Listen to Your Mama Instincts

As mamas, we've all had times when we "had a gut feeling" about something and we either listened to our mama instincts or we explained it away as an irrational thought. Maybe our hearts were telling us one thing and our popular culture was telling us differently. How many times have you heard someone say, "I was up 4 times with the baby last night and I finally just brought him to bed with me. I know, I know, its horrible. I'm creating such a bad habit." I always want to say, "Why is that horrible? And who says its a bad habit?" Usually the answer is something like "my doctor said my baby should be sleeping through the night in his own bed by now..." but we need to remember that doctors don't study sleep habits in medical school. They're a great help when my baby has a fever or to figure out what that strange rash is, but there are a few things I've learned not to talk to doctors about and sleeping habits and breastfeeding issues are two things I don't even discuss with them.

I'm not trying to say everyone should cosleep; it works wonderfully for some families and for others, its not such a great solution. I just want you to not feel guilty for making choices about your mothering that may go against the grain of what popular culture is telling you what you "should" be doing. I believe God gives us those "mama's intuition" moments to nudge us in the direction we should go. Sure, there is a time for "tough love" and allowing our children to make their own mistakes even though it eats us up inside, but all too often we push aside that small voice and give our power over to "the experts."

Links of the Day:
I wanted to include a few links I found today that I really like.
Ask Dr. Sears - I really respect Dr. Sears' perspective on things. He is a great resource for lots of issues that arise in our mothering and he is supportive of a more natural way of parenting.
Giving Birth Naturally - So have I peaked your interest with all the natural childbirth stuff? If so, you'll want to check out this site. Lots of information about natural childbirth classes, birth plans, how to pick a provider and much, much more!
1 in 3 Post by Bellies and Babies - I found this blog post and thought it was very well written about why we should be concerned that one out of every three babies is born by cesarean section.