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Parenting
with Gary & Anne Marie: Infant
A Summary of Preparation for Parenting (Birth to six months)
Preparation for Parenting is the first installment in a six part Along the Way series. The infant management concepts presented have found favor with over two million parents and twice as many contented babies. Preparation for Parenting ( PFP) brings hope to the tired and bewildered parents looking for an alternative to sleepless nights and fussy babies. While the Bible itself does not speak specifically of the how tos’ infant care, it does provide a general theological frame of reference for parenting starting with the belief that God Himself is orderly in all of his workings.
Because every philosophy of parenting has a corresponding pathology, we invite new and expectant parents to consider, evaluate, and decide which philosophy is best for their family. Review all the options. Examine carefully the alternative theories, approaches, and specifically observe the end results. Determine which parenting strategy is right for you, especially when it comes to infant nurturing. Spend time with relatives and friends who follow the La Leche League attachment-parenting style of infant care, or those who practice hyperscheduling and certainly observe PDF parents. In which homes do you observe order, peace and tranquility? Observe the marriages as well as the children. Is Mom in a perpetual state of exhaustion? Is Dad sleeping on the couch? What is family life like when a child is six, twelve, and eighteen months? Is Mom stressed, exhausted, frustrated or insecure? Is the baby stressed, exhausted, frustrated or insecure? At six months of age can the parents leave the room without the baby falling apart emotionally?
The best evaluation of any parenting philosophy, including ours, is not found in the reasoning or the logic of the hypothesis. End results speak clearly. Let your eyes confirm what works and what doesn’t. You will be most confident in your parenting when you see the desired results lived out in other families.
There are three parts to our presentation: philosophy, physiology, and practice. Each section interrelates, influences, and overlaps with the others. Our personal perspective of the world governs how we relate to our children, our spouse, and others. The father or mother who assumes life is the end product of a long evolutionary process will approach parenting much differently from those who accept life as a gift from God. In Section One, which includes Chapters 1-2, we explore the basic tenets of a Christian World View on parenting.
Our second section, Chapters 3-5, covers factors of infant and maternal physiology. The study of the human body is but a window exposing God's creative genius. As the psalmist wrote, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). Order and stability are the mutual allies of every newborn's metabolism. How an infant's body responds to the influences of parental routine, or lack thereof, is the subject of this section.
In Section Three, Chapters 6-11, we explore the everyday aspects of infant management. This section considers the nurturing process in parenting and includes instruction on how to get your baby on a healthy routine. Also included in this section is an explanation of the three basic elements of daytime activities: feeding time, waketime, and naptime.
The concept of Preparation for Parenting is loaded with success. Comprehensive breast-feeding follow-up surveys spanning three countries using the PDF method verify that as a result of the PDF concepts, 88% of mothers breast-feed, compared to the national average of only 54% (from the National Center for Health Statistics). Of these breast-feeding mothers, 80% of them breast-feed exclusively, without a formula complement. And while 70% of our mothers are still breast-feeding after six months, the national average with the encouragement to follow demand feeding without any guidelines is only 20%. The mean average of time of breast-feeding for PDF moms is 33 1/2 weeks, well above the national average. Over 50% of PDF mothers extend their breast-feeding toward and well into the first year. Added to these statistics is another critical factor. The average breast-fed PDF baby sleeps continuously through night seven to eight hours between weeks seven and nine. Healthy sleep in infants is analogous to healthy growth and development. Find out for yourself why a world of parents and pediatricians utilize the concepts found in Preparation for Parenting.
Article
by Gary Ezzo and Anne Marie Ezzo
