Beyond the Sling
A real-life guide to raising confident, loving children the attachment parenting way
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Attachment Parenting rests on one revolutionary principle: you already know the majority of what you need to know to be an incredible parent. Popularized by physicians like Dr. William Sears and Dr. Jay Gordon, attachment parenting directly contradicts the two hundred years of Western culture that has convinced us that we need a lot of help: help giving birth; help “teaching” our baby to sleep; help just being a parent. Beyond the Sling is not that kind of parenting book.
Mayim Bialik shows us that by understanding the basic theories of attachment and infant development—and incorporating age-old childrearing methods like breastfeeding, baby wearing, gentle discipline, and co-sleeping—we can truly be the parents that nature intends us to be. With a PhD in neuroscience and a specialization in the hormones of attachment, Bialik is uniquely qualified to explain the science behind the method and how it’s your evolutionary right to tap into your intuition and enjoy every stage of parenthood. A mother of two young boys, she also offers a firsthand account of how she came to follow the tenets of attachment parenting, plus a down-to-earth guide to making this lifestyle work for every kind of family.
With candour and warmth, Bialik describes the beauty, simplicity, and purposefulness of attachment parenting and shows us that its core principles are universal and can be appreciated no matter how you decide to raise your child.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bialik, former child-star of the TV sitcom Blossom, is now a neuroscientist with two young sons. A proponent of "attachment parenting," Bialik discusses the philosophy's main components, including co-sleeping, baby-wearing, extended nursing, and natural birth, using her own experiences as a mother as well as her background in neuroscience to illustrate and shore up her points. The core of the author's text focuses on what she considers to be baby's needs, including a smooth birth (preferably without unnecessary medical intervention), breastfeeding (she became a certified lactation education counselor), holding, and nighttime parenting (including safe co-sleeping). She also includes a chapter on "Elimination Communication," a potty training method that relies on parents' recognizing baby's signals (the diaper-free route, she admits, is not for everyone). While passionate and committed to attachment parenting, Bialik approaches her subject with a sense of humor and the awareness that not every parent will embrace all its tenets. Nevertheless, she makes a convincing case for the benefits for children, including healthy brain and social development, ability to develop trusting relationships, and good self esteem. Attachment parenting proponents will welcome Bialik's openhearted message and advice to follow one's instincts, and even readers who are skeptical will enjoy Bialik's warm and nonjudgmental voice.
Customer Reviews
Finally, to be heard!
I can’t believe how wonderfully enlightening and heartening it was to read a book that encouraged a mother to listen to her intuition and to embrace motherhood in such a raw and intimate way. I have naturally fallen into an attachment parenting style with my two daughters (lovingly and gloriously encouraged by my husband) and haven’t read a book in the three years of mothering I’ve done that has spoken to me so truly. Mayim is non-judgemental, honest and passionate about the subject matter, and that jumps off the page. How sad it is to say that her message is revolutionary - we may live in a period of human history where we are pushed to put tiny babies on routines, and train them like animals but Mayim speaks for all of us who know instinctively that it is cruel, and wrong, and goes against thousands of years of evolution. Thank you Mayim. Your book has perked me up, steeled me in the face of multiple night wakings, and reminded me that the life of an attachment parent, while tough, is beautiful, remarkable and oh-so-right.