You're a What?

Let's take a short step back and explain all the terms used in my introduction.  Feel free to skip over any or all of this if you are already familiar.  Definitions, here we come.

First the parenting terminology:

• Natural Parenting:  In a nutshell, caring for your offspring as close to nature as possible.  This involves trying to mimic what a primitive human would do, since, evolutionarily, our babies are born with the same expectations and capacities as our ancient human ancestors.  Synonym: Continuum Concept Parenting, named for the book "The Continuum Concept" by Jean Liedloff.  Abbreviations: NP, CC
• Attachment Parenting:  Very similar to NP, this term was coined by Dr. William Sears, who believes early attachment with our offspring is important for ideal development.  Through his prolific writings, Dr. Sears has defined specific ways to promote this attachment, which he calls the "Baby B's" (breastfeeding, birth bonding, babywearing, bedding close to baby, belief in the importance of baby's cries).  In practice natural parenting also follows these "B's" as a matter of course. However the main distinction between attachment parenting and continuum concept or natural parenting is that the former tends to be more child-centric (planning life around these attachment techniques and deliberately engaging baby in activities geared to promote attachment) and the latter tends to be more adult-centric (fitting child into regular life in a win-win way as many tribal societies do that continue regular activities without deliberately going out of their way to entertain baby).  Another small way that they differ is in how realistically they can be applied to modern society.  Attachment parenting was defined through the lens of modern thinking, even though it is inspired by nature.  Natural parenting is in a sense a philosophical ideal to strive for but some aspects may be difficult to directly apply to our modern lives, though keeping this ideal in mind helps us keep perspective and question societal convention when appropriate. Abbreviation: AP
•  Extended Breastfeeding:  This term is, quite frankly, a misnomer.  It is used to convey a commitment to breastfeeding for longer than the societal norm, but as our societal norm is far outside natural human weaning age, there is really nothing "extended" about this timetable.  The natural human weaning age is the age at which humans in nature would wean if there were no societal impositions.  This subject has been studied by anthropologist Kathy Dettwyler, whose research has determined the natural weaning age of humans to be between 2.5 and 7 years of age, with about 4 years being the most common.  This seems quite on par with my personal experience, as my eldest weaned at 4 yrs, my second weaned at 2.5 yrs, and my youngest is still going strong.  By comparison the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a minimum of 2 yrs of breastfeeding, and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) only recommends a minimum of 1 yr of breastfeeding (the first 6 months of which should be "exclusive" breastfeeding, meaning no solid foods).  And in practice only a small majority of babies in the US are breastfed at all, and of those that are, most are weaned by 6 months of age.  This is why terms like "extended breastfeeding" were invented because a commitment to respect the natural weaning age has become (regrettably) an unusual occurrence in our society.  Related terms: Natural weaning, self-weaning, child-led weaning.
• Child-Led Weaning:  Simply put, allowing the child to wean on his/her own when he/she feels ready.  The beginning of the weaning process is the introduction of solid foods, so the first step in child-led weaning is to delay the introduction of solids until the baby seems quite ready.  The AAP recommends no sooner than 6 months.  After that, one would look for signs of readiness, such as reaching for foods, and even then, just experiment first to see if baby is actually swallowing food offered--if he/she is not, one would hold off longer, experimenting now and then until the baby seems to get what to do before feeding solids in earnest.  After solids are introduced, breastmilk remains an important staple in the diet, until the nursling tapers off and eventually loses interest.  Contrary to societal assumptions, this style of weaning usually occurs quite effortlessly, without tears or trauma. Synonyms: Natural weaning, self-weaning, baby-led weaning Abbreviations: CLW, BLW
• Babywearing: In practice, strapping your baby into a carrier of your choice and "wearing" him/her most of the time.  The philosophy behind it is that babies' natural expectation is to be in the arms of a caregiver, because in nature, a human baby isolated from an adult would be vulnerable to predators.  Witness other primates that keep their young close at all times. Thus those who follow a NP or CC parenting style believe we are born hard-wired to be anxious about being left alone.  Specifically babies tend to cry more if they aren't held and NP would tell us that this is a survival instinct, a call for help for what is perceived by the infant to be a dangerous situation.  Even for those who do not read that far into it, AP philosophy says that babywearing has benefits for both mother and baby.  Those benefits include (but are not limited to): easy access for breastfeeding, more stimulating "real life" experiences for baby, the security of human touch, reduced postpartum depression and anxiety, convenience of parent having hands free while meeting baby's desire for closeness and carrying.
• Co-sleeping: Sharing a sleep space with your offspring.  This could mean sleeping in the same bed or keeping baby in a "sidecar" crib or bassinet that attaches to the parents' bed.  This arrangement facilitates nighttime feedings, increases bonding time, and helps baby feel secure.  Dr. James McKenna's research suggests that co-sleeping may also be safer than isolated sleep for baby, as he has shown that mother's breathing helps regulate baby's breathing and that mother develops an acute awareness of her baby as they slumber, and both of these things may protect the baby from SIDS.  Co-sleeping is often portrayed as unsafe and a little digging reveals that those behind the anti-co-sleeping campaigns include crib manufacturers, who clearly have a conflict of interest.  Statistics used as "evidence" against co-sleeping fail to make a distinction between safe and unsafe co-sleeping practices, including infant deaths occurring in couches or other unsafe sleeping environments or in the presence of a parent who was under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol.  Dr. Sears' guidelines spell out how to achieve a safe co-sleeping arrangement, which include the use of a bed rail, a large firm mattress, eliminating gaps and loose or fluffy bedding and pillows, and assuring that no parent is under the influence of anything that could make them less aware of baby's presence.  Similarly to babywearing, NP would tell us that, evolutionarily, baby humans would expect to be sleeping close to their parents as other primates do.  Solitary sleep would leave baby vulnerable in the wild, so this can be seen as the reason why babies seem to protest against it.  Nor is it natural for parents to have to trudge down a hallway to another room in the middle of the night and be so sleep-deprived. There are volumes of books on the subject of how to get baby to sleep through the night for the very reason that the crib in another room arrangement is so impractical for night feedings.  But babies' little bellies cannot hold much and their natural sleep patterns are not like adults'.  Most families who co-sleep report that most of the time, everyone feels well-rested, even if baby is not sleeping through the night because no one has to stir very much or leave the cozy nest in order to meet baby's nighttime needs.  NOT sleeping through the night also has benefits for both baby and mother--babies tend to gain weight faster and mothers tend to enjoy longer postpartum infertility.
• Elimination Communication: This is the act of cultivating an awareness of baby's need to "eliminate"  (urinate or defecate) and to facilitate helping baby eliminate in a specified location (a potty in our culture, a bush or hole in a culture closer to nature).  In most parts of the world, children are "toilet trained" by age 1; diapers are an invention that is either not heard of or not available. So humans do as they have done in the past: tune into baby's signals and hold baby over an appropriate place, making some kind of cue for the baby to associate this place with eliminating so that the communication goes both ways.  How do you know when baby has to go?  You rely on timing and subtle cues, just as you do when deciphering when your dog needs to be taken outside to do his business.  And similarly to puppies and other baby mammals, human babies are born with a desire not to soil the nest--they just need a little help in avoiding doing so, since humans are born quite helpless compared to many animals.  When practiced in modern society, most parents do use at least some diapers (usually cloth since adherents to elimination communication tend to favor eco-friendly, natural ways and because cloth doesn't wick wetness away, which can cause baby to lose touch with the sensation of eliminating while causing the parent to be less sure if a diaper has been wet) as backup, especially in the early months.  Subterminology: a "catch" is when elimination makes it to its desired location; a "miss" is when it does not (usually ending up in the backup diaper instead).  These terms are felt to be more appropriate, since terms like "accident" imply it was the child's shortcoming, where "miss" acknowledges the mutual communication that takes place during elimination communication.  Synonyms: Diaper-free, infant potty training, natural infant hygiene Abbreviation: EC
• Ecological Breastfeeding: Related to natural weaning, this is a means of exploiting the child-spacing attributes of breastfeeding by delaying solids, breastfeeding "on cue" or "on demand" (meaning whenever the nursling wants, which tends to be very frequently compared to scheduled or semi-scheduled feedings), not using any artificial nipples (no bottles or pacifiers),  and not being separated from baby for any length of time, day or night (babywearing during naps, co-sleeping and night-nursing at night).  If these practices are followed and if they result in baby never going more than 4 hours between nursings during the day and never more than 6 hours between nursings during the night, the mother can enjoy what is known as "lactation amenorrhea," or LAM which means that the mother does not ovulate or menstruate, thus rendering her incapable of conceiving again.  This is nature's childspacing mechanism and it is shown to be over 90% effective.  The average duration of LAM was shown by Sheila Kippley to be 14 months.

Other parenting terms I may throw around, but which may not necessarily refer to me (I'm not really the "activist" type--at least not anymore ;), and some of these other terms are parenting practices that represent the antithesis of my own):

• Lactivist: an "activist" for breastfeeding promotion and breastfeeding rights (such as public breastfeeding and pumping rights for employees).
• Intactivist: one who discourages routine infant circumcision.
• Crying it out: the practice of leaving baby alone in his/her crib to fall asleep or get back to sleep on his/her own, ignoring baby's cries in the process. Abbreviation: CIO
• Mainstream Parenting: a parenting style which follows societal conventions, generally relying on a lot of "gear" such as disposable diapers, bottles, formula, jarred baby food, strollers, cribs, swings, electronic toys, etc that many NP or AP folks find little use for. 

Dietary terminology:

• Vegan: one who refrains from eating any foods of animal origin, including meat, dairy products, eggs, and "hidden" animal ingredients such as gelatin. Reasons for following this diet style tend to fall into 3 categories: ethics, environment, and health.
• Gluten-free: one who avoids grains containing gluten, mostly wheat.

Scientific terminology:

• Extrasolar planets: planets which orbit stars other than the sun.  Related terminology: transit: when an extrasolar planet is aligned in such a way that at a certain point in its orbit its path crosses between us and the star it orbits, temporarily dimming the star by a tiny but detectable amount.  The planet's presence can be inferred by such an event, but most extrasolar planets do not have such a fortuitous alignment so other indirect detection means are necessary to infer their presence. 

Educational terminology:

• Alternative education: education other than public schooling, including Waldorf, Montessori, homeschooling, cyberschooling and other non-public schooling.
• Montessori school: a school which follows the educational philosophy of Dr. Maria Montessori, who believed that children are self-motivated to learn and that the teacher need only facilitate such learning.  She also believed that play was crucial to the development of the child.