It all began with the baby carrier. The thought of awkwardly balancing a 10-pound bundle of joy across one shoulder while navigating a parking lot felt like a recipe for disaster. Then came the crib—no way was I trudging down the hallway every time my little one needed a feeding. And let’s not even discuss bottles. Honestly, I was too lazy to clean them—just completely, unapologetically lazy. Plus, when it came to diapers, I often forgot to buy them, a tendency exacerbated by my ADHD.
So, we unintentionally embraced the world of attachment parenting. Many claim that attachment parenting is more demanding and involved than traditional parenting, and they’re right. However, the irony is that it actually requires less effort on our part. This is the little secret that attachment parents like me share—our approach often means we do far less work than the conventional crowd. If you catch us smiling, it’s because we know the truth.
The Convenience of Baby Carriers
Consider those cumbersome baby carriers you lug around. When you arrive at a store, you have to extract the stroller, set it up, take out the carrier, and hope your baby stays asleep during the transition. Alternatively, you might have to awkwardly carry the carrier with one arm while juggling other items. But here’s my reality: I use a simple baby sling. I unbuckle my baby, strap him to me, and stroll into the store with my hands free for groceries. No one can interfere with my baby because he’s securely attached to me, and the weight is evenly distributed, making it comfortable for both of us. All the research about bonding and stimulation is great, but honestly, wearing a baby is just easier than dragging around a carrier.
Feeding Made Simple
Now let’s talk about feeding. Bottles require a sequence of tasks: buying, cleaning, sterilizing, filling, warming, and finally handing them to the baby. This sounds like a lot of work, especially when you’re dealing with a screaming infant at 3 a.m. So we opted for breastfeeding—partly due to laziness, partly for cost-effectiveness, and partly to minimize the time spent with a crying baby. Luckily, breastfeeding worked out well for us; my body produced milk, and my baby fed without any discomfort. For those who face challenges with breastfeeding and have to use formula, that’s tough, but it wasn’t our situation.
Breastfeeding is about as simple as it gets—baby gets hungry, I open my shirt, and voila! This ease extends to late-night feedings as well. There was no way I was going to set up a crib or navigate the hallway at 2 a.m. Instead, we co-slept from day one. When our baby cried, I would switch him to the other side and drift back to sleep. The ultimate in parental laziness? I had no idea if he was sleeping through the night.
Cloth Diapers: A Practical Choice
While cloth diapers aren’t typically associated with attachment parenting, they fit under the broader umbrella of natural parenting. We decided on cloth as soon as we learned we were expecting. Here’s the kicker: you invest in cloth once, whereas disposables will cost around $2,000 per child over time. Plus, remembering to wash cloth diapers is easier when you have a pile of laundry to do anyway. After all, your washing machine can handle a little mess, right?
We never set out to adopt a hippie lifestyle or follow any specific philosophy. Instead, we made choices driven by sheer convenience. It turns out that attachment parenting aligns with the lazy approach—it’s the natural way of caring for infants that has been practiced for generations. And let’s be honest: being lazy sometimes just means being practical.
Additional Resources
For those interested in home insemination options, you might want to check out this article for more insights. If you’re looking for authoritative information, Dr. Anna Nowak provides an excellent resource. For more support on female infertility, this link is invaluable.
In summary, our journey into attachment parenting was less about ideology and more about embracing convenience. By opting for methods that reduced our workload, we found that parenting can be both fulfilling and easy.