Home Home Our Blog Articles and Resources Message Board Contact About GCM - Statement of Beliefs, How we began, About the Admins Testimonials Membership

Attachment and Natural Parenting

"For you will nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; you will drink deeply and delight in her overflowing abundance. . . . you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees. As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you. . ."
~ Isaiah 66:11, 12b, 13a
We believe that all children are a gift from God. All babies--unborn and born--should be nurtured and loved, and they deserve the most natural and gentle birth possible. Babies communicate through crying, and their cries deserve a quick, nurturing response. There should be minimal separation between mother and baby, and parents need to be sensitive to their children's need to be close to them and not force separation before their child is ready. Children greatly benefit from lots of physical touch, and babies can not be held too much.

Breastfeeding satisfies not only babies' hunger and thirst, but it also is a great way to pacify and comfort them. Parents should not put an unnecessary emphasis on schedules. Breastfeeding babies on cue is important not only to help them grow strong and healthy, but it also helps them to learn to trust. Breastfeeding into toddlerhood--and for as long as mother and child desire--continues to provide health and emotional benefits and serves to strengthen the foundation of trust laid in infancy. Also, children's nighttime needs are as worthy of being met as their daytime needs, and each child has individual nighttime needs that should be respected and met to the best of their parents' ability.

Everyone benefits when children are an integral part of the family's daily life, and a father's involvement in raising his children is vital. Fear and purposely-inflicted pain have no place in gentle, loving, Biblical discipline, and children should be discipled from birth with an appropriate mixture of kindness and firmness in a manner that respects their feelings and their developmental, emotional, and daily needs. Parents are responsible for making informed decisions reguarding their children's healthcare.

~ from the GCM Statement of Beliefs


Mama-to-Mama Support

Would you like to discuss AP stuff such as babywearing, slings, co-sleeping, nighttime parenting, etc., and natural stuff such as cloth dipes, natural toys, etc., with other mamas? If so, please visit our Nurturing Our Children forum which has Co-Sleeping & Nighttime Parenting, Baby Wearing (Slings, Etc.), and Cloth Diapering & EC sub-forums. Everyone can read the posts, but if you want to post you first need to join the message board.

Articles

  • An Introduction to Attachment Parenting
    by Jeri Carr
  • Having a New Baby
    by Jeri Carr
  • Nurturing Your Baby’s Trust
    by Jeri Carr
  • Your Crying Baby Needs You
    by Jeri Carr
  • OUTLAW MOM: When Holding On is a Crime
    by Becky Jackson
  • The Benefits of Massaging Your Family
    by Becky Jackson
  • Gentle Mothering - God’s Design
    by Gaye Ward
  • A Christian Look at AP
    by Jessica Wigley

    Baby Wearing/Holding Baby

  • Top Two Ways to Calm a Baby
    by Jeri Carr
  • Wearing Your Baby and Toddler in a Sling: Helpful Hints
    by Jeri Carr
  • Baby Love
    by Elizabeth Pantley
  • Baseball Babies
    by Elizabeth Pantley

    Family Bed

  • The Benefits of Sharing the Family Bed
    by Becky Jackson
  • Checklist for Safe Co-Sleeping
    by Elizabeth Pantley


    Links to Other Websites

    (These links will open in a new window.)

  • Ask Dr. Sears
  • What AP is: 7 Baby B's (on the Ask Dr. Sears website)
  • What AP is *not* (on the Ask Dr. Sears website)
  • Whatever Happened to Mother?
  • Hidden Messages
  • Kelly's Attachment Parenting and Breastfeeding
  • The Natural Child Project
  • No Spank
  • Mothering Magazine
  • Breastfeeding and AP Twins
  • Babes in Arms - a rod for your back? - An article on the Australian Breastfeeding Association's website.

    Baby Wearing

  • 10 Reasons to Wear Your Baby
  • How to Baby Wear

    Family Bed

  • 10 Reasons to Sleep Next to Your Child at Night
  • Babies Need Their Mothers Beside Them
  • Is Sleeping With My Baby Safe? Can it Reduce the Risk of SIDS?
  • The Beginners Guide to the Family Bed
  • The Family Bed (on the Kellymom.com website)

    Circumcision

  • Circumcisions Adverse Affect on Breastfeeding
  • Circumcision Methods - (warning: photos of actual babe)
  • Intact baby boys: Cleaning is Easy!
  • Circumcision: What is lost?
  • Infant Circumcision: What I Wish I Had Known
  • Observe Circumcision Before You Decide
  • Paul’s Answer to Circumcision
  • Alternative Bris Suport

    Care of the Uncircumcised Penis

  • Care of the Uncircumcised Penis Written by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
  • Care of the Intact Penis
  • Penile hygiene for intact (non-circumcised) males

    Cloth Diapering

  • What’s Wrong with Disposable Diapers?
  • Dangers of Disposables
  • Disposable vs. Cloth Diaper Savings Calculator

    Elimination Communication

  • Diaper Free Baby - A network of free support groups promoting a natural approach of responding to babies' elimination needs. This practice is followed worldwide and is known as Elimination Communication, Natural Infant Hygiene, and Infant Potty Training. The process involves observing one's baby's signs and signals, providing cue sounds and elimination-place associations, and can be done with or without any diaper use.

    Thank you, PurpleButterfly, for your help compiling these links!


    Recommended Books

    Recommended by members of the GCM message board

    Please note: This section is definitely under construction! :)

  • Biblical Parenting - by Crystal Lutton
  • Raising Your Spirited Child: A Guide for Parents Whose Child Is More Intense, Sensitive, Perceptive, Persistent, Energetic by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka
    . . . unfortunately named because it has great info for parents of all kinds of kids. ~ ArmsOfLove
  • Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting by Myla and Jon Kabat-Zinn
  • Growing Up Again: Parenting Ourselves, Parenting Our Children by Jean Illsley Clarke

  • About GCM | Articles and Resources | Blog
    T-Shirts & More at cafepress.com or zazzle.com | Message Board | Contact
    Home

    Copyright 1997-2015 by Gentle Christian Mothers™
    Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

    url: http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/

    You can support GCM by clicking on this link
    before you shop at amazon.com!

    Find GCM on facebook.
    Follow GCMothers on Twitter