While we're of the opinion that each mother has a right to choose how to bring up her children, some techniques aren't always as popular as others. Now Alicia Silverstone's new parenting book, and some of its unique suggestions, is up for debate.
The Clueless actress' book The Kind Mama: A Simple Guide to Supercharged Fertility, a Radiant Pregnancy, a Sweeter Birth, and a Healthier, More Beautiful Beginning reflects Silverstone's vegan, conservationist and PETA campaigning views.
The mother-of-one has already caused a stir when she posted a video of her chewing up her food for her son, Bear-Blu on her website, and has spoken out in interviews about eating pills made from the placenta after giving birth.
The 37-year old knows her lifestyle choices might not be to everyone's tastes, saying at the launch:
"Everything that's in the book is there to show you why you might want to consider it but never to say you have to choose it, always just to give you information and show you that if you don't choose that, that's totally fine".
So, what top tips does Silverstone share? Here are some of her more unusual ideas on parenthood:
The 'pregnancy' diet - The actress believes a uterus should be thought of as a "baby house", so you need to consider what foods are being put into it. Her strictly vegan diet means there's no meat or dairy in her diet. These are "tracking toxic sludge through your baby house." Vegetables are also "kind foods" that can act as medicine for your body, and in her opinion can be used to replace drugs for treatment of diabetes and depression
Nappy-gate - Alicia believes nappy corporations are making real money from the production of these everyday baby essentials. Her book encourages readers to let their children "leave their business in the grass" rather than "sleep accompanied by their own pee and poo"
Sleeping arrangements - Similar to attachment parenting, but with a very distinct distaste for cots, Alicia compares sleeping in a cot to lying in "a barred-in box completely alone"... no really. She advises that all mothers take children into the bed with them so they can be in tune with their needs.
Vaccinations - Perhaps the most controversial view in her book, Alicia suggests you shouldn't vaccinate your kids because it changes their personality. The actress writes:
"While there has not been a conclusive study of the negative effects of such a rigorous one-size-fits-all, shoot-'em-up schedule, there is increasing anecdotal evidence from doctors who have gotten distressed phone calls from parents claiming their child was 'never the same' after receiving a vaccine. And I personally have friends whose babies were drastically affected in this way."
Although she claims to write the book as a guide, rather than to preach to parents, we're not sure this is going to go down too well.
