This is a very interesting topic..

• I prefer non-medicated births, but I chickened out and did the epi. I will try natural again this time. I was induced with DD and could not catch my breath to do lamaze toward the end. BUT, if I can't handle the pain, I'll get the epi again. Theres no medal at the end, so I don't feel like less of a mother/person for needing pain meds. Some ppl have a high tolerance.
• I think breast is best, but I don't judge or berate someone for choosing otherwise
• We do infant led scheduling (with DD). Not sure what we will do with this baby. Maya was so predictable, we didn't even have to stress about schedules. We may just put this one on the same schedule we had with Maya and try to get one nap at the same time so I can have a few hours to exercise and relax.
• We believe pacifiers are a-ok, but before 3 mos we try breast first
• We do not agree with spanking, but I can't say I will never spank. We will try "time-out" and communication first
• We have done CIO, and it works sometimes and sometimes not. We do 5 min intervals, though. No longer than 5 min. Especially now that Maya is more mobile, sometimes she cries because she has her arm stuck or something. We have to check on her
• I believe that you cannot spoil a small infant, but around 3 mos or so they become accustomed to certian things and I had to take a stand. I had to work, for instance, so I was not going to hold DD the whole night if she couldn't sleep. She had to learn to self-sooth. If she is sick or teething, I hold her more, and I rock her to sleep sometimes when she is overtired, but otherwise, she has to learn to relax by herself. She does that pretty well, though.

Can't think of anything else. I am more laid back than some ppl. I have more of an old school way of looking at things. What worked for my grandma and mom works for me, in a lot of instances. I am probably more strict than my mom, though.

__________________