Why do Naturalists do such weird stuff with their kids?

Question

I have this new friend that is a total Naturalist. Which is fine but, She does alot of weird stuff In my opinion. Like for Instance. She births all of her babies at home and she lets her little kids like 5&6 years old watch the Labor. (WEIRD!) Then she Nurses her babies forever and she nurses while she is Pregnant and then Nurses the Infant and toddler. She doesn't Immunise her kids and she doesn't go to doctors at all. She Home Schools which is fine in my eyes. But her and I are SOOOO different. I do everything soooo oposite of her and her beliefs. We don't have anything in common other than we have kids and were female. But she always tries to change me but I don't want be like her cuz she does weird stuff. Oh ya and she also has her baby that is 1 sleep with her and her baby, No crib at all! And then she has the baby sleep with her 6 year old daughter now. She is really weird in my eyes. Why do you think she is like this? Do you think it's normal?
Thanks for your oppinion

Answer 1

What is weird for your eyes and culture may be everyday life for her, and vise versa. Though.. I highly recommend that her children be given some basic shots due to diseases that are more prone to be caught now days.



You know, having your child die from a disease you could have prevented could seriously ruin your day.

Answer 2

I can't help but wonder where you're from if you've never heard any of these names before. Sure some of them are fairly unusual, but most are rather common names. You've never heard of Quinn? Or Ava? Or Rhys, Branden, Wylie, Antonia, Lorelai, Sienna or Ryder? Along with Milana, Kadence Cullen, Tye, Isadora, Sadie, Blakely, Cade, Dawson, Neve, Channing and Beau. All pretty normal names. Ludwig, Therese, Loki, Tiana and Therese are all names I've heard before as well. And that leaves Domin, Ilya, Ilsla (sure you don't mean Ilsa or Isla?), Tiara, Tobin, Philomore,Tobika and Matheras. They may not be common, but that doesn't make them weird. Nevaeh is a weird name, but that's a whole other story. Now that that's settled, I'll proceed to actually answer your question. There are quite a lot of people, not just Americans, that DO name their kids weird names, names far worse than those you listed above (except maybe Nevaeh. Nevaeh is pretty darn weird.) These people actually DO name their kids these things because they want them to be unique. And just so you know, I'm Norwegian.

Answer 3

I hate the argument "that is how it was always done!" You can't tell me that there weren't women before us, in the thousands of years before pain control became available, that would have KILLED for an epidural.



On homebirths...yes, I realize it's a personal decision, and the majority of people who have decided to go through with it have support from a midwife...HOWEVER, I wouldn't feel comfortable laboring anywhere but at a hospital. Today's medical community is not the evil witch the way some people believe. In the split-second problems that can occur during labor, sometimes having a doctor (and an OR) nearby can save your life AND your child's. I had an emergency c-section and my son would most likely not be alive right now if I hadn't already been at the hospital when everything went to hell. IT IS, however, necessary to have a birthing plan and discuss with your doctor the kind of labor and birth that you want.



On co-sleeping, my pediatrician advises against it. The odds of smothering your child accidentally in your sleep are actually very large, no matter how 'light' a sleeper you are. The safest way to co-sleep is with a bassinet attached to the bed or a 'co-sleeping' box. And the baby should not sleep with a sibling, because I don't know about anyone else's children, but my kids sleep like rocks and wouldn't realize that they were laying on top of the baby.



On breastfeeding: it's a personal decision. I for one bottle-feed and am tired of being looked down on for this. Bonding with your child does not begin and end with breastfeeding. If that's the only bond you have with your child, then you have your own problems. If you choose to breastfeed, great! If you don't, great. Do what's right for your family.



On homeschooling: sometimes it's just the right answer. I know many kids in my area who were home-schooled, and played sports at the high school in order to fulfill their phys ed requirements. Most of those kids (if not all, I can't really remember) went on to go to great colleges.



CHILDREN SHOULD ALWAYS BE VACCINATED. End of story.

Answer 4

What's weird to one person might be normal to someone else. She probably thinks the stuff you do is "weird" too. She will raise her children the way she wants to. Think of someone in a far away village with no technology or doctors, etc...they all raise their children this very same way, and no one has a right to call them weird or anyone else. Parenting styles will differ.



If she tries to get you to change your ways, just explain that you are happy doing things your way and have your own beliefs , just the same way she does. Maybe she'll stop pushing you to change.

Answer 5

this is why she is called a naturalist. there is nothing weird about it, just living life normally and naturally. I breastfed my children until they were 1, my last until he was 15 months. my baby still sleeps in bed with my husband and I and is 16 months. He has been known to sleep with his 5 yr old big brother too. I home school and do not immunize my children either, nor circumcize my boys. We have owned 1 crib passed down to each new baby along the way, but was never slept in and my oldest is 8 if that tells you something.

Everyone has their own things that they believe and it is not all weird. Do you think she thinks you are weird because you are not like her? I suppose she uses cloth diapers or practices elimination communication? is this weird too? I guess I'm past weird then. lol.

Answer 6

We are all unique. Wouldn't it be weird if we walked around all the same? None of this is weird to me but, I seem weird to some of my friends, I bet. I think this is very normal since there are tons of people out there just like her. I think she is like this the same reason you are the way you are we are individuals. What floats your boat doesn't float hers and vice versa. I'm glad you see that you are friends. Your kids may grow up to live similar lives as hers and know that it is normal and you may influence her kids to live like you do and they too will know of the normalscy of it.

So far as trying to get you to change she may just be so happy with the way life is for her that she wants you her friend to experience it as well. Just tell her that I am who I am and I am happy to have you as a friend but there is know way I am going to .......

Answer 7

All of these things are normal. Gee, I must be a HUGE freak because I plan to do a homebirth, nurse my kids until they're a year old, cosleep, not put poison in their bodies or shove them full of antibiotics for every little thing.



Actually what I think is weird is giving labor in a hospital with unnecessary drugs and procedures that lead to unnecessary c-sections, changing shifts, and unnatural birthing positions, injecting your babies with antifreeze, mercury, formaldehyde and aborted fetal cells, putting them in a crib in another room and listening in with a baby monitor instead of having them in the room where you can hear them and where it's easy to do late night feedings...

Answer 8

thats not weird...home births are becoming quite popular, if you remember thats how it was always done...at home. As for letting other children watch i think that is wonderful it is a major bonding experience for the children with their newest sibling...as for immunizations i can understand that too there have been so many negative articles about shots lately that i wouldn't blame any parent for not wanting to vaccinate their child. There is also nothing wrong or weird about co-sleeping, it too had become very popular and is a bonding experience for mother and child. I don't think she is weird or that different. She is just a mom doing what she finds to be best for her children...nothing wrong with that.

Answer 9

Yeah it is weird, but its also normal, it sounds like she was raised differently than you and I, or maybe from a diff country. I think that you should feel blessed that you have her as your friend, and perhaps look at her as looking to the past, what she is doing now, sounds like the 1800's and back.

Answer 10

Weird?



Our family does most of those things, and I don't think we're weird. We're trying to make decisions that we feel are best for us.



None of those things are weird, in my opinion.



You know what is weird to me? The fact that some people got together and created some artificial baby milk and now half the population is feeding it to their babies and call the rest of us who breastfeed our two-year olds gross, disgusting, and abusive.

Answer 11

it sounds to me that thats exactly how people did it back before doctors were common. There is leading research to vaccinate your children and to not vaccinate. There is nothing wrong with allowing your children to sleep with you. I think for her its normal. She has very strong bonds to her children. If this is the way she believes she might find what you do weird. Never judge. Oddity is in the eye of the beholder.

Answer 12

Well, I guess I'm a weirdo too.



I'm going to deliver our children at home.

I will breastfeed her until she's about a year old (and do the same for any future children).

We very likely will not vaccinate our children.

I wouldn't mind homeschooling for a time, but not sure how long.



That's all we have in common I guess.

Answer 13

Sounds like she doesn't have any common sense to go along with "trying" to be a naturalist.

Answer 14

Our foremothers would look at us liek we are insane for NOT breastfeeding, co-sleeping, homeschooling ect...



ALL MOTHERS ARE DIFFERENT!

Answer 15

they want their children to be naturalists too. its kinda how catholic families baptize their children and take them to church. or how jew kids get a brisk or whatever its called....ouch

Answer 16

people r just different, some have different view than others.

just ignore it.

Answer 17

yea all of that is weird, i wouldn't do any of it ever.