When I was pregnant with my Accidental Love Bug, Summer, I was attending my 2nd year of college. I took child psych enthusiastically, thinking it would prepare me for this growing bean in my bulging belly. It taught me all sorts of stuff. The best advice (I thought at the time) from what I can remember now (after too much NickJr and being a stay at home mom) was letting my child be a free child. Parents usually stick their infants in many devices to stay hands free. It is said most infants are in devices (stroller, car seat, playpenbounce chair, etc.) more then they are in their parents arms.
Letting your kids roam free Safely was the best thing you could do for you child, the psych book basically said "ditch the play pen". So before my bouncing watermelon entered the world, I was anti-Playpen. I wanted to raise a "Free Range" baby and so I did!
My little baby girl went from laying in bed like a sack of potatoes, to sitting in mommy's lap assisted, exploring the world as far as her little beady eyes would let her. She followed all the normal baby stuff. Poop, pee, make mommy crazy, oh yeah and Crawl. The dreaded Crawl.
Life was sweet before that horrid milestone reached our lives. I never did take child psych 2, but Im sure it would of said something like this
"Although letting your child be free is recommended, I personally suggest you don't try it. Why, You ask!?
Because no matter how much you baby proof and watch your child, he or she will manage to
find a cord she can tug on,
get a toy she can bang against the glass coffee table you should of got rid of
find a 2 month old french fry you never knew about,
jet to the cat and dog water bowl all within 10 seconds for a nice hand wash
play with the dust bunnies you forgot to wipe away (hey Im not super mom, I cant do it all),
take a sip from the cup of soda you confidently left on the floor
Pull out every DVD you ever owned
And learn the word "No" in a day because You said it 1 billion times (yes you do say it that much)."
The book failed to tell me my child will eventually walk, and reach things she never did before, have a different view of life, and get to things faster then she did yesterday.
Summer is almost 3 now and is still a free range child. She fends for her self, she acts as if she was raised with a pack of wolves (no literally, shes regressed to getting on her fours, eating without her hands and begging for food lol). She is a very happy independent child. She knows her boundaries and likes to push them, she has no limits to life, but with my guide and safety I can show her the way.
I'm making the Same bitter sweet mistake with her baby Brother!
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