Attatchment Parenting, Natural Parenting

There are a large group of parents practicing a "new-fangled" parenting style called attatchment parenting. These parents believe that babies and children instintively know what they need. They hold the babies when the baby wants them too, they feed on cue. They believe that the baby knows what they need and that the parents will only spoil them by ignoring their needs.

I believe that this style of parenting has much going for it.

The act of contiuously holding and touching your infant increases their brain developement and causes them to bond strongly to you. The act of meeting their every need and desire (at least until they are toddlers) teaches them to have a trust and have faith that they will be cared for and that the world is a safe place for them. Co-sleeping ensures that they are cared for at night, and eliminates much of parent night-waking, if breastfeeding.

Really, it is much older than the now classic "cry it out parenting" where you train yourself to ignore your babies cries and smack them for evey misdeed.

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said,
“and I will make you fishers of men.”