Placenta eating moms, mouth-to-mouth feeding moms, diaper free kids, free range kids… are we going too far with parenting?

I’m the type of person who honestly thinks – to each their own.

When my babies were little, I guess you could put me in the category of attachment parenting (although I’m not a fan of labels).  Breastfeeding, co-sleeping, making my own baby food – these practices felt natural to ME.

I think it’s absolutely wonderful that each and every woman does what feels right for her family.  Who am I to judge?

But when I hear about placenta eating moms and moms chewing their own food before giving to their kids, I have to bite my tongue… I pause – now hold on a second!

I can’t help but think – are we taking parenting a little too far?  Is this just a different parenting style or just plain odd?

January Jones of Mad Men, 34, was back to work almost right after she giving birth to her son last September.  The secret to her quick return?

“I have a great doula who makes sure I’m eating well, with vitamins and teas, and with placenta capsulation,” she said.

“Your placenta gets dehydrated and made into vitamins… It’s something I was very hesitant about, but we’re the only mammals who don’t ingest our own placentas.”

Yes, placentophagy, or eating placenta, may sound really gross to most but apparently the practice is not that uncommon.  In parts of the world, it’s quite the norm.

New moms think their placenta-pills provide benefits like giving energy and fighting baby blues.  But scientific research has yet to prove this is true.

Then we have Alicia Silverstone who chews food before feeding it – by mouth – to her son who is almost a year old.   In some cultures, direct mouth-to-mouth feeding is linked with the showing of affection, known as kiss feeding.  But her son is now 11 months old… should he be learning how to chew his food all by himself?

Silverstone also put “elimination communication” on the map for me anyway –  toilet training an infant using a “diaper free method”.  I had no idea that some cultures do this –  they carry around their babies diaper free and of course, babies learn at an early age when to use the toilet.

But these practices happen in a different part of the world… it’s almost odd to imagine North American parents using these unique parenting styles here.

Are some taking this alternative parenting style too far?