What Is Alloparenting? Is It The Secret To Loving Motherhood?

Jul 31, 2018 by apost team

Parenting is an incredibly rewarding but also incredibly challenging experience. With all the stress that mothers have to go through, it's been suggested that the best route may be a less hands-on approach to parenting, one that allows others to lend their expertise.

In Western culture, the image of the frazzled mother has become so ingrained in our collective mind that we take it for granted. We think that stress and motherhood are forever meant to be linked to one another. While raising children can and should be stressful, what mothers are going through could not be described as healthy stress. How do mothers in other cultures stave off stress? It could be due to alloparenting.

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The term "alloparenting" comes from "allo" (which means "other" in Ancient Greek). Simply put, it means that a child is raised by a whole bunch of different, qualified people. This could include other mothers, grandparents, brothers and sisters, and family friends.

Don't let the description of alloparenting make you think that the mother is completely divorced from raising her child. This is not about shirking responsibility and losing the sacred bond between mother and child. Instead, it's about giving a mother a break so that she can take care of herself. Many of the people taking part in alloparenting are mothers themselves. So, they know all about the stress that's involved with raising a child.

In a way, alloparenting is accepted in the West, but in much lower doses. Western society is okay with giving mothers breaks, but only on a semi-regular basis. So, it's fine to hire a babysitter so that you and your spouse can go out one night a month. However, our culture is critical of what it sees as neglecting parental duties. If one freely admits to accepting help on a regular basis, it can seem like they would rather be irresponsible than be a parent. However, being willing to accept help means you're able to put your ego at the door. That means you're likely more mature than the people chastising you for alloparenting.

Alloparenting is absolutely worth considering, but you should only do it if you feel comfortable with it and believe that it would help you out. Some mothers can juggle a full-time job and five kids without missing a beat, while some stay-home moms of one feel stressed out constantly. Don't let yourself be swayed by the loudest voice. You need to think about what will best benefit you and your children. You might consider giving alloparenting a trial run and seeing how it works.

ou should consult with a group of relatives and friends and ask them if they would be willing to take part in your experiment.

Alloparenting isn't some type of fad. It's a method of raising children that has been shown to work in other cultures. It might not have yet taken off in the West, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have merit. We encourage you to give us your thoughts on alloparenting and show this to other parents. Raising children is an absolute joy and being too stressed can take away from that joy.

What do you think? Are you going to try out this parenting technique? Let us know, and pass this on so your mom friends can benefit from it, too!