Key notes
- What attachment parenting is
- My Journey with Attachment Parenting
- Ignore the Negativity—You Know What’s Best
Welcome back!
Let’s start by breaking down what attachment parenting really is. At its core, it’s a parenting approach focused on fostering a secure and connected relationship between parent and child. This means:
- Consistently responding to your child’s needs (soothing their cries, feeding on demand, meeting their emotional cues).
- Keeping them physically close (babywearing, cuddling, co-sleeping).
- Understanding that crying is communication—not manipulation.
Yet, despite all the research supporting attachment parenting, so many people still believe that holding, cuddling, or responding “too much” will create bad habits or make a child “manipulative.” But when did making a child feel safe, heard, and emotionally secure become a bad thing?
My Journey with Attachment Parenting
From the very beginning, I’ve raised my son with a responsive, attached approach:
- I breastfed on demand for 18 months
- I always responded to his cries, doing my best to meet his needs.
- I held him whenever he asked, giving him comfort and security.
- We cosleep and bed-share (I’ll be diving into this more in a future post—stay tuned!).
All of this has strengthened our bond in ways I could never have imagined. My son knows he can express his emotions freely, even when that means a full-blown meltdown. And for those who claim attachment parenting makes children too dependent, I’ve seen the opposite—he’s growing into an independent little explorer, confidently taking on the world because he knows I’ll always be there when he needs me.
Ignore the Negativity—You Know What’s Best
If there’s one thing I want you to take from this: Don’t listen to the negativity! You are the parent and you know what’s best for your baby.
It is impossible to spoil a baby with love and responsiveness. Hold them, cuddle them, respond to them—because they’re only little for so long.
— Cassidy