A mum-of-two who co-sleeps with her baby, has no routine and carries the five-month-old as much as she can, hit back at trolls who criticise her choices.
Tiffany Chesson, 28, says she follows “instinctual” parenting for her “Velcro baby” Lottie.
The customer experience director, from Sittingbourne, Kent, told SWNS: “She (Lottie) doesn’t like being put down. I get to be hands free by wearing her. I just like having that close contact.
“I’m wearing her as much as I can. We benefit from all the hormones.”
Tiffany discovered co-sleeping by chance after finding that it was the only way to get first child Teddy, now five, to sleep.
This time round though, Tiffany has made a conscious choice to share her bed with Lottie from day one.
She said: “So many parents end up co-sleeping by accident.
“There’s a lot of scaremongering. We follow the Lullaby Trust safe sleeping guidelines. The bed is very firm so she can’t dip down and there is a pillow by her head.”
She added: “There is no adult duvet. I do a cuddle curl – which is an arm over her and leg under, so she can’t slip. It just means I get sleep.
“When she needs milk she can latch on. I don’t really notice waking up each time to breastfeed.”
She said trolls say it’s a “bad habit” to get into – but she claims it made her eldest, Teddy, feel more “secure” and he is now “more independent”.
Tiffany and partner Shaun, 28, an account manager, refuse to use any products on Lottie and only bath her in milk and water.
Tiffany will also carry Lottie around as much as possible so that she can get things done during the day.
She said: “People say I should get out of the habit.
“But when a baby feels secure it’s going to be more independent.”
Tiffany has no set routine for Lottie, but admits she did feel pressure the first time around.
Now she lets Lottie take the lead to let her know when she wants to sleep and feed.
Tiffany said: “They are growing so fast – what works one day, the next it’s a different case.
The parenting choices Tiffany has made with Lottie have helped make the postpartum period a lot “easier”.
Tiffany’s instinctual parenting choices:
- Co-sleeping.
- Contact napping.
- No set routine for the baby.
- Not using any products on her baby – only using milk and water.
- No sleep training.
- Going for a walk every day.
