The Experts Vs. Intuition

Oh I love a Sleepy little baby!

I have read alot of books, blog posts, news articles, etc. when it comes to childbirth, breastfeeding and parenting and if there is one overwhelming thing I have learned it is that everyone has a different opinon and often even has different research to back them up. If you read one side of the coin it says one thing and the other side says the complete opposite. This is where my intuition has been invaluable. This is where I disclose things that experts would disagree with but worked for me. I am not saying that I haven't worried or been uneasy but I always ask myself if I truly am confident in my decision and when I can say yes, I run with it!

Tummy Sleep- When my son was about 2 months I couldn't get him to sleep for any longer then 10 mins. by himself, but if laid on his tummy he would sleep for an hour. I know all of the expert opinions on this, I know that if I wore him in a sling he would sleep well or that maybe he shouldn't be in that deep of sleep, but I knew that he needed sleep and I needed space. We were already Breastfeeding and co-sleeping at night so for me I needed a little space at nap time. So I let him sleep on his tummy on our couch with me always staying in the same room. I knew that he was ok because with everything that I knew about sleeping and SIDS I still felt comfortable to watch him sleep like this.

Vaccinations- I know this is a touchy subject, so I don't plan to dive into it but there is one thing I have learned is that my intuition was needed to make Vaccine choices. I read alot before E was born and can I say, overload! I finally read Dr. Sear's Vaccine book and I loved that he said that NO ONE is unbiased about Vaccines, you are either in some way or another pro or against. I decided that overall Vaccines were necessary but that the rate at which they are given to children made me uneasy. I have not seen any direct research that links to the number given at one time as causing many adverse effects, but my intuition told me that sticking my son with multiple chemicals all at once wasn't right for him and while I understand the CDC's reasoning to get as many kids vaccinated with all of the shots, it just didn't work for us. So with that said E is on a delayed/selective schedule for his vaccinations and while I have some info to back it up overall my reasoning is that it just felt right to do it that way!

No Peanut Butter till he was 2- I first heard this rule before I was even pregnant and let me tell you I thought it was pretty stupid, especially because I LOVE peanut butter and couldn't imagine my child waiting for 2 WHOLE years to taste the delicious stuff. But Emmett hit a year and I just didn't feel right giving it to him, but I just couldn't put my finger on why so I just held off. At 18 months we discovered he was allergic to black beans! What child is allergic to black beans?! So I decided that since black beans were a legume and so are peanuts I would officially hold off till 2 Years. Well 2 years hit and he tried it, not a single problem which I am truly grateful for but I wonder if I had not waited if it would had been an issue, who knows. But at the end of the day I just listened to my intution and I am glad I did. I could go on and I am sure at some point that I will but this is a good starting off point of things that I have done to follow my intuition and in each case am glad that I did.

Just another day of finding my intuition

What Happy Baby! I should preface this post by saying that I do not believe in the CIO (Cry it Out) Method. And for me that means that I have never let my son E cry for more than 5 minutes. He has always been a very easy going child so I trust him that when he needs something, he will let me know and I don't ever want to ignore him or let him think that I don't care. In our church when kids turn 18 months they go into the Nursery. My son went just fine the first Sunday but the following Sunday, he was not interested and began to cry when we dropped him, I agreed to let him "figure it out" for a few minutes but after that, if he was still uncomfortable I would go in with him. Well he wasn't so either my husband or I ended up sitting in the class with him. After a couple weeks of this I decided that Nursery wasn't necessary and if he didn't want to go, no problem he could stay with us but my husband really wanted him to go because he thought he would enjoy it, once he got used to it. We talked it over with many people and the overwhelming opinion was that he just needed to cry it out and deal with it. But that just didn't set right with me. How could I let him Cry it Out with strangers if I didn't even do that at home. I have always called E my cautious child, he needs time to make sure things are ok. He is not going to head right into a situation unless he knows that everything is safe and secure, as long as I give him that reassurance he is good to go. So after much consideration I told my husband that we needed to take him to nursery and not even attempt to leave and just stay with him the whole time for 2-3 weeks, reassuring him that it is fun to be their and allow him to interact with the other leaders with us watching him and reassuring him that it is safe. Many people disagreed and thought I would be in their for months and never be able to leave, but I know my boy. After 3 weeks we went to drop him off and he went right to the nursery leader without a single tear. He knew that she was safe and that he was safe and that we would be back. Once again I was grateful that I trusted my son and his needs and trusted my own intuition.