A Busy Mom’s Parenting Philosophy #greenmoms

“How do you balance your busy lifestyle and manage to keep a focus on attachment parenting?”

I’m a busy mom, sometimes my friends and family think somehow I’m able to do it all!  Trust me I can’t!  I work full-time at a busy office, I’m home 3 out of the 7 days in a week and I’m here writing to you on a regular basis.  So, why do I spend my precious time writing a blog?  I have such a passion for natural parenting that I love to share about it here so other moms are not so intimidated by it and can understand that no matter how busy you are, you can make time to raise your children with an attachment parenting philosophy.

My first recommendation to is to find community.  Shortly after my first son was born I realized that I did not “fit the mold” so to speak in the way I was beginning to raise my boy.  I quickly found that cloth diapering was the stepping stone into a great world of natural parenting.  As I began searching online for new types of cloth diapers, how to sew my own cloth diapers I soon discovered that there was a term for my type of parenting, and that is “attachment parenting.”  I also found a local Baltimore natural parenting group and an attachment parenting group with playdates and an online forum.  Once I began meeting other mothers with similar interests it gave me a way to have an outlet once a week when we would have a playdate to discuss topics such as natural childbirth, organic locally grown foods, babywearing techniques, cloth diapers (of course) and more!

Secondly, I highly recommend co-sleeping.  This is a time when a busy mom like me who is away from the home for many hours a day gets to regain that “attachment” that my baby and I miss out on while I’m out of the house.  Co-sleeping helps give my baby the comfort to know that I am always by his side while he’s asleep.  Not only does co-sleeping help my baby sleep better, but it also helps me, the nursing mom.  If he’s hungry, he can just squirm a little and I’ll feed him without having to get out of bed to get him or to really “wake-up” myself!

Breastfeeding is the next and probably the most important on my list of attachment parenting recommendations for the busy mom.  I am away at work for many hours, so I have to pump three times a day while I’m away from home to keep up my supply for my now 7 month old boy.  So, a high quality pump is a necessary evil!  My supply is kept up very well this way and this gives me the chance to exclusively breastfeed when we are together.  I never give him a bottle otherwise.  With my first son I pumped at work until he was 15 months old and then was able to continue to nurse him in the morning before work and in the evenings and on the weekends without “drying-up”.  The ability to breastfeed my children is such a wonderful gift and if you can keep it up with a little help from a pump, you and your children will benefit enormously!

Finally, I recommend babywearing.  This is the best way for me to multi-task around the house.  I find it especially useful for cleaning and for managing my two children.  I can be holding one baby hands-free and help the other big boy with what ever we may be working on that day.  I find myself almost always holding my baby and even holding him when he is asleep, it is much easier to accomplish and give my arms a break with my wrap or soft-structured carrier.  We also love to go for walks around the neighborhood and my older boy can walk, while I take the dog on a leash and the baby in the carrier, multi-tasking at its best!

What is your take on this topic, do you have a way to “do it all”?  I’d love to hear what you have to say, grab my button and link up to the “Green Moms Weekly” Blog Carnival!  For blog carnival rules please visit this page.

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