WARNING: The following article refers to disturbing elements of child abuse.

Recently I’ve been seeing some news articles that have me cheering and waving pom-poms as an Attachment Parenting mama:

The downfall of the “Cry It Out” method a.k.a. “Ferberizing”:

Is Crying it Out Dangerous for Kids?

By Lylah M. Alphonse, Senior Editor, Yahoo! Shine | Parenting – Wed, Dec 14, 2011

Here’s one helpful blurb from the article:

“When babies are stressed, their bodies release the hormone cortisol, which can damage or even destroy neurons in their still-developing brains, researchers at Yale University and Harvard Medical School have found. That can lead to a higher incidence of ADHD, poor academic performance, and anti-social tendencies.

Human babies are hardwired for near-constant holding, breastfeeding, and having their other needs met quickly — the hallmarks of Attachment Parenting, Narvaez points out — in order for their brains to develop properly.”

Parents who practice Attachment Parenting and have read “The Baby Book” by Dr. Jim Sears, have known all this for years.  Funny how long it takes mainstream media and mainstream pediatrics to catch up to scientific fact!

Ah well, better late than never, right?

And this little gem was found in “Parents” magazine’s January 2012 issue:

The Great Spanking Debate

By Jeannette Moninger

And a blurb from this article:

“In a 2010 Pediatrics study, 3-year-olds who were spanked more than twice a month were 50 percent more likely to exhibit hostile tendencies by age 5. And the potential downside for a child is severe. In her 2002 review of 88 spanking studies, Dr. Gershoff found that kids who are spanked have a significantly higher risk for aggression, depression, and relationship problems both as children and, later, as adults.

“We’re constantly discovering new risks associated with the act of spanking — like increased anxiety and a number of other mental-health problems — which makes the ‘It worked for me’ argument outdated,” says Catherine Taylor, Ph.D., assistant professor of global community health and behavioral sciences at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, in New Orleans.”

and there’s this on Slate.com:

Spank No More

Why are fewer parents hitting their kids?

By Darshak Sanghavi|Posted Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011

check out this blurb:

“At my medical center, for example, I recently interviewed dozens of pediatricians and subspecialists about their own experience, and many recalled being whipped with belts, slapped in the face, or hit in other ways as children. (I once went to preschool with a bruised cheek from being hit.) Yet not a single one hit his or her own children today as a routine method of discipline….They had, they said, learned more effective ways of disciplining children.”

Yes, to refrain from practicing these easy (but abusive) forms of disciplining children means that other, more effort-intensive, methods must be used, but having and raising a child is something that (hopefully mature) adults should be doing.  Just because your reproductive organs are fully functional, or because you have access to the latest in InVitro technology, doesn’t necessarily mean you’re ready for the rigors of parenthood.

It is sheer, grueling labor at times – but it is DEFINITELY worth it!  Just like anything in this life – whether it’s competing in the Olympics, finding the cure for cancer or any other endeavor that people pour their heart and souls into, we can’t stint on investing ourselves when it comes to raising our children.

And check out “1-2-3 Magic!” by Dr. Thomas Phelan

and “The No-Cry Sleep Solution” by Elizabeth Pantley

they’re great alternatives to “crying it out” and spanking!