was a Baby Born doll (pictured at left). Her friend had a similar Zapf Creation doll, Baby Annabell, and of course my daughter wanted one too. Baby Born comes with a potty and a plastic plate and spoon and even some pretend “food” (don’t get me started about that gooey mess!) It never occurred to me to question the fact that the doll also comes with a pacifier and a baby bottle until other nursing mothers mentioned to me (nicely) that they don’t buy their little girls dolls with bottles. …read more

Coralie of ferrousland from Brisbane, Australia, shared her extended breastfeeding story “Still Breastfeeding at 3″ with me:
“i’m not sure if many of you realise, since i don’t mention it all that often here because it’s such a normal part of our lives, that smiley is still actively breastfeeding.
i don’t go out of my way to mention it, just as i don’t go out of my way to not mention it, but tonight i thought i’d say something, just in case there are mums out there who are struggling with breastfeeding either because of medical or physical issues, or because they’re …read more