Ironically, when my first child was born in 2000 at the dawn of a new millennium, there was little progress in the way of acceptance toward natural parenting. Finding baby slings, cloth diapers or nursing apparel in stores was an impossible task. The majority of states had yet to sign laws to protect a mother's right to breastfeed in public.
Still my husband and I were committed to raising our children in the most natural way we could. We made the bulk of their baby food from scratch, cloth diapered, avoided disposable wipes, relied on thrifted or hand-me-down clothing and wore both children in slings.
"The Breastfeeding Book" by Dr. William Sears and Martha Sears, RN. was one parenting classic that guided me through the roughest moments of those early months when my husband and I were so lacking in sleep and confidence. Personally, I'd always suspected and observed how natural parenting and attachment parenting lead families to live a more environmentally conscious life, but no single book had ever acknowledged this relationship until now.
This fall, a new parenting book, "HappyBaby" (Harper Collins September 2009) written by Dr. Robert W. Sears (son of William and Martha Sears) and Amy Marlow, is out on shelves, nestled between the growing range of green parenting guides. This is the book I wish I had owned when my children were babies.
Two things make this book stand out from the rest of the current green parenting guides.
1. The book is co-written by an attachment parenting advocate (Sears), who himself was raised in this manner and a registered dietitian (Marlow) who provides extensive information on the importance of diet as the cornerstone to an organic lifestyle.
2. The book finally makes the connection that living a more natural and sustainable lifestyle goes hand in hand with nurturing and sensitive parenting.
To be clear, this book is tied into the new HappyBaby line of organic baby and toddler foods now appearing in grocery stores. Does this fact appear to alter the book's advice dramatically? It doesn't appear so. Though there are a few brief references to the Happy Baby line, (mostly in the chapter on baby's first foods) the advice doesn't (thankfully) make its way into the book's recipes, or seem like a cheap ploy to convince you to buy Brand X.
What makes this book so useful to parents is its easy to read format, peppered in between with "Notes" from Dr. Bob (straight talk from his own years of pediatric practice), resources for eco baby and toddler gear, green household tips to make your home a baby-safe and healthy home, feeding and nutritional advice in handy chart form and most of all, sound reasoning and analysis on why when, in the words of the authors, you are "now asking the planet to support another life. You can return the favor by supporting the planet."
HappyBaby appears destined to become a well referenced guide for moms and dads looking to raise their baby in the most naturally healthy way while protecting the future of our planet.
-Christine
Thanks Micah, I'm sure I will be checking out your blog soon, I could use more tips on Vegetable Gardening for the spring especially. Family and I are total novices. Though we managed one good crop of beans this summer.
Posted by: Christine | November 03, 2009 at 10:44 AM
This is a great post.. Very informative... I can see that you put a lot of hard work on your every post that's why I think I'd come here more often. Keep it up! By the way, you can also drop by my blogs. They're about Vegetable Gardening and Composting. I'm sure you'd find my blogs helpful too.
Posted by: Micah | November 03, 2009 at 04:32 AM