Nurturings (Attachment Parenting International)

I have been volunteering with API for over twenty years, since shortly after I found them and began receiving education and support. I had learned about attachment in my psychology graduate program, and I found when I became a parent that while the professionals knew a lot about what children need in terms of attachment-promoting care, the culture was telling parents things that were not supported by research. Things that would put distance in the parent-child relationship. When I found API, and saw that it was bridging the gap between what parents were told and what the research showed, I knew I needed to be a part of their efforts. Through my involvement with API, I have grown so much as a parent and as a professional helping parents.

AP changed the way I look at my relationships, created more compassionate way of living for me and also changed the meaning of unconditional love. I was lucky to meet AP during my first pregnancy. With AP, I see that the greatest teacher is my kid to be more aware of myself.

AP, ilişkilerime bambaşka bir gözle bakmayı, yaşamıma çok daha şefkatli bir yerden yaklaşmayı ve koşulsuz sevgi anlayışımı değiştirdi. AP ile ilk hamileliğimde tanıştım, kendimi çok şanslı hissediyorum bu yüzden. Çocuğumun, kendimi tanıma ve anlamlandırma konusunda en büyük öğretmenim olduğunu gösterdi bana.

Kalpten bağlı eğitmen eğitimi ile çok daha fazla aileye ulaşıp, bu değişimi onlarla da paylaşmayı umuyorum.

This is a great organization for finding parenting support that preserves and cultivates the parent's confidence while empowering that parent to move toward healthy family relationships.

3 çocuk annesiyim, kendime ve çocuklarıma şefkati öğrendiğim API yolculuğunda şimdi de öğrendiklerimi daha fazla ebeveyn ve bakımverenle paylaşabilme adına ebeveyn eğitmenliği eğitimi alıyorum.
iyi ki yollarımız kesişmiş.

As an international AP leader and activist, I have seen API's tremendous impact in my home country (Turkey) and beyond, with parents as well as professionals accessing API's online resources, its parent support groups as well as its new parent education programs and as a result radically transforming their parenting practices with a more compassionate approach.
We also now have a great new wave of parent educators, whom we tend to call "ambassadors of compassion" thanks to API's new Online Parent Educator Certification Program recently offered in Turkish.
Can't thank enough!
Aslıhan Tokgöz Onaran, Ph.D.

The values, the teaching, and the support of Attachment Parenting International contributed enormously to my parenting of our two sons and to my decision to become a La Leche League leader, a parent educator, and a trainer of medical professionals in supporting breastfeeding and early parenting. As a retired LLL leader, I continue to take every possible opportunity to promote and encourage attachment parenting. No words can fully express my appreciation for API.

My family and I have enjoyed many years of supportive information from the API, now Nurturings, approach to parenting. The research-informed and strengths-based parenting information and support was a validation of our long-view of responsive parenting to meet and work with our children's development rather than push, pull or prescribe it. We also continue to enjoy years-long, enduring friendships we formed with local group families. Working with Nurturings has also provided a daily reminder of the number of parents who value and benefit from this kind of parenting support. I look forward to introducing more families to Nurturings.

Excellent knowing sharing. The team is so dedicated. They are friendly and approachable and their classes are super interactive and engaging.

Nurturing has helped me be a better parent, a better support to other parents, and is an amazing resource.

As a developmental psychologist, I am careful about only associating with organizations that are research-based and guided by the best and latest research. That is the case with Nurturings/API. In addition, the staff and board members are all wonderful individuals. Consequently, I am happy to support the organization in multiple ways, such as contributing funds and serving on the board.

I've known the founders of Attachment Parenting International, now Nurturings, since the inception of the organization and have seen first hand how hard they have worked to help families. The Nurturings website offers numerous resources for families to shore up their self-confidence and help them to find other like-minded parents. The founders have sought out experts in the field, learned from them, and passed that knowledge onto their community. They have insured that the organization remains relevant by continuing to grow and expand themselves. It is an organization led by humble public servants who are sincere and well-intentioned. I continue to recommend it to others as the top parenting resource in a very crowded field.

I have met with many parents through the years who have benefitted greatly from the support they have received, either personally with group meetings or online support through the website. Some have attended the first conference that was co-sponsored by API and La Leche League of TN/KY. The expertise of the speakers was so appreciated by these parents.

I have followed this way of parenting since my first son was born in the early 90s. I have 4 sons and they are wonderful caring young adults now. I still talk about the concepts of attachment parenting with them in the hopes that somehow they may pass this knowledge on if they have their own children in the future. The bond our family shares has been incredibly strong in good times and bad. I attribute a lot of it to the love ,trust and respect that was continually nurtured and strengthened with the help Attachment parenting❤️ Thank you

The website, reading materials and emails from API were key to helping me build very close loving relationships with my children from the time they were small.

Attachment Parenting International is the voice of reason in an increasingly alienating trend in the way we are raising our children. The general idea in childrearing today is to rush separation from the parental figure as soon as possible, ideally within the first few months of life. New mothers are urged to place their babies to sleep alone in a room by 6months of age at the latest, in order to "encourage independence", but how can a baby who can't even sit up properly by herself yet enjoy independence and separation? She can't do anything for herself. She is completely dependent on parental figures to provide food, safety, comfort. What can independence mean to a baby who is left alone to cry, but abandonment and severe danger? Hundreds of pounds are spent every year on sleep consultants for infants who, unable to cope with rushed and inopportune independence foisted upon them cry all night long. The comfort of the breast is widely encouraged to be withdrawn by 1 year old at the latest, if ever started at all. At the same time, the Western world is undergoing a clinical depression and chronic anxiety epidemic of vast proportions. Suicide has become one of the main causes of death, personality disorders are rampant, enduring disabilities and resistant to treatment. These are problems which are virtually unheard of in societies which practice a more attachment based form of child rearing, such as India or China, where, for instance, sleeping with primary caregivers until a child is old enough to appreciate independence is the norm. Coincidence? Maybe. But I'm sure it couldn't hurt to try out what other cultures are already doing successfully. Research by Bowlby et al demonstrates that recurrent and prolonged separation from parental figures in the early years is the direct cause of many problems later in life, and yet attachment parenting is not really viewed as a possible solution, yet. Therefore, thank you Attachment Parenting International for spreading ideas and concepts more in tune with human nature, respectful of what babies and children seek from parenting figures (closeness, guidance and support) even if they don't necessarily go hand in hand with an economic model which expects parents to be back to full time absence from their newborn by the time they're 3 months of age in order to resume paid work.

Attachment Parenting principles have been instrumental in helping me find a circle of parents who were parenting in a similar gentle way based on what early childhood development tells us is best for children. I am so grateful for it!

Great organisation supporting parents. Non judgemental and inclusive. The support is evidence based and full of empathy and understanding. I cannot recommend highly enough.

I am very aware of the many influencers in a child’s life. There are parents, stepparents, foster parents, relatives, and myriad other adults affecting a child, in the span of their upbringing.
Therefore, I use the term “Parent/Parents” as just the general descriptor of the person or persons who raised us.
The way we parent, whether we realise it or not, like it or not, is directly related to the way we were parented. Our parents’ parenting style/skills were directly related to their parents, and on and on and on, generation before generation before generation.
That being said, the world that we live in, now, has been through so many cycles of turmoil: joy, death, life, fear, deep suffering, deep gratitude, love, hate, et al.
In our generation, we are now the parents and we have the luxury of being able to parent our children in a way we can choose to- as opposed to “having to” parent our children in the way that was necessary in order to keep children safe and (for lack of a more fancy word) alive.
Attachment Parenting has changed the way I view myself and my children. Attachment Parenting isn’t just for the child, it is also about us. Choosing to shower your child with love, set firm boundaries, having consistency, and treating our children with the same respect and compassion that we would give to another adult... our friends, perhaps.
I don’t know how I discovered “Attachment Parenting” but I do know that when I learned more about the philosophy, I felt like I wasn’t alone. Many parents weren’t parented in the same way we parent our children. I think that’s because so many of us can still remember what it felt like to be dismissed when we were going through some very difficult things (even as toddlers), or we remember what it was like to have to parent our own parents!
I taught all 3 of my children basic sign language signs before they could talk with their voices. After I did this with my first child, I was completely overwhelmed with beautiful emotions because my child was speaking to me, telling me about themselves and what they were thinking, well before they could form words. It means that children are so bright and so observant! The capacity to communicate with our children before they can even form words was so profound for me that I began to see my children as their own people- with their own uniqueness. That began my journey with Attachment Parenting. It’s about bonding, love, and giving your children the feeling of safety and trust in you, their parent, to hear them, listen to them, and love every ounce of their Being.

API offers help to families on every subject under the sun that has to do with parenting in a positive and loving way. Thank you API

Nothing is more important than the quality of rearing and education we provide our infants, young children, and adolescents. Empirically based child and adolescent rearing approaches, combined with research derived strategies to educate younger and older youth can significantly reduce adult diseases. Since it began, Attachment Parenting International ( API ) has: created local parent study and support groups; written and distributed informative newsletters by scholars about how best parents can meet the various developmental needs of their young children; held annual, national parenting conferences; and been a childrearing resource for individual parents across the United States.
Our country has made reliable automobiles, movies, homes and electric products. It has produced fine and competent professionals in numerous fields. However, its youth are not given the quality and amount of parent love, interest or autonomy they deserve. And by their behavior, they have, for decades, been screaming their needs. The majority of adults are NOT listening or attending. Let us give to those who are!

I decided to join the efforts of Attachment Parenting International. I have watched them and I am proud.

Peter Ernest Haiman, Ph. D.

API gets to the root of building resilience and reducing ACEs--which is being recognized more and more through research and education--getting to the roots, to very beginning of life with promoting Attachment Theory. Their work makes a difference in individual lives of people and families who learn and embrace the principals and overall with community education and social change. Kudos to API.

API does very important work supporting families to raise emotionally healthy children. I learned about attachment parenting through La Leche League, another important support organization. API helped me become the parent I wanted to be. Thank you for all you do!

API is a wonderful organization that is helping to empower parents to build healthy, secure relationships with their children. API knows that secure attachment starts at preconception and lasts throughout a child's lifetime. The principals of attachment parenting are not a checklist of things to do or not to do, rather gentle guidance that is supported by the latest research. Parents can find support in a variety of ways through Attachment Parenting International whether that be through support groups, articles, or the Attached at the Heart curriculum. API is committed to helping parents raise children who don't have to recover from their childhoods.

Teenagers’ AP as a mum, learning about Neufeldt’s research.

One of the best groups for parent support and parent education that centralizes nurturing parents and children.

Attachment parenting is the absolute best way to love your children. Every decision we make based on attachment parenting principles feels right. We are treating our children with respect, and helping them to feel secure and loved in an uncertain world. We have certainly grown as parents as we’ve learned more about attachment parenting. We attempted to sleep train our first baby as that was what we heard you should do to get the baby sleeping in his own crib. To this day, we have great remorse, but are so thankful that we have since learned how to lovingly transition our children to their own beds. Sometimes it is hard and takes alot of time, but doesn’t anything worthwhile? Attachment parenting feels very counter-cultural in many ways, and that makes it hard as well. We’ve learned to “stick to our guns” so to speak, for the sake of our children. We want them to grow up loved and treasured so that they are capable of spreading that love to others.

Out of all the non-profits out there helping parents and children, and there are a lot of them, API is of the highest quality, best organized, most helpful, and most respected. My family and I would not be who we are today if not for API. I would love to see API continue and grow their good work into eternity because I believe it's one of the best organizations that can help create a more compassionate world for us all.

The API supports the theory that children of divorced parents don't deserve Equal Custody.
The archaic Rhetoric that children should not have overnights with each parent and the notion that a primary parent exists, is reason for this non profit to go away.

Non profits should encourage family and help every child have all parents involved to the utmost in all periods of their lives.

API has helped me grow as a person to be a better mother to my daughter and keep the harmony and love, thank you for spreading the love.

We've adapted attachment parenting in our household, and the results have been remarkable. I can't say enough what AP does for our lives, and it's a fantastic all-around parenting resource.

API has helped me and my family so much. They have helped me to learn how to grow as a parent so that I can heal from my childhood and also serve my children in ways that I did not think were possible. I feel that attachment parenting is the peaceful future that all parents need to work towards and API is just one of the major stepping blocks that is working in our world to do that. They do so much on the local community level and also globally to serve their mission.

They are doing a great difference around the world!

Great free resources.
Affordable resources.
Great newsletter.
Helpful and supportive.

I wouldn't be as good of a parent without their influence!

API has helped me find my path as a parent. I never knew "what kind of parent" I was, or aspired to be, but knowing the vision of API, it was easy to see. I aspire to be patient and understanding, and work to find joy and harmony with my little girl. What a wonderful mission they have!

API is all about promoting an approach to parenting that encourages peace within the family through nonviolence, compassion, and empathy. I've used this in my family and now help other families in incorporating the API parenting approach. In my own family, API's approach helped our marriage rehabilitate from one affected by domestic violence to completely free of any hurtful word, thought, or deed -- it completely changed the way me and my husband, and our children, view ourselves, each other, and our world. Some people equate API with fad parenting, but it's so much more holistic than that -- it's not about babywearing so much as promoting evidence-based nurturing touch. All of API's Eight Principles of Parenting are like that. They're not so much rules as guidelines to help families looking for more connection to figure out how to reach that goal.

Support and clarification on the right instinctual way to raise a child

This group saved me from post party's depression, helps me through parenting struggles and has provided my best mamma friends. My life and my children's lives have been profoundly lifted through the efforts of the many volunteers at API. So grateful!

I don't have a lot of AP resources available locally, and API has been a regular source of support as my husband and I raise our sons, now 10 and 17. I especially enjoy the personal stories API publishes, as they have inspired me, helped me to feel less alone, and given me ideas I can implement in my family. I even had an article published, so I was able to pass on a little wisdom to others in the same way wisdom has been passed on to me!

Making a difference that will change the world and repair so much damage done by devastatingly cruel parenting methods.

API fills a roll that no other organizations can. I only wish there were an API support group within the reach of every single parent. It is critical to educate regarding evidence based parenting in this current culture. Raising children with secure attachments and empathic hearts is essential to the future of man kind.

I have been so grateful to my local API chapter for being a constant voice of reason through my six years of parenthood. It is wonderful to have friends you've never even met, resources and further reading so you can inform your own best parenting advice, a place to ask questions, and a place to read answers to questions you didn't even realize you had, and to have a forum where you can give back and share about your own experiences. I am so lucky I found API international as well as my local group. As a professional in the area of birth and new parenthood, I can also speak to just how valuable API is to my clients and other parents on a professional level. This form of support is crucial.

My local API group has helped me and family in innumerable ways. It's an amazing community and resource. I feel incredibly fortunate to be a part of it.

I'm grateful for how API has supported and validated me so much as a parent to my two young girls. We are parents who "fell into" attachment parenting and having this community to guide us with experienced advice on extended breastfeeding, co-sleeping, gentle discipline, etc. has been invaluable. It's not just the practical wisdom about these practices that API offers (though that is extremely helpful). But it's the emotional, psychological and spiritual wisdom from parents with older children who've learned the ropes which supports others in making the choice to parent with love and gentleness. I really believe that API practices can change the world by helping shape the next generation.

I found API when my son was born 6 years ago. The group API- NYC has been a lifeline for me through moves to 2 different sates where my parenting style was not the norm. It has been an amazing support that has given me information I needed as well as a sense that others have the same issues I do and choose to handle them in a way that I am comfortable with. I am so grateful for the support and information I get from API.

Volunteering for API came from my masters in early childhood education and child development. They understand this crucial period well.

I have found support many times through the API network in many different subjects related to raising a child. The support offered is invaluable because sometimes a mother might feel isolated or simply not have enough resources to deal with some issues that might come up. Belonging to a community (which is not only an online one but also in real life!), where parents share and care for one another, is extremely important, especially nowadays where the nuclear family has kept us in a small- separated world where wisdom and knowledge is not easily passed from one to another.

Great support for parents who wish to parent peacefully and with respect. They have amazing online resources and local support groups.

Exceptional resource and support network without borders! Families all around the world continue to turn to API as a resource. Thank you!

My whole family, eight children and now 14 grandchildren, have benefitted immensely from what we have learned from Attachment Parenting, International. And in my husband's and sons' Pediatric and Family Medicine practices, we have seen the effects of this organization as it supports the parenting choices that our these families make to stay connected. The families are healthier in so many ways by practicing this way of parenting. Thank you, API, for making a huge difference in our lives, the lives of the parents we serve, and in the wider world of families in our nation and even around the world. One of the best ways they do this is through, not only the local support groups, but through a remarkable website that offers information and encouragement for the hard but joyful work of parenthood.

I am first time Mother. I read a lot of parenting books and tried to stay informed. When my daughter was born I still felt there was a disconnect between what I was learning and real life. I am so grateful I found my local API group!! They are the first I think of now when I have a question about child raising or something wonderful that has happened as a parent. I always look forward to reading everyones posts and comments . They are so insightful, thought provoking, knowledgable, and caring. I kinda don't feel so alone anymore on the conscious parenting path. Thank you!!

I am a single mom attachment parenting and home-schooling a child with Autism. API has been my lifeline for nearly 8 years!

I am grateful for API! I had not been around children much before my son was born 6 years ago. I was bombarded with people wanting to help guide me along as a new mother. I was given books about how to teach your child to cry it out and other parenting techniques. I tried a few and ended up having to give my child what I wished I had been given when I was growing up. I am blessed to find a program that supports the connection that children need. When I would question my self, I could always come to API for validation and information. Thank you to all who support this incredible awareness! Lisa

I'm a parenting coach and I often send my clients to API as they have a plethora of resources especially for new parents. I only wish API had been around when my children were small. I would have learned to trust my intuition more and not given away so much of my power to the "parenting expert" du jour.

I recently participated in the Attached at the Heart Educators' Training and will be teaching the AATH curriculum hopefully soon.

API has been a strong influence in my parenting. It has offered me guidance in areas that were unknown territory for me. API makes me feel normal :-).

API has helped me finding my empowerement as a father, and for that I'm extremely grateful!

I love API so much that I became a support group leader this year! It's a fantastic organization that provids parenting resources for free. I cannot recommend it enough.

API has been a wonderful source of support in my parenting journey. It is a non judge mental truly caring venue to get advice on topics such as cosleeping, extended nursing, positive discipline, etc. I am constantly finding myself reaching out to this group when I have a question about something my children are doing and I need help with. I could not imagine what it would have been like if I had not found this group 3 years ago!

My experience with API is that it has been a wonderful source of support and inspiration to me since I began my parenting journey almost 10 years ago. The leaders of our group have been nothing but inviting and warm and provide great resources with science-backed information. I trust the board members, and know that this non-profit is sincere and legit, paving the way for gentler, more informed parenting.

I have been involved with API for many years. My local group was an invaluable source of support when I was a new mom, as I learned to follow my instincts and parent in a connected and compassionate way. When I saw how much the group was needed in our community, I became an API support group leader, and eventually started volunteering with the international organization as well. API serves an absolutely vital role in parent education and support, and has done so much good not only in my small community, but worldwide. I truly believe that API's work is helping to make the world a better place--right now and for generations to come.

API Inc. has been invaluable to me. I would not be half the mother I am today were it not for the API listserv I belong to, moderated by API leaders.

Hello,

we are a family from Barcelona, Spain. We recently moved to Brooklyn and one of the most helpful and warm family group that we met was the API support group. The families and Volunteers involved are very generous and respectful with all the people that comes to them to receive advise related to practical things. No matter if you are asking for big or small questions, you always receive support and information with the potencial of making big and positive changes on a family life.

I recommend 100% this non-profit because is very human and useful for families of different ages.

Warmly

Attachment Parenting International is one of the most compassionate positive parenting organizations out there. And then when I began volunteering, and now it's been 7 years of volunteering, API is all about working together as a community where everyone's talents are used and everyone's ideas are taken into account. While there is great leadership, it doesn't feel like a hierarchy-type organization -- everyone is encouraged to chime in and do what they can, and the leadership is really about leading by serving. I feel like I'm really making a difference in the world.

It is awesome to be able to connect with other AP parents. Thank you to all who make it possible.

Even after four kids (and sometimes especially after four kids) I turn to API for advice, ideas, inspiration, and commiseration. They give strength not to cave to the awful advice that pummels parents from all directions. There is another way, a path less traveled, and API is the one there placing trail markers. Thank you!

I have been a part of my local API support group since right around the time my first child was born. That group has been a lifeline for me, and I am so grateful to have had the support and resources of API available to me right from the start as I was making decisions on how best to care for my brand new baby. Prior to having my own child, I had little experience with kids and mostly only knew that I wanted to bring up my child in a gentle, nurturing way that helped my son thrive, and I knew that I needed to do things differently from how I was raised in order to ensure that my kids felt loved and secure about who they are rather than fearful and people-pleasing. API gave me the support and knowledge I needed to feel confident navigating new territory starting with the newborn phase, and ever since, any time I have needed help as my kids have gotten older, I still find that the API group support is my absolute most helpful resource of all, reminding me not only of the research and groundbreaking work of attachment parenting experts around the world when I've needed it, but also giving me practical, hands-on advice on complex issues I've faced with my kids all the way up to school-age and allowing me to give back to other parents facing similar issues. I am so grateful for the work API does and I support them 1,000%. Our kids need more love and compassion from parents and caregivers, and API is changing the world. It certainly changed mine, and my family is so much the better for it.

When I had my baby it was towards the close of a very tumultuous period in my life. I did not have a lot of good advice coming to me. Most people I knew espoused ways of childrearing that did not include baby-wearing or even breast feeding, but I knew these things were best for children and I practiced them. After a particularly difficult holiday season I returned home depleted emotionally after being challenged repeatedly for keeping my baby so close [she was 5 mos.]
I finally went online and searched for meaningful commentary to validate my choices and that is when I found API-NYC, an online group where parents discussed childrearing.
Over the past 6.5 years my family has thrived because of the intelligent and compassionate support of other parents who are also part of the Attachment Parenting community. I have been able to make decisions about good nutrition because I am constantly updated about new resources, I am able to navigate developmental stages with with grace and humor because I can discuss parenting with other parents who also choose to honor the whole child.
My daughter enjoys a happy home that has her best interests at heart. She is supported in her choices and she thrives physically and emotionally. Our family has benefited from learning about non-violent communication, as well as a variety of consumer products, from child-supplements to probiotics to magnesium baths that can help to fortify and calm. I have learned about a variety of educational resources to empower my daughter's learning and more than anything I have found support as a woman, as a mother and as a sensitive person.
I have found my "tribe."
I do not know how I would have found so much success in my life without API-NYC. It gave me a ladder and my whole family has climbed.
API-NYC helped me give my daughter the rich life she deserves.
Veronica M.

API gave me the confidence to trust my instincts by providing access to quality resources and meaningful support. I was inspired to become an accredited leader so that I could offer other parents in my community an opportunity to join this wonderful community. API has given me the chance to make difference in the lives of families who believe, as I do, in the power of compassionate parenting. API is unique in the scope and quality of the research and evidence-based approaches they promote so that parents can fully invest in the relationship with their children as the profoundly important and impactful experience that it is. The mission of API is realized every day by the dedicated volunteers who work to spread its message of peace through parenting, and donors can be confident that donations go to making a tangible impact on the lives of families looking for support in their choices to respect, love, and respond with attentive empathy to their children. I am proud to volunteer with API and feel so grateful for this organization; it has truly changed my life and the lives of my family members who are the recipients of the qualities of patience and empathy that I have learned through API.

I have been involved with a local API support group since my first child was a year old, first as a parent coming to meetings and play groups and finding a peer group for me and my children. This brought me out of my isolation as a stay-at-home mother and provided many opportunities to give and receive support. My local group was a safe haven where I could parent the way that felt right to me and I knew that, even if the parents in the group didn't do everything the same way, we would all be respectful of each other's choices. API's Eight Parenting Principles provides a great structure to the group, focusing on the most important needs that children have, but leaving how to meet those needs up to the people who know those children the best - their parents. My two kids have grown into caring, responsible teenagers, and now I run my own API group. My involvement with API has given me great confidence, both as a parent and as a leader.

Raising children is the most rewarding and challenging work I've ever done. It's nice to have a community of like-minded parents to go to whenever I've needed support or just a listening, understanding ear.

I found API when I was the new parent to an infant. We began attending meetings and events when my daughter was 8 weeks old, and I really don't know how I would have made it through parenting her without API. The group has consistently offered a welcoming, safe, and gentle atmosphere where I have learned so much about parenting, have gathered emotional support, and have been motivated to parent consciously. I am so inspired by the women I have met, and continue to learn from them everyday. We have educational meetings, hikes, playdates, and book club. My best friends today are other mamas that I have met in API, and they challenge me to grow as a parent while also offering non-judgmental support. I really can't imagine my life without this organization! Although I am far from a perfect parent, I have a clear vision of what I aspire to be, and I continue to work toward that vision each day.

The information provided by API is priceless in helping to guide parents and families. I'm so very thankful I have been able to benefit from their outreach efforts. I believe wholeheartedly in their philosophy and mission.

When I was a new mom, I found an API meeting in my community. The first time I went, I knew I was in the right place. Every month I looked forward to attending meetings, and eventually we started a weekly playgroup as well. My family had finally found our tribe in a part of the country that otherwise had very different views to ours. When we left that city, I knew that API could offer the same opportunity of building a community in my new city, so I trained to become a leader with API and I am so happy to offer support to new parents--new parents who, just like me and my family, want to find their tribe.

Attachment Parenting International is one of my to go sources for parenting guidance. :)

I use the information they post and publish both personally with my own kid and with clients as a Marriage & Family Therapist. I recommend them to other parents regularly as well as sharing the info I get from them with my colleagues.

API benefited me as a member for many years as a new parent before I decided to volunteer time to this great organization. They have been by my side through ups and downs and support me and enable to me help support others in my community and for that I am very thankful!

API came to my rescue when my relationship with my teen-agers started to go sour. Their guidance and support and encouragement was invaluable in steering my husband and me through the murky waters of parenting adolescents. It's been five and a half years and those relationships have grown and blossomed and flourished beyond our expectations. We have teen-agers who we really like to be with and who really like to be with us! API was an indispensable resource that made that possible!

I found API as a parent in search of support & community and was so touched by the organization I later trained to become a Group Leader!

In today's culture of cross-continental families, working parents, and "Mommy Wars" API is an invaluable resource for families. We ALL need support in become the parents our heart's know we can be...the parents WE wish we had...the parents our kids DESERVE. API groups provide guidance, information, reassurance and COMMUNITY so that loving parents can find their groove & THRIVE.


I believe that APU is

I am so forever grateful to API and the work they are doing. When my babies were born I was living far away from family and friends and relied on my instincts when it came to parenting. Thankfully, I was introduced to the words "attachment parenting" in "The Premature Baby Book" by Drs. and Martha Sears and even though I was glad (and relieved!) to learn that I was already an attachment parent, I wanted to know more. In my research to learn as much as I could about attachment parenting, I found Attachment Parenting International and "Attached at the Heart", an excellent book, written by Lysa Parker & Barbara Nicholson . Everything I read validated what I was already doing and what I knew and believed was the right ways of doing things for my babies. Being without much of a real life support system as a new parent, I found so much encouragement, had my instincts validated, and learned even more invaluable information (backed by scientific research), presented on both API's website and in the book. These resources were like a special gift to me, keeping me afloat during hard days when I doubted myself and my abilities. I now live in an area with an active API support group and have enjoyed the real life support, education, and especially the new friendships with like-minded parents. I hope to be able to help other parents discover attachment parenting so they can give their babies and children the absolute best starts possible. I am currently training to be an API co-leader for our local support group and I also serve as API's advertising manager. I truly feel that we can change the world for the better, starting at home with our families, and again, I'm forever grateful for API and how they have helped me grow and my children thrive. Thank you API!

Being a parent is the most challenging thing we will do in our lives. Unfortunately our children do not come with an owner's manual. There probably isn't a parent alive who has not at one time wondered if they were up to the job. API has helped me in countless ways to feel my way as I grow in my role as mom to my child. One of the things I most appreciate is having the reassurance from API that I am doing the right thing when I go against convention and choose to respond to my child from my inner knowing. I so appreciate knowing that there is a community of committed parents who choose a peaceful way to raise children. This community exists because of the excellent work of API to spread the message and support parents.

16 years ago I and my 12 month old found ourselves at an Attachment Parenting support group that was associated with API. I was astounded that I had finally found my tribe. Since then I found their website and newsletters to be highly informative, and in more recent years I began writing for them myself on occasion. They are on top of every challenging issue that pops up in the media and I'm so glad as I sometimes feel the need to DO something about this or that but I'm secure that API is there!! with evidence-based information and advocacy.

This organization has a goal of helping parents nurture strong connections with their children by way of respect, empathy, joy, and trust. Attachment theory is based in science and supports us in listening to those instincts. API is the best!

Attachment parenting has helped me through my journey of parenting into a more peaceful and loving way. It has helped create a bond with my daughter I could never have had if I had done it differently. She is becoming confident and her own self which means a lot. I attribute this to Attachment Parenting International with the resouces they have provided through their website, their literature, and their support groups. I've been volunteering with API for almost 8 years because it is SO important for me to give back to an organization who gave to me.

There are endless opinions and books on parenting, but this is the organization with documented research to back their parenting principles. API offers attachment parenting philosophy with a gentle hand, suitable for parents of teens as well as little ones. I find all of API's materials are based on a healthy respect for the needs of children and their parents.

Peace starts with parent-child relationships. Attachment Parenting International is a non profit organization run by dedicated mother and devoted to bring the family back together by meeting the baby, toddler and child’s needs fully the way nature has intended it.
Instead of resisting and trying to tame the child’s inborn need to be held, slept with, breastfeed and touched, API support mothers and fathers in responding to the child’s true nature fully and peacefully. A child who grows up feeling that the world responds to her/his inner direction with love and ease, retains her/his human ability to love, care, be self-reliant, powerful and compassionate.

I've been involved with API as a volunteer for six years and find API to be unlike any other organization, nonprofit or business, I've ever encountered. The way it serves families empowers parents to do what's best for their families, giving the power back to parents to trust their intuition but also reinforcing this approach through solid research--there is no other organization that has the potential to impact children and their parents, communities, and indeed societies the way that API does. It not only offers mostly free or otherwise very low-cost support and education through publications, websites, teleseminars, discussion forums, and other online resources but also thru local accredited contacts and parent support groups -- so there's a face in your community as well as the plethora of online content available to you. Also, as far as a volunteer-run organization, API "walks like it talks," in that its approach to organization management mirrors the AP mindset. API's volunteers are treated like family--we're all in this together. The volunteers who gather together over the phone and through the Internet, because this is a virtual organization and we're all parents dedicated to the cause but who still need to make parenting our priority, truly believe in AP and its ability to change lives.

Amazing group!! Very helpful leaders, wonderful support meetings, and a great way to network with other parents who parent in a similar fashion. Sound principles to guide us in creating loving and lasting relationships with our children.

I have been fortunate to volunteer with API for six months now and let me tell you, I am so impressed with the dedication exhibited by the leaders and other volunteers. They are not only devoted to the ideals of attachment parenting, but to API as an organization as well. API serves the important role of educating the general public about attachment parenting, what it is and sometimes more importantly, what it isn't. In addition to education, API provides support and thought leadership to parents all over the world. The organization is almost 100% run by volunteers and yet produces high quality publications on a consistent and frequent basis. Parenting is a darn tough job and one that can be lonely at times, especially when you are raising your children in a way that others may find nontraditional to current standards and even a bit odd. API serves as a meeting place that always leaves a light on for these passionate parents.

API is an organisation with potential to change the world, I know they have changed my world. When my first child was born I was a college educated woman with a degree in psychology yet I felt lost and uncertain what was best for my child, I followed my instincts mostly. Now that I have found the API my second child has the benefits of my feeling secure in my choices and instincts and the excitement that I may make a contribution to world peace by being a mom and an API practitioner..

The area of attachment parenting is a quickly growing parenting "trend" propelled forward by a collective desire to grow. API is a great support to parents like myself who feel like we are parenting "against the grain" but fully feel that we are parenting by heart. Our children are the most important investment we can make for the world. I am happy to have a place to turn when I feel like an alien in a world of disconnected parenting.

When my first son was born I was overwhelmed with nurturing instincts that I did not expect and that were not supported in the mainstream culture. I knew these methods were what my son needed, but I didn't have a name for them and I couldn't fully explain why they felt right as a mother. Attachment Parenting International was the first forum I found that explained with solid information the practices that can raise a happy, empathetic child. I do still believe the world can be a more peaceful place and I believe it begins with raising our children with peace. Thank you API!

API has been a gift in my life, not only have I made friends, and a support system that has surrounded me, and helped make my parenting journey so much easier, and enjoyable, but I have been able to keep up my professional journey through my volunteer service. API allows me to keep my focus right where I want it on my kids while I stay at home. And I get to keep my skills sharp and continue to travel on my professional path. Making sure I will always have a fresh resume with relevant experience for when I am ready to return to the work world.

If people would follow the philosphy of attachment parenting as advocated by API, we could actually begin to produce generations of children that become exceptional grown-ups.

Bringing up our own children, I knew parenting was powerful, AND I sometimes felt overwhelmed with the constancy of it. Finding Attachment Parenting, I found not just the burgeoning research on our early years, but also translation of that research into "news I could use." It was a lifeline. Later, working with parents of babies with disabilities, and then with teen parents, API gave me mother-friendly explanations of everyday ways to help babies grow up emotionally healthy. API's information is my Rosetta Stone: my way to translate the language of developmental and brain research into ways to live sustainably. It's emotional ecology, starting with parenting, affecting the next seven generations. It's a way to "save the world" that works at a very deep level, in a lasting way.

Attachment Parenting International has helped me heal myself from childhood wounds and create a healthier, happier present and future for my own children. The research and support they provide has bolstered me and my husband many times as we faced the challenges of parenthood. Following API's 8 Principles of Parenting gives us deep joy in the process, when other 'methods' and teachings bring disconnection and despair. We see the benefits for our young children already; they each have a heightened sense of empathy, and a secure sense of self. I wish all children could be parented this way.

API has been a wonderful resource for me and my local AP group, providing us with access to numerous articles, books, blog posts and more which give us valuable research-based information that supports what we are trying to accomplish as parents and helps enhance the lives of our families and community.

API has been a go-to resource for me as a new mother. The links they provide to research-based information allows me to parent my daughter in a way that I KNOW is best for both of us, with that knowledge based on current science and not on hearsay or out-dated opinions.

After having five babies, I thought I was an old pro and there was nothing that could surprise me. When I had my sixth child, that all went down the drain. Right away, we had feeding issues. My supply was very low and to top it off, my baby would pull away from me and cry. He was a very unhappy child and I was stumped. I was a member of the local LLL group, but having come from a close knit group in California, I was uncomfortable with the detached type feel of the group as were a couple of other moms. One gal started a local API group in our town...it was me and her for a long time! Following the guidelines of the group, we recovered. It turned out I had kidney disease and it was greatly affecting my supply. I learned to use a supplementor and he took to it after awhile. Most important, we discovered he was autistic and the touching, holding, etc. was indeed hurting him. Because of that one gal, and later, a couple of more, my little man, now 10, is the biggest cuddle bunny and so happy! He is attached in a significant way to us and to his siblings. API saved my child from a life without human touch...we didn't want him to hurt. I cannot say enough about API.

I was first exposed to Attachment Parenting through the Dr. Sears book and I resolved to raise my kids this way which was at the opposite end of the spectrum of how I was raised. It has been a long road of self education and self discovery, but we are 10 years in Attachment Parenting, we have done the whole thing: carrying in a sling, cosleeping, extended breastfeeding, no corporate punishment, non-violent communication. There is no AP network where I live in Europe. I was so excited to hear about this group. The emails I get help me to continue being educated about AP parenting as my kids get bigger and we have to change how we AP parent but the spirit remains the same!

This organization has helped me to pursue attachment parenting during and beyond the baby years. Since my children are now 3 and 7, API hs given me ideas how to maintain a healthy and happy relationship with my kids as they enter preschool and elementary school. This organization has also been a great resource for ideas about education and about taking care of myself and my own marriage. One book, recommended by API, was the "Mothers Guide to Self Renewal" by Trudeau. This book helped me to learn how to identify and fulfill my own needs as a woman. Thus, helping me to me be a healthier role model for my own children.

As a parent trying to find your way in a world where intentional, alternative and conscious parenting are not exactly supported or understood, API is a Godsend. It is a place where you can gain parenting tools to help you along the way, meet like-minded parents and feel utterly supported. Attachment Parenting can change the world, but it is not easy to parent this way....it's a lot of sacrifice and support from others is paramount.

Attachment parenting international provides parents the tools and support to connect with their children and form healthy families. The articles on their website and in their newsletters provide insight and provoke thought regarding a range of family issues, from preparing for childbirth to feeding picky toddlers to keeping teenagers in touch with the family. I have not attended a local support meeting but hear they are a wonderful place to share ideas and make friends.

Attachment parenting international is such a great place to learn and has improved the life of my family.

My local Attachment Parenting group was a lifesaver for me as a first time mom. I realized after having my son that I wanted to be more of a responsive parent. I liked to hold my son and even have him sleep near me. I didn't like letting him cry. I then heard about attachment theory and Attachment Parenting. I found a refuge with like-minded mothers/caregivers. After attending meetings for a year, I decided I'd like to do more. I'm in the process of becoming an API Leader. I also assist API in their social media efforts.

API offers amazing AP support and advice!! For those of us that have non-supporters of AP in our lives, API helps to make you feel RIGHT in your hearts decision to continue on the AP path. I am very grateful That I found the organization and love reading all of their useful articles!! Thanks API and keep up the fantastic work!

API has assisted, through their publication, Attached At The Heart, in rearing our family with solid science and not just random opinions. I fully support this organization and hope their new project, curriculum for parenting, will be accepted as a standard to be used as a guideline for all parents regardless of the phase of their experience..

What I appreciate the most about API is the wonderful articles that they produce. The messages reaffirm that I am doing the best with my child regardless of what everyone else thinks. It has given me that extra push not to let others dictate how I will raise my daughter (even if it causes friction with others).

I am hoping that APIs beliefs will continue to spread-I would love to attend a support group and hope that one day there will be one in my area.

Discovering API was a wonderful affirmation that our parenting style was highly credible and we realised we could rely on sound research and resources on the API website. It took me a year before deciding to train as a support group leader where I am currently the only accredited leader in the UK (but no for much longer as others are training, hurrah!). I loved the training, am so grateful for the rigorously thorough support of everyone at API and really enjoy the support group leaders forum. Starting my own API group has been one of the most enjoyable and satisfying things I have done and I believe API will always be a source of inspiration and integrity, thank you!

I have had a wonderful experience with API ever since I was a new mom, not sure what to do, and finding conflicting, demeaning, and unclear advice at every turn. API put together the pieces for me, helped me make sense of all the things a mom has to think about, and--most importantly--was supportive and encouraging in their message. I am a member and support API whenever I can because I think they are doing such great things for families (and therefore, the communities and the world). I have since gone on to support new families and I still draw from API for the information that I pass along.

I found myself living thousands of miles away from family and friends shortly after the birth of my son (thanks economic downturn!) and had to rely on the internet and books for most of my parenting support. I was delighted to find API and it has become my top destination as a source of real, relevant parenting information. I am so grateful that API exists!

As we began researching this great experiment called parenting, we were profoundly affected by the research data that supports the ideals of attachment parenting. We got off on the right track but quickly realized we had questions and needed more than just research to guide our actions. We have found API Inc. to be a great help in continuing to gather information. Can't tell you how many times I have heard from grandparents et al... "That attachment stuff really seems to work!" Our daughter is thriving, confident and happy.

Attachment Parenting International is an organization that strongly advocates keeping a healthy, nurturing, and compassionate bond with your children that will last through the years, even into adulthood. With all of the initiatives that API does it brings them closer and closer to changing every generation to be more loving and peaceful. From my own experience, having a nurturing environment is a must since I did not grow up this. I don't have the tools to tackle that on my own but API does. API offers these tools to me either free or at a low cost. Without API, I wouldn't have a daughter who could advocate for herself and others about violence not being okay.

I am thankful for API, due to the lack of support for attachment parenting in my family and community. Whenever I need guidance, reassurance or useful resources, I just turn to API for information. I often post articles on my facebook page, which I feel other parent friends could benefit. I wish I knew of attachment parenting many years ago when I worked with attachment disordered children.

API was the answer to my prayers. After the birth of my son, my preconceptions of "the way it was going to be" were shattered. My family, nor my medical team was offering me advice or support that felt right for my family. I was searching for help when I found API. Real, relevant parenting advice. Support, camaraderie. It was all here.

API has been a phenomenal resource for me as a parent, socially, emotionally, educationally, and intellectually. The eight principles are based on the most up-to-date research on how to raise healthy, competent, and emotionally balanced children. Not only that, they have resources on how to stay sane as a parent! In addition to the online resources, API support groups have offered me the opportunity to spend time with other families who are committed to gentle, yet evidence-based, parenting. For almost 10 years now, I have spend time at least weekly, and often daily, with my AP friends, and it is them that I turn to when I feel frustrated as a parent. They always have ideas and reassurance. I can't imagine life without API.

I came across API shortly after I became a Mom. I was so tired of hearing people tell me what I should be doing as a parent. API reaffirmed the message that I knew what I was doing, that I was capable, and I was doing just fine by following my gut. API is an amazing resource to parents everywhere who are navigating the sea of parenthood. API provides support and information that affirms every parent. A few months after I found API, I felt so strongly I chose to join the mission and apply to be a support group leader.

API has helped me reach out to other parents in the community to help foster strong and secure bonds with our children. The organization has allowed us to forge lifelong friendships while ensuring that our children receive the best start to life - breastfeeding, responsive parenting, and much more.

API is a marvelous organization! I wish every expectant couple, and every family with children would know about the amazing resources and empowering information put out by this group. API is changing the world, one attached and nurtured baby at a time...

AP have helped feel confident breastfeeding and being a mother in general. I owe them so much and will always be grateful for what they do. Thank you AP

API has been a guiding light during my journey of parenthood... and I can't say enough how great they are! They provide valuable guidance based on research and common sense.

I have found API to be such a wonderful support in my life as a mother. We live in a culture that often works against the way I want to raise my daughter, so it's really important to have a community of people who are

I've found API incredibly useful as I work to raise my child in a loving, respectful, and positive way. They have so many resources for parents, from books to blogs to forums to articles -- not to mention their trained leaders. They have really enriched my life and have helped me raise my daughter to be a secure, independent, and loving child. API deserves support!

More and more new parents are beginning to realize the importance of creating a closer bond with their infants and children and following a more hands-on and involved approach in order to optimize emmotional and intellectual development. In past decades, some parenting styles have promoted a more detached, distant approach to parenting in the hopes of creating more independent and low-maintenance children. Such

I've been a proud volunteer with API for the last 5 years and can say without a doubt that API truly makes a difference in the lives of children, families and their communities. API gives vital support to busy parents who are inundated with oversimplified parenting strategies that reduce children to a set of behaviors to be fixed. API helps parents focus on understanding, meeting and balancing needs and on developing healthy relationships that provide models for children to learn lasting skills in self discipline, problem solving, empathy and compassion.