Many people see natural parenting the way God has intended humans to bring up their children, i.e. as guided by your gut feelings. Millions of children are raised this way all over the world, and they are being raised very successfully. Nevertheless, other types of parenting styles exist as well. There is guided parenting, where parents learn how to parent through books, workshops, research, journals and articles. Usually such people are walking encyclopedias on matters regarding parenting -- however, in real life; they are as puzzled by the subject as any other parent.
Every animal on this planet has parenting instincts. Look around you -- whether it is the spider, or the cat, or your pet dog or the fish in your fish -- every species have their own natural parenting methods. Human beings have their own style as well. Relying only on gut feeling can take one very far in successfully raising your children. However, there is too much information floating around in so many forms, which confuses parents and make them flounder in this basic task.
As an example, it is completely natural to breastfeed an infant. This basic parenting task usually does not require any teaching or instruction. Nowadays there are so many conflicting opinions on this basic task that it's easy for a new parent to become confused and wonder whether they are doing the right thing. This same situation exists in the areas of feeding, discipline, nutrition and others.
If you go back some 30 or 40 years you will find that natural parenting was very common and quite successful. Today when parents attend parenting workshops, make unending appointments with the pediatrician, keep researching on every aspect of bringing up children, parenting loses its charm, warmth and spontaneity.
You will find that today natural parenting has taken a back seat. Instead of relying on their instincts, today's parents tend to fret over every latest piece of research, some of which are blatant nonsense. Unfortunately, the results are not so good when natural parenting takes the back seat. Children need to be free and happy, and a growing movement is beginning to see how natural parenting can create the environment for children to naturally prosper.
It is very difficult for a natural bond to form between parent and child when the child is raised according to someone else's idea of what is proper and correct. Rather, it needs the 'I feel right about this' method of parenting. This is what natural parenting is all about, i.e. trusting your own gut feelings while making decisions about raising your children -- and that is the ways things should be.
At www.parentplaza.com you can get parenting ideas, as well as babysitter resources.
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