When would not consider someone AP'ing?

[TexasHeatherLynn]

Originally Posted by Terra I do agree that sometimes you [general you/general us] just can't 100% say either way how/what will happen in the future! That's for sure, I wish we could though! ETA: I haven't read up on that story yet, but it does go both ways like you said. Shoot on the end of the spectrum look at the Ezzos. They have children who have nothing to do with them at all now. It's funny because I feel the same way about 'mainstream' groups. I AM thankful that we all have different things to choose from though!

Yes, and the Pearls have amazing kiddos. We could play that game all day: You name a parenting strategy and I'll name kids that turned out good/problematic.

In the end I think the majority of us do the best we can, based on our own set of ideals, morals, and beliefs. Even in AP sects, there is going to be a vast difference in what defines the way they parent. Just as in Christianity. There are MANY different religions that are Christ centered. However, they vary so much that you cannot lump them all together. At the end of the day, it boiled down to the fact that they are Christ centered. You can plot them all on a Venn diagram and although they may overlap on several areas, the one they WILL overlap on is the one centered on Christ.

I feel it is the same with AP. When it comes down to it, AP center around the needs of their child before themselves, when I think other types of parenting focus around their own needs before those of their children.

NOW, as far as LLL being cliquey and uppity around AP I have to totally disagree. I know that some areas are probably like that as some parts of the country are more crunchy than others, but from what I have experienced their only focus is on breastfeeding and the rest is non-issue. With my first child I had a mild stroke in childbirth and was in ICU for 7 days. During that time he was bottle fed. When I was finally able to BF he didn't latch right and became very frustrated with BF. AFter 2 weeks of this and bloody nipples, me crying and him crying, we called a LLL leader and she came to the rescue. She saved our BF relationship. She never tried to influence me any other way about parenting, just encouraged BF. I did go to meetings and I can honestly say I never met one babywearer, CD, or anything else labeled as "AP" (except maybe co-sleeping). I didn't even know there was a label such as babywearer until my fourth child was born. I did know about the carriers like the Snuggli and baby Bjorn, but those were never comfortable for me. However, I did carry by babies around A LOT because I felt the need to have them close. I had no idea there were ways to assist. Shoot, I wish someone at LLL had educated me on babywearing because it would have made life with 3 under 3 much easier.

[Terra]

Originally Posted by TexasHeatherLynn Yes, and the Pearls have amazing kiddos. We could play that game all day: You name a parenting strategy and I'll name kids that turned out good/problematic. In the end I think the majority of us do the best we can, based on our own set of ideals, morals, and beliefs. Even in AP sects, there is going to be a vast difference in what defines the way they parent. Just as in Christianity. There are MANY different religions that are Christ centered. However, they vary so much that you cannot lump them all together. At the end of the day, it boiled down to the fact that they are Christ centered. You can plot them all on a Venn diagram and although they may overlap on several areas, the one they WILL overlap on is the one centered on Christ. I feel it is the same with AP. When it comes down to it, AP center around the needs of their child before themselves, when I think other types of parenting focus around their own needs before those of their children. NOW, as far as LLL being cliquey and uppity around AP I have to totally disagree. I know that some areas are probably like that as some parts of the country are more crunchy than others, but from what I have experienced their only focus is on breastfeeding and the rest is non-issue. With my first child I had a mild stroke in childbirth and was in ICU for 7 days. During that time he was bottle fed. When I was finally able to BF he didn't latch right and became very frustrated with BF. AFter 2 weeks of this and bloody nipples, me crying and him crying, we called a LLL leader and she came to the rescue. She saved our BF relationship. She never tried to influence me any other way about parenting, just encouraged BF. I did go to meetings and I can honestly say I never met one babywearer, CD, or anything else labeled as "AP" (except maybe co-sleeping). I didn't even know there was a label such as babywearer until my fourth child was born. I did know about the carriers like the Snuggli and baby Bjorn, but those were never comfortable for me. However, I did carry by babies around A LOT because I felt the need to have them close. I had no idea there were ways to assist. Shoot, I wish someone at LLL had educated me on babywearing because it would have made life with 3 under 3 much easier.

Great post

Yeah, our LLL group is basically like that. All the moms that are there just happen to be on their own AP journey, but we mostly talk about nursing. I agree it probably does vary a bit within a more crunchy region. I live in a VERY soggy area

I love my LLL monthly meeting though! It's my "night out" with my son of course!