self portrait with Ben, Canon Digital Rebel XTi

So I have to admit that I’m not sure it was a good idea to share our sleeping woes in real time… and was naive not to realize that it would be such a sensitive topic. (I’m obviously a new parent!) A friend of mine read my last post and said, “Uh oh…. Andrea doesn’t know this is a landmine…”

I appreciate how respectful and supportive this community is (thank you for your support!) and also noticed how hard it was to hear anything at all that cast doubt on the way we were doing things. This parenthood business is full of insecurity and vulnerability… And there are clearly no right answers.

One of the most helpful things that someone said to me lately was this: “There are lots of methods. Any of them will work if you do it consistently. Just pick the one that feels right for you and your baby.” I realized when she said that that I had been looking for the RIGHT method, the one that would be the PERFECT solution that I would feel completely confident about. I read and read all of the books and got more confused. We finally got some help and went with it.

A few months ago, I saw an Oprah episode where stay at home mothers and working mothers talked about their respective choices. There was a lot of debate/judgment on the show about which way was the best, everyone trying to defend their position. The most interesting thing about it however, was that in the end, there was no right choice or rather lots of right choices, all unique to each family.

The good news is that with no absolutes, there are lots of right ways. And maybe we can’t screw this up so bad after all…