Don't Be a Sheep

I post about a lot of different things on my blog. Breastfeeding, pregnancy, natural birth, car seat safety, etc. I post about them because I'm passionate about these things and the things I post are my opinions based on my own research. Not everyone will agree with me. I know that I am not a typical mainstream American mom and that's okay.

When I was pregnant I quickly discovered just how many people take there words of their doctors as gold. They become blind followers. "Your baby is too big for you to birth--you need a c-section."  "You're not progressing quickly enough--you need pitocin."  In the IF support group I started I saw so many women  just sit back and let the doctors do what they wanted to do instead of advocating for themselves when they didn't fall pregnant month after month.  We are taught we should trust our doctors afterall, right? My experience with infertility totally changed that for me and I probably wouldn't be a mom today if I had listened to those doctors. 

In my last post I wrote that I feel letting a baby cry it out is cruel and unnecessary. I stand by that. There have been times when I couldn't settle Hazel down. She cried, I cried. In my limited four months of experience, my husband and I have started to discover our parenting philosophy. It will evolve over time, I'm sure. We will catch a lot of flack for it, I'm sure. (You don't have a crib? You wear her like that all the time? You wash POOP in your washing machine? She can't just eat whenever she wants.) It's already started but I have a reason for everything I do, whether it be breastfeeding, co-sleeping or whatever. I'm not doing it just because I saw someone else do it or because some doctor told me to. Hazel's pediatrician actually told me last month that she should be sleeping through the night at around four months and I should start letting her fuss. I just gave her the ole smile and nod . This is what I did whereas other parents may go home and say, "Oh no. Our baby needs to be sleeping through the night. Our doctor says it's okay to let her cry so it must not be bad." And that's that.

Okay, back the point of this entry. Don't be a blind follower, no matter the issue. Do your research, form your opinion and then stand by it. You will be judged. A lot. But as long as you're doing what you feel is best for your family then that's all you can do.