crazy natural parenting

I am a very usual person. But some people subconsciously make me think I am special. If only I say that my husband and I are trying to bring up our daughter in a natural way there are lots of people standing in line to tell us that we are crazy.



When I say "in a natural way" I mean natural parenting: childbirth with father, long breast-feeding, carrying a child in a sling, sleeping in one bed with a child while he/she is fed by mother`s milk. Along with this we do not think that a child should feel herself a center of universe being so vulnerable and week to make her parents stop living their active and bright life. Whenever we need to go somewhere we take our little daughter with us so that she knows that we are always near and are not going to leave her.

Here in Russia most people don` t mind smoking and drinking alcohol in public places, listening to loud music in transport, swearing, beating and shouting at their children - this all would be considered as somebodies`s private matter or at least most people would be afraid to stop somebody doing it. But it has nothing to do with natural parenting, because almost everybody would be happy to blame you vulgar or abnormal in case you need to breastfeed your child in a restaurant. Most people would look disapproving if you carry a child in a sling in Moscow metro but hardly ever somebody would stop to help you to carry your baby pram over the stairs. They think the slings are not safe for children, they can even mumble something like "one more crazy woman torturing her child" when they stay close to you, but they pretend not to see you at all when you flop sweat trying to lift a pram.

After having been systematically pushed aside, nowadays young mothers also want to live a full-blown life. It really hurts when a friend of yours asks you "Are you really going to come to our party, don` t you have to stay with a child?" or smth like "I would gladly take you with us, but you know you are not so mobile now". In a month or two such friends stop calling you just after you give a birth. Lots of mothers are ready to live active lives but a few people are ready to understand this. They do not morally accept you any more.

Nevertheless there are still some people, those friends indeed, who never leave you, so some separate sad moments do not ruin your entire life. But there is one more item most people in our country are not ready to understand. I` m talking about vaccination.

It`s as easy as pie to understand that when people take unusual decisions - they usually thoroughly think before making it. I don` t want to say that natural parenting is always one step further, otherwise it` s as old as world. But to make one more decision in bringing up our daughter my husband and I read lots of books, watch lots of scientific movies, talk to experienced doctors and parents. The same way the decision about vaccination was taken. What we hear from lots of people is that our actions are too haphazard. But when we ask them how did they make their decision in favor of vaccination of their children we usually hear that they trust doctors. It` s no problem for them to trust their children to smb they do not know and who gets bonuses for getting more people vaccinated (the plan of vaccination).

As you can people who are called natural parenting fanatics are not so fanatic as you may think.