Lynn's Story
One dark, stormy night my 16 month old son woke up next to me, concerned about the wind howling outside. He didn't know what it was but looked to me to explain it and let him know if it was safe or not. I quietly told him it was the wind and softly copied the noise it made. He smiled back at me and went back to sleep in my arms.
Moments like this confirm to us that attachment parenting and co-sleeping are the right approach for our son and family life. He doesn't stop needing his parents just because it's bedtime. I know that I personally don't like to be alone during the night if I hear noises in the dark, if I'm cold or if I have a bad dream. It makes sense to us that our son would want close contact too. After all, he didn't know what was dangerous and what wasn't, couldn't pull his blankets over himself or reassure himself that a bad dream wasn't 'real'.
I can't say that AP is an easy approach, at least at first. It took a fair bit of adjustment in our lives to make sure we all got enough sleep for instance. As an 'older' Mum, I'm not sure I could have done it if I hadn't been lucky enough to be a full-time Mum, able to catch up on sleep during the day at times. It has all paid off though. It is still paying off in the close, trusting relationship we have with our son.
I feel very lucky to have an AP support group close by. It can be hard to AP when family and friends, health visitors etc feel we should have left our son in his own room by now to 'cry-it-out' or who look askance at our happily breastfeeding toddler. It's been so reassuring to be in a room with other AP style parents, comfortably breastfeeding, discussing parenting subjects from 'the same page'. I feel a lot less isolated in our parenting choices and, as a result, a happier Mama!