Controversial Parenting

Inspired by thecastellonfamily.blogspot.com

 

This is and always will be the hottest topics. I don't expect everyone to agree with me.

In fact, the blog above we actually have a lot of different views.

So please respect that we all think differently before you jump on the hate bandwagon :)

 

 

 

 

Pro Life vs. Pro Choice.

 

This one is tough, and always will be. Everyone has their own reasons as to why they do what they do. Personally, I could never...I am Pro Life. But you wont see me bashing the person next to me for being Pro Choice. I would hope they did it because they were uneducated on the topic, or scared. The other day I watched this video someone posted of the procedures they talk you through as you sign the papers away for your abortion. My stomach was in knots and I couldn't imagine being able to stomach that for the rest of my life...having that in the back of my mind. No way. Regardless of your situation I am a believer that your better option is adoption. Neither are easy, but you aren't killing a potential life.

 

 

Baby Wearing

 

I loved  the thought of baby wearing. Camden on the other hand, not so much. We tried the Moby Wrap, and in return he just screamed the entire time. I think he has a thing about being restrained, he's not a fan of his Bumbo seat either. We do have a baby carrier though that works for us at times. Although I've heard and read its preferable for them to face you, Camden isn't having that nonsense and wants to see the world! I've seen some things where people are insulting others for putting their baby in a stroller. WHY?! These people are not abusing their child. It's a stroller for gods sakes. We put Camden in his stroller when we go to the mall and he loves it. I still have an amazing bond with my son. If you think otherwise PLEASE get in contact with me because I actually would like to hear your reasoning.

 

 

Circumcision

 

I never knew this was even a hot topic until AFTER Camden's birth. So naturally, like the other mothers around me, I let my son be circumcised. I never thought to do the research because in my lifetime it's never been a problem. After looking into it, it has raised my eyebrows and made me question my decision at times. Camden's circumcision went fine though, and he has had no issue's since. Not that things can't go wrong though. It is a surgery, and like any surgery there are risks. I know people, who know people, who know people who aren't circumcised and they describe it as being embarrassing. Not that anyone should be, it's how you were born. When I decide to have more children, I will cross this bridge again.

 

 

Baby Piercing

 

No offense, but I believe this is a topic only for mothers who have daughters. I would never pierce Camden's ears just because I view it as a feminine thing. If I did have a daughter, I probably wouldn't do it anyways. As adorable as it is, I wouldn't be able to do it just because I couldn't allow a stranger to stick a needle through her ear and put her in pain for cosmetic reasons. When she is older and can make the decision, I will allow it. In my case though, my mother had my ears pierced when I was a baby. I don't remember the pain, and it never caused me any issues. If my mother would have waited for me to be older I probably wouldn't do it because I'm deathly afraid of needles. In a way I'm glad that she did it when I was younger because I love earrings.

 

 

Breast Feeding vs. Formula

 

As they say, breast is best. Although I formula feed Camden at the moment, I wish I could go back in time and try things differently. When he was born I strictly breast fed. I walked down to the NICU every three hours to feed my baby. I was determined. That is until I got home, stressed out beyond belief after my traumatizing labor and going home without my baby. We tried pumping as much as we could because I couldn't drive to the hospital to breastfeed and Billy had to go back to work. Because of my slim to none eating habits my milk went from awesome, to slim to none. I gave in an unfortunately did formula. As hard as BF is, formula was no better. We had to change it 3 different times to find out Cam could only handle a soy based formula. It was exhausting, and expensive! Next child I'm definitely going to try and do everything I can to BF longer.

 

 

Spanking

 

Although Camden isn't at that age where he's acting like a brat screaming and being horrible in public, I just can't see me spanking him as punishment. If I did, it would be one tap and no more just to get the picture and that would be it....and that would probably only be if he was acting above and beyond horrible. There are other ways and forms of punishing a child and teaching them manners/respect.

 

 

Vaccines

 

Camden is vaccinated. I was vaccinated, and so was Billy...along with the rest of our families. I don't have much to say about this topic. I think it's medically necessary.

 

 

Medicating

 

We give Camden Tylenol/Motrin when needed. He has been teething horribly and would scream because of the pain. We also give him some before vaccinations. We learned the hard way of what happens if we don't after his first shots. I try to find natural methods of calming him beforehand, always.

 

 

Cloth vs. Disposable Diapers

 

Again, I never saw cloth diapers as anything until after he was born. We've used disposable diapers the entire 7 months he's been born. I personally think it would be so hard to keep up with. Camden pee's non stop and what do you do when you're out in public and have a blowout? Do you carry that diaper around with you for the remainder of your time out? I feel like I would be washing diapers literally all day with the amount of times he goes. They are absolutely adorable though, and seem very cost effective. If anyone reading this does cloth diapering please feel free to give me your input. It's something to definitely look into for whenever we decide on number 2!

 

 

Cry it Out Method

 

This is a huge one for me. One that hits home hard. For a whole month Camden would let us get about 2 hours of sleep of night. We rocked, sang, patted, cuddled, walked, fed, changed...you name it we did it. It was exhausting and breaking us down. When I went to the doctors he gave us the hard reality that Camden just needs to cry. Now we're not talking screaming and crying until he's sick, or scared. We let him cry for a few minutes tops before going back in there with him, patting his butt and "shh"ing him hopefully to sleep. It takes about 3 times before he falls asleep but if he goes any longer than that we take him out of his crib and try cuddling again. And I don't put my child in a dark room and walk away. We set him in his crib, with a closet light on, and his music playing turtle right next to him. When I discussed about this before, I had a lot of negative feedback. People claiming it is "abuse" and wrongful. Well kudos goes to you for having an easy child. You were blessed. Because you have no idea what it feels like to go 3 weeks with little to no sleep no matter what you did. I would never do anything to abuse, harm, or scare my son and its shameful that people judge others decisions so quickly like that. And I would never say someone's decision on parenting is abuse either unless it was actual abuse. Enough said before I go in mama bear mode.

 

 

Hope this could shed some light on the different views/opinions we all have!

 

xoxo,

 

 

Jessica