I hesitate to label myself as "AP" (attachment parenting) because I have had very bad experiences chatting with people who do use that label.  I'm also pretty sure I don't really fall under "Natural Parenting or Natural Family Living" because I'm not quite crunchy enough (sorry... not going to use cloth toilet wipes...just not going there!).   However, I do practice a number of things that puts me somewhere in the vacinity of these camps: natural childbirth/midwifery care, breastfeeding until child-led weaning, feeding on cue, cloth diapering, baby-wearing, delayed vaccinations, co-sleeping, EC (elimination communication), and homeschooling.   I won't schedule or use CIO(cry it out) (or read the reccomendations of those popular authors who advocate such things), but I'm also not a member of the GBD (grace based dicsipline/ gentle dicsipline) camp.  Once again, I have thwarted the system and defied pigeon-holing.

-Natural childbirth.  My first two children were hospital births with varying degrees of medical intervention, some necessary, some probably not.  For my third child I went with midwifery care and a birthing center which resulted in a wonderful labor and delivery and absolutely fabulous recovery.  Honestly, L&D hurts, no matter which way you do it... but if I have to choose based on soley on recovery, I'd go natural (and plan to) every time.

-Breastfeeding until child-led weaning/ feeding on cue/co-sleeping.  In my personal experience these go together.  I nursed all my children with varying degrees of success but even the ones who were supplimented with formula (due to medical problems on my part) nursed until they stopped by themselves. 

 I think schedules are for trains, not for babies, and realize that especially for nurslings, it is important both for baby's health and development and for mother's supply, to nurse on request and not on schedule.  When you remember that a babe's primary "job" for the first year of life is to grow at a pace that is not duplicated during any other period of life, you can see that unhindered access to nutrition is vital.   For me, this is made much easier by baby-wearing and co-sleeping. 

If done properly, co-sleeping is extremely safe and poses no more risk than sleeping anywhere else. It's convenient and I personally really enjoy it.  We have a small box bed (actually a wooden frame that we built and upholstered, think waterbed frame with the padded rails) that fits a crib mattress and that goes beside our bed.  As months go by, baby is gradually transitioned into this little bed and the way things have worked so far, they stay in that bed until the next baby needs it.

-Baby wearing.  I love, love, love to wear my babies!  I have had only positive results both for me and for baby.  I use slings, mei teis, and wraps Wear your baby, each for different times and purposes.  I feel so sorry for all those babies who spend half their time in a carseat/carrier instead of snuggled up close to momma, and so sorry for those mommas who have to lug that huge heavy thing around, banging their knees, not having a free hand to do other tasks with.  My husband also wears the babies and finds it an easy and natural way to share in baby care. 

-Delayed vaccination.  This is a subject filled with emense emotion and controversy. I simply urge all parents to do their homework  and realize that neither the pro-vax nor the anti-vax groups are going to be completely objective.  The decision I've been most comfortable with is to delay some vaccinations due to spacing them out.  I just can't see bombarding a tiny body with 4 or more vaxs at a time.

-Cloth diapering .  I looked into cloth diapers when my first child was born but i was working full time outside the home and just didn't have time (or didn't think I did).  I looked into it again for my second child but never got around to it.  Finally, I did start using cloth when baby Joy was about 8 months old.  I am now absolutely hooked.  If you have always dismissed cloth diapering as too old fashioned, time consuming and messy, I challenge you to give it a serious look, start   here. These are not your grandma's diapers!  Today you have cloth options that range from traditional flats or prefolds (the flat white diaper, pins, and rubber pants) all the way up to beautiful (and pricey) diapers called all-in-ones that combine the absorbant diaper and a waterproof cover all in one easy to apply diaper that either snaps or velcroes.   I personally use something a little more middle of the road.  I use what is called a "fitted" diaper and a cover.  A fitted is just that, it is diaper shaped, very absorbant, has elastic legs and waist to give a great fit but is not waterproof so it does need a cover.  For covers, I use wool about 90% of the time.  I also have a few plastic covers.  Wool is amazing... i'm not talking yucky itchy wool... but wonderful buttery soft wool that when it has it's natural lanolin put back in is remarkabley waterproof but still very breathable.  Wool also has natural antibacterial properties so they are kind of self cleaning...ok not really, but they are much easier to care for than you would think.   Some links to get your toes wet are found in my "Links" in the sidebar.  Check out Adventure Knits for wool, and Z to A, Winsome What-nots, and Cloth Canoe for diapers. 

You can pay from just a few dollars for a cloth diaper up to a LOT...no kidding, I have seen cloth diapers from the "right" maker go at auction for triple digits.   I really enjoy making my own and have a blast at the fabric store going through all the ADORABLE flannel prints that are available.  I use 100% cotton for the diaper and use microterry for the inner absorbant parts.  You can get (or make) one size diapers that will fit from a very small baby up through toddler, or go with different sizes.  Also cloth diapers can be used over and over and over for subsequent siblings.  They are really economical in the long run and that's not even addressing the environmental impact of 1000's of disposable diapers in the landfills.

Here is Joy sporting a pair of wool pants that function as both the diaper cover and a garment.    In this picture, Joy is wearing all homemade clothes. 

-EC.  Elimination Communication aka infant potty training.  I have to admit that when I first heard the term "elimination communication"  i had no idea and my thoughts were of  some sort of extreme AP people letting the baby piddle on the floor to express their emotions or something.   It's not that.  I won't go into it entirely here, if you are interested you can google it.  The way it works out for me is that since I wear my babies anyway, I can really be in tune with them and take them potty when they give me those cues.  Some people practice this from an extremely young age(like just a few weeks) I personally have waited a few months (although... I am going earlier and eariler with each child.  Maybe by baby #6 I'll be doing it from birth too).

  Some people say it sounds like too much work... but personally, I'm too lazy to change diapers for three years and especially now that I'm using cloth... I would SO much rather let her doodle on the potty than wash it out of a diaper.     This really helps with the time factor of cloth diapering since I don't have to do a separate major wash each day.  I usually only miss a poo potty 2-3 times a week (max) so I only have an emergency wash and sanitize load a few times.  

-Homeschool.  I knew I would homeschool evenl before I had children.  I personally hadprivate school Christian education from K through Graduate work with the exception of a few semesters of community college.  I love the idea of Christian Schools, but as a former student and former teacher, I'm forced to say that they are my fallback plan, not my first choice.  I am excited to see where our journey of home education is going to take us as a family.