Quotes from William Sears

How you approach birth is intimately connected with how you approach life

Oftentimes I felt ridiculous giving my seal of approval to what was in reality such a natural thing to do, sort of like reinventing the wheel and extolling its virtues. Had parents' intuition sunk so low that some strange man had to tell modern women that it was okay to sleep with their babies?

In the first several months of life, a baby's wants are a baby's needs.

AP softens every member of the family. You will find yourself gradually becoming more caring and considerate to everyone around you.

A newborn who is used to this cue-response network learns to trust her caregiving environment.

Mothers are hormonally wired to respond to, not ignore, their baby's cries. (Fathers, take note: You can't argue with biology!)

Maybe in a few generations, we'll see studies that indicate that babies who sleep with their parents have fewer ear infections, do better in school, and don't engage in pseudo-science when they grow up.

If baby is thriving, but Mom is completely burned out because she is not getting the help she needs, something has to change.

The parents who are most frustrated by high-need babies have difficulty unloading the baggage of a control mind-set. "High-need baby" says it all. It's

Attachment mothering is not martyr mothering. Don't think that AP means baby pulls Mommy's string and she jumps. Because of the trust that develops between attached parents and their attached children, parents' response time gradually lengthens as baby gains the ability to control himself. Then mother jumps only when it's an emergency.

One of the jobs of the birth partner is Chief Water-Bottle Pusher.

Parenting is a learn-as-you-go profession.

The second month is baby's social debut—the coming out of herself. She opens up her hands to greet people. She opens her vision to widen her world and her mouth to smile and make more noise. The feeling of rightness and trust developed during the first month opens the door for baby's real personality to step out.

More changes occur in the first month after birth than at any other time in a woman's life. It's no wonder that 50–75 percent of all mothers feel some degree of baby blues (the incidence would be 100 percent if males gave birth and fed babies).

To your baby, you are the best mother.

So when Mother goes away, baby feels that the one person who can make him feel right has completely disappeared, perhaps forever. Baby just can't hang on to a mental picture of Mother to reassure himself, and he can't understand the concept of time, so "Mom will be back in an hour" means nothing to him.

The gentle motion a baby experiences during babywearing stimulates the vestibular system, and scientists are finding that this stimulation helps babies breathe and grow better, regulates their physiology, and improves motor development. This is especially true for premature infants. Some babies recognize on their own that they need vestibular stimulation. When deprived of it, they often attempt to put themselves into motion and develop self-rocking behaviors.

There is no such person as a perfect parent, and certainly this book was not written by perfect parents. Do the best you can with the resources you have. That's all your child will ever expect.

As a practical guide, music you can carry on a conversation over is safe. If you have to shout over the noise, it's too loud.

You can't wait until your son is old enough to throw a football to become an involved father. If you want him to enjoy playing catch with you when he's ten, you have to start enjoying him when he's a baby. (The same goes for girls, including the part where they'll need a baseball glove.)

Breastfeeding helps you unwind from a busy day's work and reconnect with your baby, especially after a tense day.

the early months, baby's sleep cycles are shorter, periods of light sleep occur more frequently, and the vulnerable period for night waking occurs twice as often as for an adult, approximately every hour. Most restless nights are due to difficulty getting back to sleep after waking up during this vulnerable period. Some babies have trouble reentering another stage of deep sleep.

TIRING FACTS OF INFANT SLEEP Babies enter sleep through REM sleep; they need help to go to sleep.

arrangements for many families and may be more "normal" than baby's sleeping separately in a crib. You cannot force sleep upon a baby. Creating a secure environment that allows sleep to overtake baby is the best way to create long-term healthy sleep attitudes. The frequent-waking stage will not last forever.