Welcome to the March Carnival of Natural Parenting: Natural Parenting Top 10 Lists

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants have shared Top 10 lists on a wide variety of aspects of attachment parenting and natural living. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.

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I like to say we weren’t looking for Natural Parenting but rather it found us.  Every parent wants to do what’s best for their children.  For instance you want to put the best food into their system just like you want to put the high-grade fuel in your car.  Slowly though regular grade gets introduced and things seem to run just fine.  Eventually the majority just end up going with what’s shoved in front of you and screams out, or gets screamed for, just about everywhere you look.  It takes focus to cut through that and we got that focus when our first child was born with a need for a higher caloric intake than most children.  When we introduced solid foods we made our own, mostly because he wouldn’t eat food from a jar, and we went into finger foods because that’s what worked for him.

There are other ways that Natural Parenting found us and we have taken it further.  We realize every child with special needs is going to have different needs but we wanted to share the ways that natural parenting has helped us.

Top 10 Ways to Use Natural Parenting for Children with Special Needs:

1. Breastfeeding
The most basic necessity for any Natural Parent.  Breastfeeding is especially important for a child with special needs.  The extra antibodies and nutrition that they gain should be encouragement for every mom!

Breastfeeding is natural but that doesn’t mean it’s easy.  When our son was born his severe jaundice caused him to be extremely drowsy. After being discharged we were readmitted within 24 hours (only 3 days old) and stayed for a week.  This made starting out with breastfeeding very difficult and inconsistent for the bonding process.  To help establish my supply and keep it up while he was in the hospital we purchased a hospital grade pump. We also went through a latching problem so I used a nipple shield which he finally weaned off of at 3 months of age.  We breastfed successfully until he self-weaned at 20 months.  Getting through that first three months was one of the greatest accomplishments in my life.

2. Extended Breastfeeding
Along with breastfeeding exclusively until introducing some solid foods 6 months and then breastfeeding with solid foods through the first year extending breastfeeding for as long as the mother and child feel is right for them is very important for any child. This is especially important for a child with special needs.  I ended up nursing my son until he was 20 months old.  At that point he was only nursing in the morning when we first woke up and he slowly dropped that feeding all on his own.  It was a comfortable experience for both of us and I knew that the benefits that I had been giving him in the first year of his life I was continuing to give him.  These benefits were especially important for him because he really needed the extra fats and nutrients in my milk as well as the extra antibodies to help protect him from getting sick since his body was already dealing with so much on a regular basis.

3. Co-sleeping
We began co-sleeping with our son basically right at the beginning.  This was not our original plan.  We had the bassinet next to the bed and had planned on him being the ‘perfect’ little baby who would sleep in his own bed all night long right from the beginning.

We were in for a very rude wake-up call!

Our sweet little baby would turn into a screaming monster at night.  As we now know looking back he was constantly hungry (and not being able to latch correctly must have been very frustrating for him) and he was uncomfortable all of the time due to constant itching that he could not relieve.  The only way he achieved comfort was when he was with us.  We achieved this by co-sleeping.

In the beginning it was honestly the only way any of us could get any rest at all, but as we have learned more about his condition and what he goes through he still comes into our bed for part of the night most of the time at 4 years old.  An inconvenience?  Yes, at times it is, especially since now we are also co-sleeping with our 9 month old, but since we are his parents this is our job for his life.  And heck they are only little for so long right???

4. Baby Wearing
As I have mentioned above our son was very uncomfortable in his own skin as a baby before we could figure out what was going on inside there.  One of the best things that comforted him (and still does) is being close to us, especially being close to mommy.  The best way I found to do this was through baby wearing.

I started out by wearing him in a pouch sling all over the place.  I then graduated to an Ergo carrier when he was about 10 months old.  It was the best way for him to be comfortable and for me to get some things done!  Even now he is many times the most comfortable cuddling with myself or his daddy.

5. Natural Foods

Our son has Liver disease; his liver fails to separate out the fats and vitamins that his body needs to grow, so everything – good and bad – just passes right through.

Because of this I keep very close track of his diet.  My hope is that if we try to put mostly good and natural foods in there that the stuff that does stick and stays in his body will be something that is worth it!

For instance, for breakfast every morning he loves to have a fruit and cereal bar with his milk (whole milk of course).  Instead of giving him the regular junk bars off of the shelf we have found an alternative that Whole Foods makes in their store 365 brand that has real fruit and grains in them instead of artificial flavoring and sweeteners (or HFCS) that the other ‘regular’ brands have in them.  And the kicker is that the Whole Food brand is quite comparable in price to the junky bars!

I also try to encourage as much as possible whole grain carbohydrates and whole milk dairy products (as well as of course his fruits and veggies).  This is not to say that my child does not have an oreo or a twizzler here or there, but for the most part I really make a conscious effort to make the foods that he eats on a consistent basis foods that are worth it to his body!

6. Feeding on Demand
As I have previously said, he is pretty much always hungry because his liver does not function properly. He nursed about every 3 hours around the clock until about 10 months old when it went down to about every 4 hours.  It slowly decreased from there and he started dropping some night-time feedings at about 15 months until he self weaned completely at 20 months.  Even now he eats on average about every 3 hours when he is awake. And he eats a lot. I cannot imagine what it will be like when he is a teenager!  But this is what his body needs so it is what we will give him.

7. Natural Body Products
Since one of the things that causes issues with him is a constant itching sensation all over his skin, I have always had to be very careful about products that I use on his body.  The last thing we need is for him to break out from some chemical and have a rash or allergic reaction to a lotion when he is already dealing with so much.  I really do test things out on a “small area of the skin” before full application.

8. Cloth Diapering
When my son was born we were living in a small apartment and doing laundry in the shared coin-op machines. We didn’t really consider cloth diapering.  Now that I have learned so much more about the chemicals that go into making disposable diapers I really wish that I had not exposed his private areas to them for the first 2 1/2 years of his life.  Now that I am older and wiser *wink* we have switched to only using cloth diapers for our daughter and use cloth training pants for our son at night.

9. No Circumcision
When our son was born we knew nothing about what we were going to be facing in the upcoming years of his life.  When the doctor asked us if we wanted to have him circumcised we had no idea what to do.  We decided not to basically on a gut feeling.  And I am now so glad that we did not.  With everything else that he had to go through medically in those first few months of his life I am glad that we did not choose to put him through something else that was not even medically necessary.

10. Natural Learning
With our sons condition and how his liver does not properly process foods he obviously does not grow on the same curve as other children.  Now at 4 years old for instance he is only 30 lbs, which is roughly the size of an average 3-year-old.  Obviously this has brought about some physical challenges for him.  He is just not physically able to do them at the same time as other children his own age.  There is also an adverse effect for his cognitive skills.  We theorize that he is in a way making up for his lack of physical ability in his social and learning skills.

For this reason (and many others of course) we have chosen the natural learning path for our family.  At this point it means that our children learn from life and their experiences in it.  Such as letting our son help me make dinner each night or showing him the buds outside on the trees and explaining that is where the leaves will come from.  As we progress this will eventually bring itself into a home school situation which we are very excited to jump into!  We are already doing reading lessons with him as he is so excited to learn to read.  He really is a little sponge for learning and leading him in the natural way just feels so, well natural!!

We are very lucky to have found the Natural Parenting way of life for our special needs son and for our family.  The best thing is that he is our first child so what we learned with him will be passed down to all of our other children!

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Visit Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

(This list will be live and updated by afternoon March 8 with all the carnival links.)

• Attachment Parenting in the NICU — Erica at ChildOrganics shares some strategies to help you parent naturally in some unnatural circumstances.
• 10 Reasons to Choose Baby Led Weaning — Luschka from Diary of a First Child shares ten reasons to choose Baby Led Weaning when it comes to solids.
• Choosing to Breastfeed — From selfishness to self-giving, CatholicMommy at Working to be Worthy lists reasons why breast is best for her and her family.
• Ten Things I Wish I Knew About Before Little Man — In this reflective post, The ArstyMama discusses ten things she wishes she knew more about before the birth of her son, Little Man.
• 10 Things That Helped Me Become a Natural Mama — The Accidental Natural Mama counts down ten things that helped her find her moderately crunchy inner mama self.
• Top 10 Reasons to Breastfeed Your Toddler — Extended breast-feeder Kate Wicker of Momopoly makes her own top 10 list for why she loves nursing her 2-year-old.
• Top 10 Tips on Authentic Grandparenting — Mamapoekie of Authentic Parenting offers a list of tips to make the grandparent-parent-child relationship flow smoothly.
• Top Ten “Dad” Things — Liam at In The Now talks about his favourite ways to spend time with his children.
• Top 10 Natural Strategies for Conception (aka How to Get Pregnant!) — Despite facing plenty of health issues, Jessica Claire at Crunchy-Chewy Mama found her way to two first-try pregnancies thanks to these natural strategies.
• Top Ten Reasons Why Home Birth Rocks — Lucy at Dreaming Aloud shares her passion for birthing at home – the natural place for natural birth.
• Top 10 reasons why cloth nappies are fun — Tat at Cloth Nappies Are Fun shows how using cloth nappies can brighten up your day.
• Top Ten Ways to Be Present With Family — Amy at Innate Wholeness shares how to make the most of parenting and family life through being present.
• Top 10 Things In My Arsenal of Kitchen Witchy Mama Tricks. — Joni Rae at Tales of A Kitchen Witch shares with us the simple things she would never want to be missing from her cupboards.
• Top 10 ways I’m not very good at natural parenting (and why I keep trying anyway) — Jenny at Babyfingers shares the ways she is imperfect as a natural parent, and why she embraces natural parenting anyway.
• Top 10 Ways to Know You Are a Natural Parent — So what makes us “natural parents,” anyway? A lighthearted look at the Top 10 Ways to Know You Are a Natural Parent by the editors and readers of Natural Parents Network.
• The Top 10 Things Every Natural Household (with children) Should Have — Amanda at Let’s Take the Metro shares a list of the most common natural products and remedies she uses for health and cleaning.
• Top 10 books for raising loving, spiritual children — In her ‘food for the soul’ post, Mrs Green from Little Green Blog shares her favourite spiritual books. No matter what religion you practise, there’s something for everyone!
• Top 10 Things No One Told Me About Natural Parenting — Adrienne at Mommying My Way explains that the best things about natural parenting are things she never expected.
• Top 10 Flower Essences for Families — Kim of Nature Baby Bloggings lists her pick of the top ten flower essence which can help ease families through the ups and downs of life.
• My Top Ten Parenting Tools — Amyables at Toddler In Tow names the top ten tools that have been helpful to her while learning to parent respectfully and successfully.
• Ten Ways Families Can Enjoy Nature (for free!) — Spring is nearly in the air, and Jenn at Monkey Butt Junction is dreaming of the fun and frugal ways that her family is going to get out and enjoy nature this summer.
• 10 Reasons We Unschool — Patti at Jazzy Mama explains why unschooling is the right choice for her family.
• Must Read: Natural Parenting Top Ten — Amy at Anktangle wants you to do a little reading! She shares her top ten favorite books to help parents prepare for pregnancy, birth, and parenting.
• Top 10 Breastfeeding Misconceptions — Sheila at A Gift Universe examines ten reasons women give for why they didn’t breastfeed as long as they wanted, and shows how these obstacles can be overcome.
• Ten Reasons to Plan a Home Birth — Since a home birth can be an incredibly empowering experience, Leslie at Lights and Letters outlines ten reasons why you should plan to have your baby at home.
• Top Ten Books for Birth, Breastfeeding and Parenting — Megan at Just Me(gan) writes about the ten books that have helped her the most in her natural parenting journey.
• A Top Ten Letter To Me… — Kat at Loving {Almost} Every Moment writes herself a letter of reflections and bits of wisdom she would have liked to know as a new mama.
• Top Ten Mama Necessities Money Can’t Buy — Buying baby gear is fun, but Emily at Crunchy(ish) Mama knows real parenting must-haves can’t be bought in stores (or even on Amazon).
• Top 10 Books for a Natural Mum — Isil at Smiling like Sunshine talks about her Top 10 Books for a Natural Mum.
• Ten Great Spring Activities To Do With Preschoolers — Kellie at Our Mindful Life and her family have come up with a great list of activities to do together this spring.
• 10 Ways to Reuse Yogurt Containers — Acacia at Fingerpaint & Superheroes keeps the stacks of yogurt containers out of her recycling bin by reusing them in both practical and creative ways.
• Top Ten Ways To Have a Harmonious Home — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama shares her natural parenting-inspired methods for maintaining a harmonious daily life with her toddler.
• 10 Natural Baby Items I Love — Charise at I Thought I Knew Mama shares product ideas to support your natural parenting.
• The Pandas’ Top Five Crunch-osophies — Top five crunchy philosophies, as employed at the Panda Residence by Ana at Pandamoly.
• Top 10 Reasons to Leave Your Son Intact — Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children has shared 10 reasons why you should leave your newborn son intact.
• Ten things everyone should know about unassisted homebirth — Olivia at Write About Birth shares practical tips for women considering an unassisted homebirth and debunks some common myths
• 10 Most Popular Ways To Treat Cloth Diaper Stains — Chante at My Natural Motherhood Journey gives ten easy tips to make your diapers like new.
• 10 Lessons in 1 Year — Abbie at Farmer’s Daughter shares 10 parenting lessons that she has learned throughout her first year of motherhood.
• Top 10 Ways to Get Breastfeeding Off To a Good Start — Sheryl at Little Snowflakes shares 10 effective ways to ensure breastfeeding gets off to a good start.
• Top 10 Ways to Avoid a Time-Out — If you are uncomfortable using time-outs in an attempt to control your child’s behavior, try one of these gentler alternatives. Dionna at Code Name: Mama shares her Top 10 Ways to Avoid a Time-Out.
• My Top 10 Parenting Scriptures — Dulce de leche is learning to integrate faith and parenting. Whether it is breastfeeding, babywearing, comforting her children, or gentle discipline, she finds that the Bible has beautiful passages to encourage her on her journey.
• Natural Cleaning Ideas – Top 10 — Laura at Laura’s Blog lists the ways she keeps her house clean and clear of chemicals.
• My Top Ten (plus two) Life Altering and Growth Inspiring Books — A top ten list of books from MJ at Wander Wonder Discover that changed her life as an individual, a parent, and an earth dweller.
• Top 10 Ways to Use Natural Parenting for Children with Special Needs — Danielle at Mommy Makes Cents feeds the needs of her family and special needs child through the use of Natural Parenting.
• Ten Fundamentals — Seonaid at The Practical Dilettante gets philosophical with a list of the fundamentals that drive her natural parenting.
• 10 reasons why I chose breast over bottles — Becky at Old New Legacy writes a quick list of why she chose breast over bottles.
• Top Ten Natural Tools for the Work of Play — Lori at Beneath the Rowan Tree offers insight into 10 natural toys that will span the early years (and save you money).
• 10 differences between pregnancy and parenting in Japan and the US — Megan at Ichigo Means Strawberry gives her impressions about differences in pregnancy and parenting in Japan and the US.
• Natural Parenting Benny & Bex Style — Pecky at Benny and Bex explains why Natural Parenting principles work best for her boys.
• Top 10 Reasons to Co-Sleep — 10 practical, emotional, and completely selfish reasons to co-sleep and share a family bed from Lily, aka Witch Mom.
• My Top Ten New Mommy Moments — Melissa at The New Mommy Files recounts the ten most memorable moments of her daughter’s first year.
• Top Ten Things Every Breastfeeding Mother Needs to Know — Kristen at Adventures in Mommyhood believes knowledge is power and wants all moms to be well informed.
• Top 10 Nursing Positions / Situations — Momma Jorje uses her 5½ years of nursing experience to share her Top 10 Nursing Positions/Situations. She includes some adorable photos of her youngest daughter at the breast.
• Ten Top Ways to Connect Kids with Nature — Terri from Child at the Nature Isle offers 10 ways to immerse ourselves in the natural world and develop a love affair with the Earth.
• Top 10 Slacker Ways to Natural Parent — Guavalicious is happy to show you how to parent naturally the slacker way.
• Simply what it looks like — Andrea!!! from Ella-Bean & Co. offers a glimpse into natural parenting through the eyes of mama and babe.
• Top Ten Reasons Why Natural Parenting Dads Are So Attractive — Nada at miniMOMist sure digs her husband, but it’s not just his good looks — it’s his parenting!
• 10 Family Systems and Routines That Work for Us — See what routines, organizational systems, and parenting approaches work for Kristin at Intrepid Murmurings to help avoid conflict and maintain sanity in a family with three young children.
• Top 10 reasons to choose midwifery care — Lauren at Hobo Mama lists the features that drew her to midwives’ care for pregnancy and birth.
• 10 Ways to Cloth Diaper on a Budget — Michelle at The Parent Vortex shares her best thrifty cloth diapering tips.
• Ten Reasons it Felt Sew Good To Make My Own Play Food — Brittany at Mama’s Felt Cafe lists her 10 (OK, 11) favorite reasons to grab a needle and start sewing your own felt play toys.
• Top10 Ways to Spark Interest, Learn, and Have Fun With Everyday Tasks! — Bethy at Bounce Me to the Moon gives you her top 10 ways of incorporating fun and lessons into everyday tasks and chores.
• Postpartum Gift Ideas — Alicia at I Found My Feet suggests a top 10 list of gifts for mother’s after giving birth.
• My Top Ten Shows Worthy Of Screen Time — Tree at Mom Grooves shares her top ten list of shows that she believes are positive, educational, kind, joyful, and a nice way to share some downtime with your children.
• The Top 10 Ways to Succeed as an Working Attachment Parent — That Mama Gretchen shares tried and true ways to succeed with attachment parenting even when working away from home during the day.
• Top Ten Books for Natural Parenting — Pregnancy, herbs, cooking, and healthcare the ten books Asha at Meta Mom the most.
• Preparing for a Hospital VBAC: My Top 10 — Thomasin at Propson Palingenesis shares 10 ways she’s preparing for her upcoming hospital VBAC.
• Top Ten New Mom Survival Tools — Wolfmother shares her most beloved motherhood survival tools at Fabulous Mama Chronicles.
• Top 10 Montessori Principles for Natural Learning — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now gives her top 10 list of Montessori principles parents can use to encourage their children s natural learning.
• Going Granola — Tashmica from The Mother Flippin’ Blog describes the 10 ways that natural parenting sneaked up on her. She never expected to go all granola on the world.
• Step Away From the Amazon List — Stefanie at Very, Very Fine wishes she hadn’t bought so much useless stuff.