Author Archives: Lysa

Attached at the Heart launch party in Los Angeles

Celebrating the release of the newly revised edition of Attached at the Heart at the home of Bob and Isabelle Fox.

Dr. Jay Gordon, Susan Stiffleman, Dr. Bob Sears, Soul Eye (Mario Treadway), Brian Grumet, Alanis Morissette, Jamie Grumet, Barbara Nicholson, Lysa Parker, Martha Sears, and Dr. Bill Sears celebrating “Attached at the Heart.”

Lysa and Barbara shared some of the new information in the book and celebrated the launch of the parenting curriculum based on the book. A beautiful day in Southern California with dear friends from many years and meeting new friends for the first time!

What’s New in Attached at the Heart?

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The second edition of Attached at the Heart is now available! Our intention in writing our book in the first place was to supply you with important information to help you make informed decisions. New information just keeps on coming! We can no longer accept advice at face-value, especially when it comes to our children. We have to question everything and do the necessary research on our own. We have tried to help you do just that in our updated edition of Attached at the Heart with incredible new research and information, some of which has been hidden from the public. Some of the information may be shocking and unsettling but liberating as well. For some it may stir up feelings of fear and guilt but our intention is to empower you, knowing that we can’t be held responsible for what we didn’t know.

More information about childbirth interventions you need to know
New information on the hidden dangers of ultrasound
Epigenetics- we have “power over” our genes and the genes of our grandchildren
How breastfeeding mitigates maternal depression
New study finds “infant bedsharing in the absence of other risk factors is not inherently dangerous”
The importance of play for strengthening connections and healthy growth
How early trauma can affect physical health later in life (The ACE Study)
How to protect your children from advertising and a consumer-driven society

New research comes out weekly and Attachment Parenting International has a great Enewsletter called API Links that compiles the latest information in a variety of areas of study. Go to attachmentparenting.org and sign up!

We’d love to hear from you and your comments about the book.

Lysa and Barbara

The Real World of Attachment Parenting

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We haven’t post much in the last few months because we have been diligently working on the new edition of Attached at the Heart, due to be released on Aug. 6, 2013. We couldn’t be more excited because it gave us the opportunity to update and add a lot of new information!

Since our book was first published in 2009, a lot has happened! Attachment parenting was introduced to the world by TIME Magazine just in time for Mother’s Day, 2012. A year later, people just can’t stop talking about it! Celebrities are coming out of the shadows to proudly announce they are practicing attachment parenting, which is great but can create more confusion. While it’s been disconcerting to hear the same misinformation repeated over and over at least now it’s part of the consciousness of the world. According to most media reports AP requires three things: breastfeeding, babywearing and bedsharing. Surely many countries are asking “What is so strange about breastfeeding, wearing your baby and sleeping with your baby?”

Thirty years ago it was unheard of to talk about a child nursing six months let alone one year. Now we are talking about four year olds and older (not that you have to do that to be AP). So with all the criticism and misunderstanding, progress is still being made and we are so happy that API has helped in doing that. Attached at the Heart is also doing its part in clarifying, raising awareness and informing parents and professionals about best practices that are supported by a wealth of scientific studies.

The truth is that attachment parenting isn’t about what you do as much as it is about an overarching understanding of what children need from us to develop into whole and happy adults and why it is so important for our future. At the heart of attachment parenting is a level of empathy and respect for our children as precious human beings; values that are uncommon in our culture among adults not to mention children. In the real world of attachment parenting, we are kind and compassionate, we respect and support each other knowing that we can make a difference in our families and in the world one generation at a time.

Our revised and updated edition of Attached at Heart is coming soon! (HCI Books, Aug. 6, 2013) There’s new information that every parent and professional needs to know. You can preorder now at Amazon and Barnes & Noble online.

Attached at the Heart Wins Gold

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We’re excited to report that last week it was announced at Book Expo America in New York City (May 27, 2010) that Attached at the Heart won the gold award from ForeWord magazine! Our book won in the category of Family & Relationships, one of sixty other categories. The judges consisted of librarians and booksellers, to whom we are very grateful.
Starting in February, we spent three months travelling and promoting AATH and meeting many wonderful people. In mid-April we met with a couple of Congressmen and many aides on Capital Hill to give them our book and discuss the book’s important message as it relates to many of the difficulties families face everyday.

We’re also very grateful to the friends and families who have supported or hosted us in our travels from WA DC, Texas and California. Our publisher, iUniverse has been incredibly supportive and our publicity agency, Smith Publicity, did a phenomenal job of publicizing our book from the US to Australia. It has given us the momentum we’ve needed and we will feel the ripple effects for months to come, from book reviews, articles and media requests.
Become a fan of AATH on Facebook and remember it’s a great gift for pregnant mommies and new parents. Even grandparents would benefit from reading AATH to update them on the latest information on birth and parenting so they can support their children as they raise their grandchildren.
We don’t know what’s going to happen next we we’re ready for the ride!
Lysa

Learning to live a life of gratitude

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I’m trying to learn not to take anything for granted by feeling grateful for the little things of life, by living and appreciating each moment. It’s not easy to do and it takes a diligent and conscious daily effort- similar to meditation. In mediation, our minds tend to wander- the Buddhists call “monkey mind” because we are constantly jumping from one thought to another. The act and discipline of meditation is training your mind to refocus on your breathing. Learning to live a life of gratitude is like a “walking meditation”, being present in the moment, not worrying about the past or the future but really living in the now, feeling intensely grateful for the many blessing we have in our lives. That doesn’t mean we don’t struggle, that doesn’t mean hurtful things won’t happen but we can change how we react and perhaps even glean some valuable spiritual lessons.

The holidays always remind us of what is important , our family, our children, the welfare of others and the beauty of the human spirit. Let’s continue our work together toward a more peaceful and compassionate world by creating peace in our own hearts and families. Maybe we need to begin by forgiving ourselves or forgiving others in order to begin to move forward even if that means asking for help to do so.

May you always stay attached at the heart,

Lysa

Reclaiming our birth rights

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Having just attended the Lamaze conference in Orlando, Florida, it is alarmingly clear that women have to become proactive in reclaiming our rights to give birth the way we want. We spoke with several Lamaze instructors who shared their own personal experiences in hospitals and the obstacles they are up against in providing all the evidence-based information in their childbirth classes. Many if not most hospitals are NOT practicing evidenced-based care when it comes to delivery and postnatal care of mother and child.

The most important thing we learned that can be very helpful in creating change is this; hospitals are sensitive to a certain rating based on the number of complaints (or not) received by patients. The problem is that women aren’t complaining because they really don’t know what their choices should be in regard to having their best birth. So all of us have to play our part in educating women, our friends and family members, about healthy birth practices and also encouraging women to write letters of complaint to their hospitals if they aren’t satisfied and request changes be made to improve outcomes that are in line with the healthy birth practices outlined in our book Attached at the Heart and at www.lamaze.org.

Let’s do it!

Lysa

AATH Update

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Barbara and I have been traveling a lot this past month. Our book event in Austin was very successful…we sold out again! Thanks in large part to family, friends and devoted API group leaders and members! We spoke at the La Leche League of New Jersey conference and held a book signing. Then on Monday, April 27th we were guest speakers at the Blue School. What an amazing school, founded by those funny blue men called Blue Man Group. Yep, they are so into being attached daddies that they and their wives started this unique school with the mission of preserving the parent-child connection and fostering teacher-child connections while developing children’s creativity and imagination. The parents who attended our evening presentation (that included one blue man Chris Wink and two Blue School teachers) were so into attachment theory and attachment parenting they bought up all the books we had for sale. It so inspiring to meet new people and experience their enthusiasm for the concept of AP. It’s definitely and idea whose time has come!
We ended our New York City trip with a talk at a mom’s luncheon in a restaurant and then a book signing at a Maternity/Children’s clothing store called Metro Minis. A great group of API moms came as well as moms from Inwood House for new & pregnant teen moms. They and their staff are incredible- guiding these young moms into more natural childbirth and breastfeeding. Some of the staff are trained doulas both knowledgable and skilled to work with these young women and get them started on the right path with their babies. So inspiring!

Our next stop is Southern California where we will speak at the LLL of So. CA & NV conference in Irvine May 22-23rd. Then we are planning a book promotion event at a private home for Monday, May 25th, Memorial Day.
A big thank you to all of you who have commented on our book or written reviews on Amazon! Did you know we were on the publisher’s bestseller list for March? We need to keep that going so keep talking it up with your friends and colleagues. We would love nothing better for this book to be a hit simply by word of mouth- the best form of advertising! We will be hosting API READS in June so we will be happy to answer any of your questions regarding the book! Thanks for tuning in!
Lysa

The first book signing in Nashville a huge success!

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A big thank you to all the friends and family members who came to our first signing this past Sat. Barbara and I are deeply grateful to the amazing talented women who sang “Baby Mine” accompanied by Gary Nicholson. They were Ashley Cleveland, Jonell Mosser, Odessa Settles, Kim Carnes and Carolyn Dawn Johnson. It was incredibly beautiful and moving- not to mention Carolyn’s absolutely adorable six month old daughter, Abby, who delighted the audience with her joyful antics and squeals!

Davis Kidd bookstore sold out of 71 books and will be adding Attached at the Heart to their bestseller list this week! So the bar has been set and we hope to keep the momentum going with the help of all of you. We appreciate your great comments. Now we urgently need reviews of our book on Amazon! This will make our publisher very happy and help us attain the next level of success in their program. Next stop is Austin, Texas on April 19th. If you live in or near Austin come by and see us!

Attached At The Heart Available Now

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The big day is here! We are thrilled to announce that Attached at the Heart is available now for purchase! We will be sending out press releases to the media and information to all of our groups about how to help us get the word out. We deeply appreciate the support and patience that all of you have given us over the last year. For us it has been a 15 year process of gathering research, information and practical wisdom from thousands of AP families. We could not have done this without you! Click on the links to the left of this blog and you can purchase your book today!

– Barbara and Lysa

AATH is at the printers!

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We’re excited that our book was sent to the printer last Friday! Sometime during the first week in March we will receive the galley proof and once we approve (which will be a quick turnaround) then the book goes “live” and people will be able to order from the iUniverse bookstore and Amazon initially. This whole process has been a test of patience and “detachment” in allowing the book to unfold the way it was intended. It couldn’t be rushed.

A big thanks to all of you for your patience as well!

Lysa