Not exactly 'alternative' but does anyone rely on extended families for help with rearing their children?
I dont have any extra support with any of mine but |I know some people raise their children with a lot of extra support and I wondered if this was a positive or negative experience?

Eg/is it helpful? A godsend knowing you have babysitters available,or a hindrance because they interfere?

Just curious???

i dont have any help with the 3 boys at all being away from family i find hard sometimes

but with alexis i can see some probs coming up with dans mum and sister they already trying to tell me what to uise and what not to use to be honest i wont take it and have told dan so

i suppose i have that 'extended family' thing going on
as its just me, if i cant take Lyle with me i need to have my family watch Lyle... great sometimes, bad on others.... especially as the way im bringing Lyle up is not the way anyone around here has done... i.e. im doing my version of the continuam concept or attched parenting,
my parents crack up abput Lyle sleeping in my bed... they say he shouldnt be fed at night... i know my dad has said about me still breast feeding him at 15months old.. my sister and brother are very vocal about me breast feeding at all (theyre teenagers)...
for babysitters, i mostly have my mum and my sister, also my cousin offers (but its mostly empty offers, as she never answers her fone )... my dad helps out around my house, he's laid Lles room floor, painted it blue, put up his cot(thats been slept in once!), liad the floor down in the hall and kitchen, painted my living room 8 times just to get rid of the smoke look from teh previous occupier, fitted a new shower enclosure, moved my sink location and fitted new sink n toilet, painted the outside of my house.... n loads more


for the most part, its all good, but im an independent girl, yet at 25 years old, im finding myself relient on others for things that are out of my control and thats not good for my mind frame iukwim....

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***Smart has the brains, Stupid has the balls. BE STUPID***
Breastfed for 33months. Every day spent breastfeeding is the best gift to you and your baby.

You breastfeed as long as you want. It's your life, your child, your body so it's nothing to do with anyone else. And if you want littl'un in bed with you, then it's up to you. When the kids were little, many a time we woke up with a bedfull!! If it means you sleep more then it's fine.

We all have our own ways and I think it's downright rude of others to interfere. K x

I echo Kathryn, we all parent in our own way and if co sleeping and ectended breastfeeding suits you then that's the way it needs to be. I'd like to bet your parents never bought you up exactly the way they were reared.

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I know my floor isn't clean enough to eat off, but then.....why would you want to?

My mum watches Kayleigh 2 days a week and Franco's sister watches her one day a week. It works well for me as I go to work not worrying about Kayleigh.

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lol nah, aparently my nana was a force to be reckoned with shes never fit me, but my older cousins told me she used to chase them with a brush glad ive got the mellow nana

i think its just because its different for them, that they wonder how its going to effect him/us/them..... they seem to forget that my bro n sis slept in there bed and then my bro used to come into mine as we shared a room, he only stopped that after he started school.... he remembers but mum n dad dont... funny what u block out cause it doesnt fit with ur views

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***Smart has the brains, Stupid has the balls. BE STUPID***
Breastfed for 33months. Every day spent breastfeeding is the best gift to you and your baby.

The grand parents do their bit with the child care now im back to work full time, she is in nursery three days a week (a small fortune i have to say) but the grand parents take it in turns the other 2 days a week, which helps keep the nursery costs down a bit xx

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Well like you we dont realy get help off your lot... Jeffs 2 have sleped at your parents more in the past 2 weeks than Krissi has in her whole life!

My mum doesn't have her either & don't even get me started on my dad & step mum!

I think we do well without them though. Well Krissi is growing up well! Better than certain nieces & nephews in my family that get all the attention!

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Forever isn't long at all when I'm with you!

Sadly we live too far from my family for it to really work beyond the odd baby sitting thing. It saddens me a bit... when I was a child my grandparents & uncle's family (from my mum's side) were always there/around, etc - I was v close to my grandparents & my cousins were more like brothers & sisters. When I had my 1st I kind of envisioned a similar thing but we live too far from my side of the family & v near dh's (in fact his parents live at the top of our road) & while fil is great mil leaves a lot to be desired & just doesn't do the whole big family (extended or otherwise) thing (despite coming from a big family herself & having an extended family too).

My parents (well, just my mum now) & brother do get as involved as they can (distance, health & work allowing) & I still have v close relationships with a lot of my other relatives, but our extended family is more over cyberspace than IRL so we don't get that sort of physical closeness iyswim that you'd get IRL.