Attachment parenting ,bonding. co sleeping, Darren Scott.

15 January 2011. The Huisgenoot and You magazine that appeared on the shelves to-day had a very interesting article on Darren Scott, his wife, Sarah-Kate and their little baby, Mark (I read the article in The Huisgenoot but usually there is very little difference between the article in the You and the one in the Huisgenoot).
It says that Mark is sleeping in their bed on a special pillow. This is Sarah Kate's idea. It is called meeslaap in Afrikaans This is what we believe is the right thing to do. We who believe in attachment parenting are adising parents to have babies sleeping with them. Wonderful bonding takes place.

Sleeping together  helps bonding and  the early attachment develop and unfold. The days and weeks after birth is a sensitive period in which mothers (and fathers) and babies are uniquely primed to want to be close to one another. A close attachment after birth and beyond allows the natural, biological attachment-promoting behaviors of the way baby and parents get started with one another. Sleeping in one bed is recommended. Sarah-Kate in the Huisgenoot calls it “meeslaap” or co-sleeping in English.

Of  further  importance is baby wearing.

Babywearing is the practice of wearing or carrying a baby or child in a sling or other form of carrier. Babywearing is far from new and has been practised for centuries around the world. In the industrialized world, babywearing has gained popularity in recent decades, partly under influence of advocates of attachment parenting; however, not all parents who babywear consider themselves attachment parents. Babywearing is a form of baby transport.^[1]

A baby learns a lot in the arms of a busy caregiver. Carried babies fuss less and spend more time in the state of quiet alertness, the behavior state in which babies learn most about their environment.

Baby-wearing improves the sensitivity of the parents. Because your baby is so close to you, you get to know baby better. Closeness promotes familiarity. I hope that these two Darren and Sarah-Kate will do baby wearing. I like what the Xhosa mothers do keeping the baby with a towel or blanket on the back.

Darren says he would pefer Mark to sleep in his own crib in his own room but fortunately he is giving Sarah-Kate her way. She read  much on the subject and is very protective of baby Mark.She believes he must be close to her all the time. 

I would advise her to involve Darren more. He is so keen. 

I wonder what other fathers think of the idea of co-sleeping. 

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