Sunday, July 17, 2011

Sunday Surf: Baby milestones & parenting philosophies

Welcome to the Sunday Surf! Here are some of the best links I've read this past week.

Or, actually, two weeks. Because I took last week off, what with my in-laws visiting and all. (P.S. They're still here.)

newborn baby with grandmother on the beach
Alrik getting in some Grandma time.



Lauren:
 
Hee hee hee…sooooo here right now, both with the poop octopus & with the desperate 4-year-old. :)
INTRO: I've been wanting to share a few "real life parenting" moments but I don't have any photos. Everybody hates text only posts. So I drew some really crappy pictures to illustrate. Here goes... -------------------------------------------------------------------- I have a four year old and a one year old. The one year old...

Lauren:
 
Ok, this cracked me up. I know all about Way Too Much Nesting, but the "milk" and "juice" labels slayed me.

Lauren:
 
Love this article on not getting hung up on developmental milestones & letting our children learn at their pace (and then sitting back to marvel). Via The Variegated Life:http://www.thevariegatedlife.com/on-my-mind-07-11-11/ (See the comments there for some interesting back-and-forth between Inder and Rachael about the helpfulness of milestones as well!)
Right now, she has endless possibility in her life. She has the rest of her life to conform to the rules society imposes on her and know the things she's "supposed to know." I will not limit her potential (yet) with these finite rules.

via RoniNoone.com on 7/11/11
Lauren:
 
This is something I've been thinking about a lot as my backlog of reviews grows and grows (oops!). When I first started doing reviews, it was so exciting to hear from actual PR companies and get loot. But now I get pitches all the time, and I know now that writing a review and hosting and promoting a giveaway is WORK. Obviously I'm still doing plenty, but to get paid with a product can start making you feel a wee bit used as a blogger. What's your perspective (as a reader or blogger)?

via www.whattoexpect.com on 7/9/11
Lauren:
 
We delayed cord clamping (this time) as well. I'm sad my firstborn didn't get the benefits of all of "his" blood. I read a lot about the placenta and the cord this time around and was amazed (as in this post) at how the blood helps newborns transition to breathing and helps prevent anemia.

You know you are a hippy-mama (or papa) when…

A checklist all in good fun from Loving Earth Mama. I got 16 out of 20 — but only because I still need to buy an amber necklace, hee. How did you score?

Rewriting the baby milestones

I was pleased to welcome a guest post from Charise of I Thought I Knew Mama. Check it out and come enjoy the gentle debate in the comments.

I have mixed views on milestones, because Mikko, while within a normal range for many milestones was rarely average — and sometimes not even normal. I know with many questioners, asking about milestones (is he walking? is she sitting up?) is a benign conversation starter, and for doctors it can be a way to move children into any extra help they need. But I have experience with relatives who ask about milestones only to nitpick and (unfavorably) compare (particularly when it comes to verbal development), and I have experience with doctors fixating on one milestone while ignoring the overall indicators of health.

For instance, Mikko's pediatrician was obsessed with the fact that he didn't crawl — he scooted. He needed to learn to crawl, she told us at every visit, or he would become dyslexic. (This was a misreading, in my opinion, on studies showing a link between dyslexia and having not crawled [a misunderstanding of causality], and on crawling theory potentially helping people with dyslexia.) She ignored the fact that we had hardwood floors (hard on the knees) and he was a very heavy little guy (harder for him to balance himself on hands and knees than sitting). We ignored her and let Mikko bottom-scoot until he walked — and then, wouldn't you know it? — he then learned how to crawl as well. The jury's still out on whether he'll be dyslexic — he seems to be developing well in terms of reading and writing at this age — but I'm not worried either way.

What have your milestone experiences been, and what are your thoughts on people's fixation on them? Join the conversation in the comments over there, and thanks to Charise for sparking it!


Carnival of Natural Parenting

Carnival of Natural Parenting -- Hobo Mama and Code Name: MamaWe had a fabulous Carnival of Natural Parenting this week on the topic of parenting philosophies. I really enjoyed hearing our writers' overarching reasons for parenting the way they do. There was a lot of inspiration to go around! Check out the links at the end of the post and click over to the ones that look interesting to you.

I was happy to have Sam guest post for me on the subject of giving Mikko an allowance at four years old. It's been working well so far — read about our little experiment with finances, and feel free to leave your questions and comments for Sam to respond to.


Carnival round-up

I've created a linky page for blog carnivals of relevance to natural parents: Natural parenting blog carnivals

You can enter upcoming carnivals to the list, or take note of the submission deadlines so you can write in community with likeminded parents.

Submissions to the linky are moderated (to make sure carnivals are relevant) and will be removed as the live dates pass so it will keep (mostly) up to date.


Babywearing in Hot Weather

I have a guest post this week on Natural Parents Network on slinging a baby even in the summer. Add your suggestions and experiences in the comments!


Visit Natural Parents Network

From Natural Parents Network this week



Giveaways!

I've created a new ongoing linky for natural parenting giveaways to draw attention to relevant giveaways. Instead of being lost in the bigger giveaway linky lists, jumbled in with products that don't speak to our lifestyles or values, your giveaways can shine in this list tailored to attachment parents interested in a natural lifestyle. It will also help highlight the "little-guy" prizes: products from WAHMs and Etsy shops, self-published books, and unique and niche offerings.

If you're a natural parenting blogger and are hosting a giveaway, enter it in the linky! Please note that entries are moderated, so it will take time for your submission to appear.

And if you're a natural parent, go check out the full list of giveaways to see what you can win!

There's also a Facebook page for giveaways by parenting bloggers created by Jennifer of Hybrid Rasta Mama. If you "like" the page, you can promote your own giveaways there as well or find out about new ones.

Here are the current giveaways round these parts:

You can find more shared items during the week at my public Google Reader recommendations feed.

Check out Authentic Parenting, Baby Dust Diaries, Navelgazing, Momma Jorje, I Thought I Knew Mama, Enjoy Birth, A Domesticated Woman's Adventures (various), Fabulous Mama Chronicles, Kelly Hogaboom (Fridays), The Parent Vortex (weekends), Ichigo Means Strawberry, TouchstoneZ, Hippie Housewife (Saturdays), Multiple Musings, Motherhood Moments, Mama and Baby Love, and A Little Bit of All of It for more Sunday Surfing! (If you also participate in a regular link list, whether on Sunday or not, let me know and I'll add your link.)

Feel free to add your recommendations in the comments. Happy reading!

4 comments:

Charise @ I Thought I Knew Mama said...

Thank you again for hosting my post about baby milestones, for the Sunday Surf shout out, and for sharing your own experiences with milestones, Lauren! I'm just catching up on all things blogging after being away for the weekend, and I'm looking forward to reading the conversation in the comments section.

Amanda said...

Thanks Lollygag Lauren. I feel like a superstar.


Also, I don't think we have nearly enough giveaways going on right now. We could use another 50. Thousand.

Momma Jorje said...

We had hardwood floors and Tyler was also a big chunk of a baby (*only* 8lb 10oz at birth, then rolls of healthy fat baby!). She also scooted rather than crawled. Our doc at the time said about half of babies do this. I haven't seen that many, but it does seem to be an increasing amount.

Anyway, she did learn to crawl after she learned to walk. And she does not seem to be dyslexic. Surely it would have shown up by now, she's nearly 13.

Inder-ific said...

That's funny, we have hardwood floors too (and no rugs, because our dogs cannot, ahem, be trusted around rugs) and Joe was a "commando crawler" for such a long time. I thought he would never pick up his belly and crawl properly (he did finally). When he was in a fleece sleeper, we called him our "little swiffer" bc he would pick up an ungodly amount of dog fur and dust sliding around on his belly like that. :-)

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