Is She A Good Baby? Part 2: Being Held

Whenever you find moms trying to get to know each other and make small talk, at least around here, usually sooner than later someone asks, "Is she a good baby?"  I always answer "yes", but really, what am I supposed to say? 

"No, I'm pretty sure she's the Antichrist, but we love her anyways."

This is Part 2 of my series "Is She A Good Baby?", inspired by the book "Our Babies, Our Selves".  You can read Part 1 here. 

Baby! Why don't you want to be on the floor?  Bad Baby!

So, sleeping through the night is one of the hallmarks of a "good baby".  Another one is a low need for being held.  This is never so apparent as when having other people, especially ones unfamiliar with attachment parenting, care for your baby.

We rarely have other people, even family members, watch Ivy.  Not because we don't want to get out, oh no, that's DEFINITELY not it.  And not because we are leery about letting her be cared for by others.  Mitch was having sleepovers at 1 month old and all of the older kids have made the rounds to drop-in childcares, church nurseries, babysitters, and the like.  We tried to do the same with Ivy, but by about 3 months old it was pretty apparent that she wasn't like our other kids.  The other kids happily bounced from one caregiver to another with ease.  They entertained themselves well and were pretty "easy" to care for.  Well, easy one at a time anyhow.  Together as a mob they get a bit out of control.

Is She A Good Baby? Part 1: Sleep

Having kids who LOVE to play in the pool all day long lately has given me a bit more time for reading.  Lately I've been working on finishing an intriguing book that I started quite some time ago - "Our Babies, Ourselves".

It is an anthropological and biological look at babies.  How are babies around the world parented and why?  Is there a biological foundation for these parenting techniques or are they primarily cultural?


I encourage everyone to read the book. It's fascinating. But I'll also share some of the info and insights with you here in my new series "Is She A Good Baby?".

Whenever you find moms trying to get to know each other and make small talk, at least around here, usually sooner than later someone asks, "Is she a good baby?"  I always answer "yes", but really, what am I supposed to say? 

"No, I'm pretty sure she's the Antichrist, but we love her anyways."