some controversial baby-rearing practices that I think are pretty cool and based:
- montessori floor bed
- elimination communication
- baby-led weaning
- glass and ceramic tableware
- no socks or mittens
- minimal babyproofing
(my reasons why below 🧵)
the biggest montessori pill is seeing under 2s pour themselves water from a glass pitcher to a glass cup, calmly get a towel to wipe up some that spilled, take the wet towel to a pail, come back to drink the water then carefully wash and dry their glass cup - all unprompted
babies don't need cribs! a montessori floor bed is really just a thin mattress on the floor, and it has multiple benefits:
- freedom of movement
- autonomy
- spatial awareness
- easier for parent to lay down and cuddle baby
- safer (no bars or height)
- lower cost
baby-led weaning is basically just feeding your baby regular food (or a slightly modified) instead of special foods and purees! it helps:
- encourage the correct swallowing pattern
- eye hand coordination
- jaw development
- prevent picky eating
plus it's easier to prepare!
on the topic, in montessori we use REAL tableware with babies from the beginning: glass cups, ceramic plates, stainless steel utensils...
babies can use these just fine, and they help understand cause and effect - because misuse will result in loud sounds or even breaking
elimination communication, or 'natural hygiene' is a practice based on learning and following your baby's cues wrt eliminating (peeing and pooping). it's often described as infant potty training, but in reality it's more like avoiding conditioning a baby to use a diaper
this is also a really cool practice to try out if you can! some of the benefits are:
- increased (or... maintained?) bodily awareness for the baby
- increased awareness of the baby's communication for the parent
- less (especially poopy) diapers to throw out or wash
my hot take (hypothesis?) is that the reason breastfeeding is so hard in modern societies is bc we have done away with cross-nursing which was probably the most valuable tech for new inexperienced moms and babies attempting to nurse
almost everyone should be able to breastfeed but they make excuses because they're afraid of their biology, want control over their time, and have no culture that emphasizes how to do it. 99% of mother's bodies and babies mouths are compatible, biologically speaking.
Readers added context
Around 70.3% of mothers experienced breastfeeding difficulties, reporting cracked nipples, perception of insufficient amount of milk, pain, and fatigue
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC68….