Weaning a two-and-a-half-year old is HARD :(

[bright sparks]

I care for an AP child, I posted a while ago about them and how the parents never told me upon paying their deposit and signing the contract. It was literally 2 weeks prior to starting that I found out. Now here is my opinion on AP.

I think AP is fine, I honestly do although its not for me I respect the choices people make on their parenting styles, I don't have to agree with it if it doesn't effect me. In my position it does effect me and through my experience with this child and family I have my own opinions now. This parent went online to look into alternatives to letting a child cry it out and came across AP which I don't think she had ever consciously decided to do but did out of ease for herself and when she came across a theory of parenting that reinforced that what she was doing was okay and acceptable, she decided that she would say she was attachment parenting. I think there is a huge difference between making a conscious choice to AP after research over an extended period of time, and those parents who for many reasons do not have it in them to put in the hard work of "training" a child to self sooth and be independent. I think some parents who say they AP, actually don't but the theory that is put before them excuses them from their choice not to grow a pair and deal with an overly dependent child...which seems ridiculous as obviously children, especially infants, are extrememly dependent so what I really mean is when a parents actions and choices prevent a childs healthy development of independence skills. Now I am human and have gone through my time with my youngest where he screamed continuously through the night from 12mths, absolutely fine prior to this, and no matter whether I fed him, snuggled, put him in the car for a drive, put in front of tv, just would not shut up! He came into bed with me which worked for a few weeks and then didn't, and then eventually we just strapped him in a 5 point harness stroller next to our bed with a dvd on repeat and somehow managed to rock him throughout the night to get some kind of rest. But I didn't give it a name to justify why he wasn't unable to self sooth, I simply accepted that this is a phase he is going through and I need to be able to go to work in the morning and be able to function. That's what worked for me and I couldn't care less what others thought. I don't believe a parent who simply co-sleeps is attachment parenting, there are a lot of other principles to this style which can benefit a child that are involved, but there are a lot of parents who bring their child into bed and breast feed at night to sooth them nothing else, who I believe use the label AP as a way to excuse and justify this practice. I have to deal with a child who is AP and his mother is trying hard to breast feed till he is 2 and he is 14mths now. I so desperately want to ask her why? There is absolutely no nutritional benefit to breastfeeding beyond the time that a child is eating a well balanced wholefood diet. You can get far better sources of nutrition through whole foods, even if the child has dairy issues.

@Lee-Bee soy milk is also insanely bad for people to consume let alone a child. There are numerous studies proving this and I couldn't honestly care less what the dietician said. They are bound by the government to promote the Canada food guide which is responsible for numerous health issues as a result and also its the same people who are okay telling you to consume foods that are heavily processed and full of "non food" products as preservatives. Best to actually do your own research and seek the advice of someone who isn't ethically conflicted such as a Registered Nutritionist...still regulated but a hell of a lot more knowledgeable, on so many levels.

@Crazy Eight, this is absolutely the place for someone to post about this subject, all be it in the wrong category. The OP was commenting on the difficulties of weaning off the breast while attachment parenting. Daycare providers both have experience weaning multiple children, and as this thread proves there are a number of providers who have also chosen to AP themselves. An AP specific forum wouldn't answer her questions objectively because it is a pro-AP place, so I think having numerous perspectives on this forum site is a great place to come to. People can post whatever they want on here, that's why there is a section called "this and that". I hope the OP didn't just delete all her posts because she felt unwelcome to post this here or felt attacked. We don't have to all agree with each other on here, but when someone comes on here for advice or to vent, there's nothing worse than being told to go elsewhere.