Baby Led Rearing - do you do it?

[Rhubarb]

I am currently writing a book on the new method of baby led rearing. This is where you rear your child according to their wants and needs. So for example, if baby wants to put their head in the dog's bowl, we allow it as they need to find out what is acceptable or not for themselves. We, as parents, as just the observers in this scenario that is life. Baby finds out what is good and not so good by exploring for themselves. They decide when to eat and when to sleep and we are led by their decisions.

Any questions?

sad old geeky granny put right re. fruit

granny, conslut Wikipedia or a reference books before ALL posts, or the [pedant]s will get you!

Conslut, that's a good one!

[pedant]

Sweeeeeeeeeeet
Agamemnon has just H- blocked his cot - showing such artistic leanings
I would never have known about this Rhuby if you had not allowed me to let him go nappy free as he desired at 11 months.......thankyou

Any time.

Remember now, the children teach us, we are brainwashed by society and need re-training by our own children.

rhubarb

just realised I was with you within the last couple of weeks wasn't I?

dd2 haschickenpox, just letting you know incase yours haven't had it

They've had it thanks. Although ds has a vomiting bug right now. Obviously though I let him led me as to where and when he will vomit and what he then decides to do with it!

Will call you re the weekend.

lol

hope ds feels better soon

Rhubarb - I need some help and advice.

I really believe in the concept of BLR and intend to follow it without exception when DC2 is born.

The problem is that in order to be fully effective, and avoid any risk of psychological damage to my DC, I think it has to begin at the arliest opportunity. This 'all things on moderation' might work ofr a swig of fruit shoot amongst less committed parents, but in this case, I feel, for me, not criticising anyone else's choices, BLR has to be an absolute principle from day one.

So how do we do BLC? (Baby led conception). We have been trying and trying...but without the baby to lead it, we are having no luck.

What do you suggest?

I agree completely!

When the baby cries you must always attend to it and offer it a selection of choices until the baby is happy. When it is a little older it will be able to indicate what it needs.

You must have your selection written down so you do not forget, such as;

milk
wipe poo
stimulate
cuddle
teletubbies
chew phone cable
etc

Listen to your baby. The very fact that you cannot yet distinguish your baby's cries means that you are not paying sufficient attention to your baby. I suggest you strap baby to you and keep it there 24hrs a day.

rhuby a difficult one...

my seven year old just told me to 'fuck right off and go and eat shit' I hope i was correct in sitting him down with his new Nintendo wii and letting him have his pizza in the lounge for a change

i feel so mad at myself - how can i stop myself from asking him if he has had a good day?????

You were not paying him enough attention were you?

You must not lay down rules for the child! You bad mother! Listen to your child and let your child lead you - that is the whole point!

Now go and apologise and beg for forgiveness!

Rhubarb - please, how do I achieve baby led conception?

Well, the man puts his willy into your vagina and stuff comes out and if an egg is in your body it might lead to pregnancy. If you are unlucky that is!

yes, but the tricky question is, is it sperm led or egg led?

I'll get back to you on that one when I've done some research!

Please... of course it is sperm led. The female half just loafs about leading an unfulfilled life and the male half does all the work.

I'm not sure LL, it's up to the egg whether to receive or not the quickest sperm

franca, you make a good point

You know, I am supposed to be working!!!

me too!

But if there isn't a baby yet, how can the conception be baby led?

It's a chicken and egg question.

It's much harder than I thought, this BLR.

There WILL be a space on the Borders bookshelves for you and your book. There WILL be mums (dads are too self-interested) desperate enough to buy it.

I got caught up in the 'Natural Nurturing Network' when DS1 was a baby. It involved camping with Very Mad Women, whilst DH went off to watch football in a pub.

Since then I've realised that, sadly, my mum was right all along and you do actually need to be in charge or the DCs make your life a living hell.

Just finished reading Jean (the genius) LIedloffs continuum concept about her experience with a "stone age" tribe. According to the theory, Children needs overt guidance with "modern" things like traffic, chemicals etc. But they have an innate ability to preserve themselves when it comes to balancing, cliffs, jumping accross things. They only hurt themselves in these circumstances because its <span class="italic">expected</span> of them i.e. "Get down from there or youll fall" They often obey the promise of their mother by falling. They are innately social so do what they are expected to do. So if you expect them to be naughty and stick their head in the dog bowl, they inevitably will. If you say "now dont run/dont be naughty/be quiet in here", they`ll do the opposite because you are infering that you expect them to be naughty/run/loud. They obey your expectation, because children are designed to do whats expected of them by their mother and by society.
So the theory goes...Perhaps a little utopian for our western society, but worth a try. Better than smacking, which was considered the norm for a while.

ds2 has just eaten his own poo....I said to him "would you like some more"
Might put the rest in the fridge to chill for later...