Product Description

In every culture baby care issues are the same - from crying babies to sleepless nights, breastfeeding problems to weaning worries. But when it comes to solutions, there is much that we can learn from other country's traditions. There are cultures, for example, where babies rarely cry, where breastfeeding is routine for grandmothers as well as mothers, and where babies always sleep with older family members. Looking beyond our own narrow approach is not only fascinating but hugely enlightening too. Tackling all the topics of modern baby care, theme by theme, this is a treasure trove of positive ideas, combining the unusual and the universal, the unexpected and the commonplace. Reassuring for parents everywhere, it shows there is no one way of bringing up baby.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #113399 in Books
• Published on: 2002-02-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 544 pages

Review
How much less stressful it must be for mothers in a culture where all women nurture the children, there is always a pair of willing hands - even a willing breast - to take over, and all adults regard themselves as having some communal responsibility for the welfare and upbringing of the next generation. This exceptionally empathic, well-researched trawl through global infant-rearing practices offers immense reassurance to any parent struggling with the dilemmas of Western childrearing, with its multiple sources of advice, conflicting priorities and incompatibility with many aspects of adult life. As you might expect from the acclaimed author of Three in a Bed, a firm advocate of infant co-sleeping, Jackson takes a largely baby-centred view in her extensive descriptions of habits ranging from the (largely unnecessary) paraphernalia of Western childcare through practices of feeding, carrying, crying and sleeping as well as peripheral concerns including bra-wearing and Government attitudes to breast-feeding - even current angst about infant vaccines may be viewed differently set in a cross-cultural context. She offers a damning indictment of Western abilities to leave a baby to cry, describing African women who regard the prolonged crying of American babies as signs of maternal incompetence at sensing and responding to their babies' needs: in the West, control is more important than responsiveness. Yet this is a cultural difference on both sides: non-Western babies cry less and are soothed more easily. Her observations are intriguing and her descriptions uncompromising: 'The Western interpretation of crying sets us apart from most of the world.' A cot is 'that piece of furniture which offers the baby the least human contact of all'. The alarming side-effects of solitary infant sleep training are summarized: 'Only in the West could we create such a catalogue of disasters in the pursuit of parental privacy.' In the end, the take-home message must be that most babies are pretty resilient and survive notwithstanding vast differences in child-rearing practices across time and cultures: mothers can place more faith in their own instincts than most realize. (Kirkus UK)

Synopsis
In every culture baby care issues are the same - from crying babies to sleepless nights, breastfeeding problems to weaning worries. But when it comes to solutions, there is much that we can learn from other country's traditions. There are cultures, for example, where babies rarely cry, where breastfeeding is routine for grandmothers as well as mothers, and where babies always sleep with older family members. Looking beyond our own narrow approach is not only fascinating but hugely enlightening too. Tackling all the topics of modern baby care, theme by theme, this is a treasure trove of positive ideas, combining the unusual and the universal, the unexpected and the commonplace. Reassuring for parents everywhere, it shows there is no one way of bringing up baby.

About the Author
Deborah Jackson is a parenting author and freelance writer for newspapers and magazines including the Independent, Daily Mail and Guardian. She writes a regular column for Natural Parent. She has three children.

Customer Reviews

Mind Opening!
I borrowed Baby Wisdom from our library when I was 6 months pregnant with my first baby. I must say I was lucky to read it during pregnancy because it simply opened up my mind to how I would want to parent my child.
Deborah Jackson explores different parenting practices through time and space. She does not say that all "traditional" practices are good (throwing colostrum away was common practice in some cultures, and thanks to science we now know how valuable it is). On the other hand, following one's instinct and re-thinking what our modern society takes for granted are the main messages of the book. An important read!

The best baby book for new mums
Forget about the contended baby books. Read this book instead.
It made me realise that I was normal after all, and just going through what every new mum experiences.
It was a massive comfort to me in the early months after having my first child.

Fascinating
I borrowed this book from the library a few days ago and I have probably read most of it already, though not cover-to-cover: I have been opening it at random every time I pick it up and have trouble putting it down! It has really made me think about a lot of the parenting practices we take for granted in the West because it shows so clearly how these are not universal. Things that we take for granted may be entirely unknown in another culture. Most importantly this book does not romanticise the ways other cultures do things -- it looks at both the good and the bad. Even if it doesn't change the way you choose to parent this book will give you a new appreciation of how babies grow and develop.