Ming Reads Dr. Sears while Audrey Reads Dr. Ferber

While our only experiences in dog mothering is with Ming and Audrey, we have noticed a marked difference in their mothering styles. I am impressed with both and think that each method has its own soundness.

Ming, in the first 3 to 4 weeks, stayed with her puppies constantly and did not want them out of her sight. She would potty quickly and drag me back to the whelping box. Without fail, she slept with her babies. Looked a lot like the parenting style that Dr. Sears espoused in his attachment parenting book.

Audrey, also a very good mother, in the first few days, dragged me back to the whelping box after going out to potty. Now, however, she is not always with the puppies. Audrey checks in on the pups, methodically cleans each one, feeds them and when they are asleep, she walks around the house. She then goes back, almost like clockwork when it's feeding time and starts the process again.

Audrey needs little assistance from me to keep the pups and the whelping box spotless. When they wimper and whine, she doesn't immediately jump to it the way Ming used to. She lets them cry it out. That's not to say she doesn't care about them. One time, she was sitting with me when there was a cry from the whelping box- a different tone/pitch. Mothers out there know what I mean. She dashed to the box in less time than it took for me to stand up - athletic Audrey was sprinting to see what's wrong. Puppy was wedged under a pigrail and the other four were piled on top of very warm and unhappy pup. Audrey rolled them away with her nose. (By the way, I KNOW Audrey can do math. She takes a count every time she goes into her box. ) Audrey's style of parenting reminds me of Dr. Ferber. She is Ferberizing them, I think.

Dr. Ferber has revisited his theory, as has Dr. Sears. They both have moved closer to the middle towards each other's styles. Interesting.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5439359

What was your style? I definitely found that Ferberizing my oldest son did nothing and we quickly stopped it. For my younger son, the better sleeper, all he did was complain a little and then he fell asleep. To this day, one child needs very little sleep while the other has to have at least 7 to 8 hours.