Originally Posted by Wednesday:
The whole "NO cry" thing, isn't this going to create a world of little monsters? These children won't know how to deal with disappointment, frustration, hurt feelings, because they're never allowed to experience it. I understand wanting your baby to be happy and content. But this will never teach them to deal with life's hardships. They won't have a concept of fairness because they've never had to compromise. They won't know what to do with themselves on that first day of kinder because they think they should have their own adult who caters to every whim just so there's no crying. They won't know how to negotiate because everything has always just appeared before them on a silver ap platter. They won't know how to handle conflict because they've literally never witnessed such a thing. Please tell me if I'm way off base, but I can't imagine what these children will actually be like when they've never had a single worry or care in the world because ap mommy has always jumped to the rescue to prevent it.
I think there is a difference between AP parenting of a baby and a toddler/young child. I did some aspects of AP for my son the first 12 months. One of those was the no-cry. And I never let him cry at night, even after that.
If a baby cries, it's for a reason. I don't believe babies are capable of manipulation. They want food, a new diaper, sleep. Once my DS reached a year, I felt he was really secure knowing he would always have his needs met, so I let him cry when I felt it was okay.
Co-sleeping was something we did on and off. Until he was 4, he would often sneak in our bed at night. It didn't bother us. We have a huge bed. At age 4, we kicked him out. Too uncomfortable as he was becoming a restless sleeper.