The Continuum Concept: In Search Of Happiness Lost by Jean Liedloff

Apr 26, 2007 Taylor rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, parenting

What is a more perfect picture in this world than a contented baby in loving parent arms? Leidloff claim that this is the place to be if you are an infant; that the modern traditions of swings, cribs, playpens, and other child-holding-devices go against our nature and evolution, and can do great damage to a person by denying an infant’s automatic expectations.

I agree with much of what she says. Obviously, babies are made to be held. We are the only primates that willing sets our young down for (...more What is a more perfect picture in this world than a contented baby in loving parent arms? Leidloff claim that this is the place to be if you are an infant; that the modern traditions of swings, cribs, playpens, and other child-holding-devices go against our nature and evolution, and can do great damage to a person by denying an infant’s automatic expectations.

I agree with much of what she says. Obviously, babies are made to be held. We are the only primates that willing sets our young down for (often) hours at a time. We are the only primates that purposefully ignores our young’s cues for food/comfort/attention/etc. (Just let him cry…he’s fine…) We are the only primates that listen to the advice of “experts” rather than follow our own finely tuned and well evolved instincts when it comes to caring for our young.

It’s an interesting book. Parts made me cry. Parts made me scoff. Parts made me want to throw the book across the room and throttle Ms. Leidloff. Parts resonated very strongly with me. She’s on to something, but I am only inclined to trust her so far…given that she has never had her own children. It’s supremely easy to talk expertly about theories. It’s an entirely different game to see those theories in action.

I think the most amazing part was her conceptualization of the modern infant born in a hospital and placed in a crib, instead of in where it instinctively knows he belongs (in Mama’s arms).

Reading this made me think about the many times parents have told me (as their childcare provider) to allow their infant to cry itself to sleep. I was deeply grateful for my safe homebirth and my son that is rarely allowed to cry without our loving attention and cuddles (only in the car seat…we run many errands on the bus now). It is no wonder infants sound like torture victims when allowed to cry alone. How horrible that must be.

I have such a strong, mama-bear, visceral reaction to the very idea – and a holy horror of myself for the many times I have listened to parents instructions instead of my own heart and let babies cry – that I can’t seem to get cohesive sentences out just now.

There are many places where Leidloff is full of crap…but anyone who writes a “raise your child this way” kind of a book is full of crap. If I were writing a book about caring for children it would go something like this:

Every child is completely different and you are always flying by the seat of your pants. You’ll work it out. Just keep on loving them. That’s all.

But that’s all personal opinion. If anyone else has thoughts on Leidloff’s concepts, I would be extremely interested…(less)

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Apr 23, 2008 Cjasper rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: my-books

I first read this book seven years ago, as a new mom, and just reread it for book group. First of all, I am appalled at the state of mind I must have been in when I first read it, cause boy did I swallow it hook, line, and sinker. My brain must have been in a hormone-induced state of mush. I mean, "evidence" suggests that homosexuality may be caused by non-continuum care. I didn't even notice this before! Or how awesome it is that the girls' in the indigenous cultures greatest joy stems from the...more

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Jun 14, 2012 Tanja rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: library, nonfiction, 2012-reads-and-rereads, child-development-and-family-life

I really enjoyed this book, for the first half. It was interesting to read about the observations between western culture and the indian tribe's culture, but here it ends... She starts talking about homosexuality as being a reaction to a cruel father or a mincing mother... WTH. That small niggling in the back of my mind that had been whispering throughout the book came out screaming during that passage (yes pun intended), WHAT ARE YOUR CREDENTIALS TO BACK THIS UP?

Just because much of the book co...more

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Nov 10, 2010 virginia rated it 2 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed reading this book. I've always been interested in evolution and the well being of our concious self and bodies through understanding evolution. Jean Liedloff lived with Stone Age Indians in South America for 3 years and studyed the way they raised their children and the effects this had on the childrens development. Not having chlidren myself I obviously have a different point of view, but I do belive we are flawed in some of our theorys about how we raise our children. For exam...more

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May 20, 2008 Jenni rated it 2 of 5 stars

Yowza. I started this book a few months ago, then picked it up again last weekend. What timing! I just read Weissbluth's HSHHC, and my husband and I are in the midst of transitioning our infant daughter to sleep in her crib.

So with that in mind ... this book made me cry. Liedloff's chapter on The Beginning of Life -- the first experiences and feelings that a baby has when she's not in her mother's arms -- my gawd, how excruciatingly painful was that? I understand that she wants to make a point,...more

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May 30, 2007 Xio rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ethnography-cultural-investigations

I recommend this though any insight into myself personally cannot be accurately gained without talking to me about it.

That said, Liedloff in her travels as a not anthropologist encountered and spent time with some tribal groups, noticed how the adults (and all) appeared to be smiling and calm and non-violent/appropriately aggressive etc.

She wonders why & proceeds to attend closely to the general/specific interactions between the older people with the younger or infant people.

Read it to know...more I recommend this though any insight into myself personally cannot be accurately gained without talking to me about it.

That said, Liedloff in her travels as a not anthropologist encountered and spent time with some tribal groups, noticed how the adults (and all) appeared to be smiling and calm and non-violent/appropriately aggressive etc.

She wonders why & proceeds to attend closely to the general/specific interactions between the older people with the younger or infant people.

Read it to know more.

What I took from it was a different way to think about the interaction of myself with these little people ('my' kids)--well, I read it when I first had my older son and was studying to become a La Leche League Leader--and the environment we all interacted within daily.

That said, to illustrate: None of this "childproofing" crap. Once you begin to think more rationally about the whole situation stuff like this is unnecessary.

As the boys tended to prefer being in my very close company (they were breastfed which may have something to do with it)I learned to become a human and another. Meaning I cooked, cleaned, travelled, worked, rested, bathed, etc with the babies in a sling (one after the other, they are exactly 2 & 1/2 yrs apart). So, you create an environment of motion, activity, comfort, security as you live your lives .

That rather than the artificial moments parents tend to make as playtime, or whatnot, a time largely accomodating to parents and usually attended by anxiety and impatience and one that ends. (Baffling! How do kids exist only when you choose for them to do so? Well you create that necessity from birth viewing the kids as other, in the somewhat demonic sense)

But when you are cooking you are using knives near flame! And what does one notice when it after all is a thrice (or whatever) daily probablity to be in kitchen? That each implement has a task, performed calmly (since you don't need to worry what the kids are doing) and with caution as necessary. My kids never felt it useful to put fingers to flame or stovetop, never cut themselves with the knives, no metal in sockets, no coins in nostril.

This is not to say they didn't wish to explore items like knives etc. The difference is I chose to assist their exploration, facilitating their curiousity, hell showing them what else they might do.

This is getting too long!
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Jan 22, 2008 Adrienne rated it 5 of 5 stars

If you have a baby or are going to have a baby, I consider this mandatory reading. Actually, whether or not you're having a baby, I think this is a very interesting read. The way we become parents and raise babies in our culture is historically quite strange and I think we would do ourselves all some good if we took some of the principles of this book to heart. Here's a quote:

"It is no secret that the 'experts' have not discovered how to live satisfactorily, but the more they fail, the more they...more

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Jan 13, 2011 Florbela rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: parenting, non-fiction, not-mine

If you’re going to have a baby this is a must read. Mainly because it gives you a different perspective of how to bring up your child (the Yequana Indian tribe), quite different from our Western ways. But be aware, if you’re already a parent, this book might make cry or become a little depressed, specially the chapter The Beginning of Life. Fortunately, I was already in line with some ideas of this book.
I have, however, two main concerns regarding Ms. Liedloff’s ideas: 1. The book isn’t strongly...more

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Oct 21, 2008 Lisa C rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone, esp parents

Recommended to Lisa by: website

Shelves: parenting

Every parent/parent to be should read this book. Very insightful and compelling. I learned so much about why I am the way I am, and why other people are the way they are. I feel it has set me on a path towards healing, and I am relieved to know that I can help prevent my child from being a victim of our culture. The basic idea of the continuum concept is that there is a natural way that we are all meant to develop, though civilized life has torn us away from it. When an infant doesn't get what h...more

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May 21, 2012 Frank Jude rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: anthropology, parenting, psychology

I would so love to be able to give this book a higher star-rating, but.... for a book published originally in 1975, it's written in such a hyperbolic, stilted style that I found it a chore to read, even though I endorse so much of her thinking! I was surprised to find photos of her taken of Liedloff in the 70s, and she was quite young at the time! So why the almost Victorian rhetoric?

The "Continuum Concept" pretty much is what is now referred to as "Attachment Parenting." That such child-rearing...more I would so love to be able to give this book a higher star-rating, but.... for a book published originally in 1975, it's written in such a hyperbolic, stilted style that I found it a chore to read, even though I endorse so much of her thinking! I was surprised to find photos of her taken of Liedloff in the 70s, and she was quite young at the time! So why the almost Victorian rhetoric?

The "Continuum Concept" pretty much is what is now referred to as "Attachment Parenting." That such child-rearing is STILL controversial (witness the recent stupid Time magazine cover of a nearly 4-year old child breastfeeding in an totally inappropriate pose and with the even more inflammatory headline: "Are you mom enough?"

My other biggest criticism of Liedloff, is her simplistic psychologizing, most ignorantly in her discussion of homosexuality! She actually writes: "There is evidence that the strong current of demand for love and attention, coming from mother to son can, in its overpowering of the baby's demand, be the cause of homosexuality in his later life." And it gets worse from there. Thankfully, her 'treatment' of homosexuality mars only about three pages of this dense 164-page book.

The following is from the Continuum website:

According to Jean Liedloff, the continuum concept is the idea that in order to achieve optimal physical, mental and emotional development, human beings — especially babies — require the kind of experience to which our species adapted during the long process of our evolution. For an infant, these include such experiences as...

constant physical contact with his mother (or another familiar caregiver as needed) from birth;
sleeping in his parents' bed, in constant physical contact, until he leaves of his own volition;
breastfeeding "on cue" — nursing in response to his own body's signals;
being constantly carried in arms or otherwise in contact with someone, usually his mother, and allowed to observe (or nurse, or sleep) while the person carrying him goes about his or her business — until the infant begins creeping, then crawling on his own impulse, usually at six to eight months;
having caregivers immediately respond to his signals (squirming, crying, etc.), without judgment, displeasure, or invalidation of his needs, yet showing no undue concern nor making him the constant center of attention;
sensing (and fulfilling) his elders' expectations that he is innately social and cooperative and has strong self-preservation instincts, and that he is welcome and worthy.

In contrast, a baby subjected to modern Western childbirth and child-care practices often experiences...
traumatic separation from his mother at birth due to medical intervention and placement in maternity wards, in physical isolation except for the sound of other crying newborns, with the majority of male babies further traumatized by medically unnecessary circumcision surgery;
at home, sleeping alone and isolated, often after "crying himself to sleep";
scheduled feeding, with his natural nursing impulses often ignored or "pacified";
being excluded and separated from normal adult activities, relegated for hours on end to a nursery, crib or playpen where he is inadequately stimulated by toys and other inanimate objects;
caregivers often ignoring, discouraging, belittling or even punishing him when he cries or otherwise signals his needs; or else responding with excessive concern and anxiety, making him the center of attention;
sensing (and conforming to) his caregivers' expectations that he is incapable of self-preservation, is innately antisocial, and cannot learn correct behavior without strict controls, threats and a variety of manipulative "parenting techniques" that undermine his exquisitely evolved learning process.(less)

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May 08, 2011 Michelle rated it 1 of 5 stars

This book was a very bad read. So bad it belongs in it's own 'so bad it's good' category - I laughed out loud at some bits. Here (in my opinion) is why:
1. The evidence presented for the book's main premise - that western traditions of raising children are damaging and a primary cause of drug abuse, homosexuality, social isolation and all manner of other societal evils - is hardly scientific. The author's singular observation of a south American tribe in the jungle suffices.
2. Dare you bring a ch...more This book was a very bad read. So bad it belongs in it's own 'so bad it's good' category - I laughed out loud at some bits. Here (in my opinion) is why:
1. The evidence presented for the book's main premise - that western traditions of raising children are damaging and a primary cause of drug abuse, homosexuality, social isolation and all manner of other societal evils - is hardly scientific. The author's singular observation of a south American tribe in the jungle suffices.
2. Dare you bring a child up in traditional western ways e.g. use a pram, cot or playpen? The prelude explains you will - or should - feel very guilty, now you have been introduced to 'correct' child raising techniques.
3. The author's belief the stone age Yuqana tribe instinctively know how modern society should raise their children is at best naive, at worst misanthropic.
4. Some of the observational evidence provided to support the author's theory beggars belief. The author illustrates the evilness of playpens with an anecdote about a Yuqana tribesman who builds a crude playpen out of sticks for his children. When he realises the playpen is in fact no good for his children, he destroys it immediately. But why did this tribesman build a playpen out of the blue, without ever having seen or used one before? Why did he feel the need to build one, if in fact the tribe's child-raising techniques to date were so idyllic? It's never explained and I find myself wondering whether this example - and others - are fabricated 'evidence' to support the author's theories. (By the way, have any scientists returned to the jungle to test the author's continuum concepts?)
5. The book's impersonation of an evidence-based anthropological study via use of big words and opaque, convoluted ( and sometimes contradictory ) language is laughable. Wish I still had a copy of the book to give you some examples of Liedloff's more brilliant passages.

Needless to say, I am not opposed to Liedloff's baby rearing recommendations - baby wearing, co-sleeping, breastfeeding on demand, etc. Rather, it's her execution of an argument for them that I have trouble with.
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Jan 08, 2011 Shannon rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: parenting, non-fiction

I had high expectations for this book, as it is an oft-mentioned title in Attachment Parenting circles and has its own following as a parenting style in and of itself. (Continuum Concept parenting and Attachment Parenting are not the same thing, but there is some overlap.) Though the book does contain many intriguing ideas, I found myself overall quite disappointed.

The book, written in 1975 (with an introduction added in 1985), is based on the author's experiences spending extended time with an...more I had high expectations for this book, as it is an oft-mentioned title in Attachment Parenting circles and has its own following as a parenting style in and of itself. (Continuum Concept parenting and Attachment Parenting are not the same thing, but there is some overlap.) Though the book does contain many intriguing ideas, I found myself overall quite disappointed.

The book, written in 1975 (with an introduction added in 1985), is based on the author's experiences spending extended time with an indigenous people in Venezuela, the Yequana. Based on her observations, she concludes that their way of life is more in harmony with the natural way that humans are meant to live, in accordance with the evolution of our species, than the lifestyle of modern Western society. She claims that the natural state of the Yequana is happiness, a primary example being that they do not have a word for "work" and they enjoy everything they do. The cause? She places huge emphasis on the importance of infants being held in their mothers' arms, 100% of the time, during the first 6-8 months of life, and attributes most of the unhappiness of modern civilization to the fact that infants in Western society are largely deprived of this "in arms" experience. She devotes a significant portion of the book to describing the subjective experience that she imagines an infant in each respective culture goes through, and the remainder of the book critiquing specific aspects of modern child-rearing and explaining how specific personality characteristics and modern problems are specifically the result of being deprived of the "in arms" stage.

The fatal flaw of this book is that the ideas presented are purely the theories and opinions of the author. The author has absolutely no qualifications other than her personal experience with this particular group of people: she is not an anthropologist, sociologist, psychologist, scientist, researcher, doctor, or any other relevant qualification. Throughout the entire book there was only one citation. In fact she is overtly anti-intellectual, stating that our overuse of intellect in the modern world has, to our detriment, taken over our natural instincts as humans. There may be some truth to this, but I found it ironic that someone writing a book primarily about the importance of following one's instinct in the care of infants is not even a mother herself. There were certainly several parts of her book that my "motherly instinct" just flat out rejected. Some of the claims of the author have since been shown to be true by research, however others contradict the findings of research. Her own cultural bias is apparent in her assumption that homosexuality is a pathology and the assumption of the existence of "God". However the opinions of the author in this book are presented as if they are objective fact. It would have been more accurate if every sentence in the book was preceded with "I think," "I believe," or "My theory is."

For instance, the lengthy descriptions of an infant's experience in the indigenous and then the modern world are presented as factual descriptions, when in fact they are her interpretations of her observations, colored by her opinions. In short, they stem from her imagination. Maybe there is truth to them, but maybe not; there is no way of knowing. I wonder if Yequana mothers, let alone infants of either culture, would agree with these descriptions. While interesting to think about as a hypothesis or possibility, they don't have much value beyond the speculative.

Another big problem with this book is that all of the author's assumptions about human nature and what is natural to our species come from her (unscientific) experience and observation of just one indigenous culture. Anthropologists have shown us that there is actually quite significant diversity among indigenous cultures, and Liedloff herself comments how different the neighboring indigenous cultures were from the Yequana. All cultures are unique, and adapted to their particular circumstances. She clearly idealizes all the features of the Yequana culture and assumes that modern culture would be better off by adopting them, but this is not necessarily the case. For example, she critiques parents for "chasing" their toddlers to keep them from harm or from wandering off, and the example she gives is of seeing modern parents do this in New York's Central Park! Maybe if I lived in an indigenous village surrounded by familiar places and trusted community members I could allow a toddler to wander as they pleased, but in a dangerous urban environment like NEW YORK CITY, I would definitely be keeping a protective watch on my child. The comparison of such different settings just doesn't make sense.

A specific critique I have of the parenting style that the author advocates is her critique of modern Western parents being too "child-centered." While I agree with the importance of a child being immersed in the normal life of adults and society, I don't think this should be done at the exclusion of direct interaction and attention, which in my experience babies both need and thrive on. In addition to some "out of arms" time being important to physical development (such as learning to crawl and sit, which start gradually from a very young age), I think that direct interaction and attention are a quite natural way of welcoming a child into the family and community, and communicating to them their inherent worth as a person. The way Liedloff describes it, she seems to advocate just completely ignoring young babies as one goes about their daily life. Not only do I think this is not healthy for the baby or the parent-child bond, but anyone who has ever had a baby can tell you it's not realistic. Babies have constant needs and are completely dependent on their caregivers to fulfill them- eating, sleeping, comforting, and toileting, are all things babies cannot do themselves, let alone laundry, bathing, and other tasks that are inherent to baby care. But the biggest disagreement I have with the author's criticism to being "child-centered" is that it directly contradicts one of the most central aspects of Attachment Parenting, being responsive to your child. Research has demonstrated the importance of caretakers being attentive to an infant's cues and responding in a caring, consistent way in order to establish a secure attachment. It is one of the central tenants of Attachment Parenting and its importance has been demonstrated in psychological research.

That said, I did find many of the author's ideas quite intriguing. For example, I agree with the author about the importance of keeping young babies close to their mothers' bodies at nearly all times. Indeed, the importance of this has been demonstrated by studies done on touch, attachment, co-sleeping, and so forth. However, I think she isolates this particular issue excessively, rather than acknowledging it as one ingredient in an overall approach to parenting. Other important factors include growing up in an environment of unconditional love, acceptance, and belonging, caretakers who respond in a consistent and caring way, positive examples and relationships with family and community, breastfeeding, and a positive birth experience, to name a few. Just carrying your baby all the time is not enough; all aspects of parenting have an impact on babies and the adults that they grow into. I thought her interpretation of personality quirks to be very interesting, for example a person being very messy because they are seeking the fulfilment of deprived infantile needs (though someone taking care of them and loving them unconditionally despite their flaws). My subjective opinion (note my qualification!) is that this might very well be the case for some people, however it must be considered in light of the whole person, which is complex and individual.

Another idea I liked about the book was the concept that children, like all humans, are social animals and they do what they think is expected of them. They instinctively want to fit in and please their parents. She gives an example that sometimes parents give them messages like "Don't touch that, you'll hurt yourself" and the message the children hear is that the parent expects them to hurt themselves at some point, and so they do. I do think that expectations are powerful and the language we use is important. But again, this is one factor in a complex system of influences, and needs to be considered in context.

It appears even the things I like about the book have serious qualifications. So if there is so much to criticize about this book, why does it have such a strong following? What made it so popular?

I think the reason is that it makes the reader question the status quo of the way we treat babies in our society in a powerful way. This was probably groundbreaking in the time it was written, and is still groundbreaking today for people who haven't been exposed to ideas outside of the mainstream. Just the idea of putting oneself in the "shoes" of a baby and imagining what they might go through is important. Asking the question of how humans evolved and how this impacts the needs of babies is important. Questioning our cultural practices and considering more traditional practices, like slings instead of strollers, or co-sleeping instead of cribs, is important. So in summary I think this is a great book to open minds and get people thinking, but because it is so grotesquely subjective and unscientific, it should not be looked to in itself as a source of information or a guide to parenting practices. Fortunately there are many other books available now which cover these topics and make use of more objective research methods through fields like anthropology, psychology, evolutionary biology, and neurobiology. For instance, I recommend Our Babies, Ourselves, which is a more scientific version of the topics broached in The Continuum Concept.(less)

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Sep 19, 2010 Tucker rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: finished

The author's anecdotal description of the "noble savage" Yequana tribe is truly bizarre. After living with them, she reports that babies handle knives by the blade without slicing themselves. Children play at archery without any safety rules without suffering accidents--except for the one time a boy shot his brother in the stomach, but it was only a flesh wound--and they canoe alone without drowning. Parents never get frustrated by their screaming kids or worried about what their kids are up to....more

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Jul 16, 2010 Elisa Parhad rated it 2 of 5 stars

I was expecting much more from this book. While some interesting insights are offered about parenting across cultures, the author's hypotheses are hugely flawed. Backed by very little, if any, science, the author bases a "new" theory of child care to be used by Western parents on her observation of the Yequanna tribe in a South American jungle. She blames homosexuality, drug abuse, fussy babies, loneliness, isolation, lack of independence, and sadness of the Western world on our childrens' lack...more

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Jan 05, 2010 Zoe Zuniga rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: consciousness

Once you read this book a lot of things about what we thought we knew about "human nature" become clear. It gives you hope for the species and it gives you something to do in regard to any mothers and infants you know right now.

I have heard vague stirrings about how babies should be kept in a sling, and have known that normal babies slept with the parents during most of human history but Liedloff spells out the rest of it so clearly and shows how this has affected our mental and physical and spi...more Once you read this book a lot of things about what we thought we knew about "human nature" become clear. It gives you hope for the species and it gives you something to do in regard to any mothers and infants you know right now.

I have heard vague stirrings about how babies should be kept in a sling, and have known that normal babies slept with the parents during most of human history but Liedloff spells out the rest of it so clearly and shows how this has affected our mental and physical and spiritual health as a species more clearly than I had thought it through. I always knew it was a mistake to have babies in hospitals and leave them in basinets alone right after birth but I did not realize how unnatural it really truly was.

I knew that animal mother would briefly leave the nest to pee or get a drink of water but the male be with the young or would come by with food for her or she would fast or snack quickly and stay with the babies as much as possible. Left alone the babies would chirp or howl and bring predators and she would instinctively avoid this at all costs.

Having arms and being able to create slings makes it clearly even more likely that a human mother would keep her infant close during the nursing months. If she left it alone or set it down it would cry and bring predators.

Jean Liedloff spent several years with native tribal people in the jungles of South America. At first she could not figure out why they were so happy, noncombative and noncompetitive. the children where sociable, cooperative and never fought. She realized that she had been so "mind blind" due to cultural biases that she could not see the obvious.

After watching the stone aged people and especially thier infants and comparing them to our own ridid, crying, colicky lonely infants She came to the conclusion that humans were not naturally competitive, greedy or uncooperative. "civilized humans where simply neurologically, and emotionally impaired by improper care from the moment of birth up through adulthood.
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Jun 04, 2009 Jude rated it 5 of 5 stars

a friend of mine had a baby this year & recently reported her positive & amazed adventures with " elimination communication, or, 'tribal baby potty training'. It took me straight back to this wonderful book and reading it the year my child was born 29 years ago. I did not manage to honor or really incorporate much of what i read, mind you, but just knowing, just having a glimpse of how the communal vision of what a child is can radically change what that child can do stayed with me forev...more

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Jun 13, 2009 Amelia rated it 3 of 5 stars

My first and strongest impression of this book was that I knew the author. Although she came from the generation before mine, I feel like I knew dozens of people like her, privileged, intelligent, half-educated and profoundly dissatisfied with their home culture. I felt that I was a bit like her, but less starry-eyed.

The author's central theory is that human evolution has primed us to expect certain experiences which are necessary to our fundamental sense of well-being. She argues that tribal/p...more My first and strongest impression of this book was that I knew the author. Although she came from the generation before mine, I feel like I knew dozens of people like her, privileged, intelligent, half-educated and profoundly dissatisfied with their home culture. I felt that I was a bit like her, but less starry-eyed.

The author's central theory is that human evolution has primed us to expect certain experiences which are necessary to our fundamental sense of well-being. She argues that tribal/primitive cultures which have evolved slowly over millennia and are resistant to change provide more of these "continuum" experiences. The most important of these is the in-arms phase for the infant, from birth until the baby begins to crawl. She blames many of the ills and discontentments of modern society on the fact that most of us missed out on that essential early experience, which would have given us a feeling of contentment, acceptance, and "rightness." She has a few theories about the way the continuum would have us behave in later stages of life, but that early phase is all-important.

The Continuum Concept has been enormously influential in hippie earth-mother circles, and to be honest I had hoped for more. I have no argument with the idea that babies are happier and healthier when they are in contact with a responsive caregiver, and that most are better off being carried around than being left alone in a pram, stroller, cot or crib. Maybe lots of us carry deep emotional scars from being left to cry alone when we were infants, but it;s not the answer to all our psychological problems, never mind our social issues. Basically, I agree with most of the author's recommendations about how to raise babies, but I was disappointed by her sloppy scholarship and her belief that civilization has it all wrong, when it comes to helping us be happy and fulfilled human beings.

I believe that human beings are a lot more adaptable than Jean Liedloff gives us credit for, and that while our intellectual innovations often undermine our contentment, the conscious mind, as well as instinct, can help us be happier people at any stage of life.

And now, back to my bored, attention-grabbing toddler!(less)

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Apr 26, 2009 Lisa rated it 5 of 5 stars

Ok, this is the ultimate attachment parenting book. It is sooo great!!!! Yeah, I skipped some of the parts that were wordy and explaining what Continuum actually means, but then it got really interesting learning about the other culture where the babies never cry and are always held... (in a jungle somewhere in South America I think). And I'm soooooooo glad I read this book, because I know that I can strive for this kind of ideal (it was especially helpful when I had newborn twins, and I wish I...more

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Dec 27, 2011 Arthur Lewis rated it 4 of 5 stars

Hmm. This book is hideously unscientific. Most of its claims are complete conjecture, based on the author's interpretation of her time with the Yequana people of Venezuela, and some of them are real doozies.

That said, I'd still recommend it to anyone with even a passing interest in psychology, sociology, parenting, or oh, I don't know, the attainment of happiness. She makes a very compelling case that our societal "wisdom" about how children should be dealt with from infancy is completely skewed...more

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Jul 22, 2009 Eirene rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book was very interesting, and definitely worth reading if you have/are going to have a baby. Take the best and leave the rest. The author spent some years with a tribe of Brazilian natives, and makes all of her conclusions based on her observations there. She says that packing your baby around in a baby carrier, and co-sleeping, and basically keeping baby near you at all times, meets a psychological need that both mother and baby have to be close to each other; she says it eliminates postp...more

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Mar 05, 2013 Jessica rated it 3 of 5 stars

Jean Liedloff's The Continuum Concept was written in the 1970s, and it must be read with this in mind. Although many of her conclusions are far-reaching and in line with the speculative psychology of the time, her basic observations are fascinating and, to my understanding, have been borne out by much of the attachment parenting research since.

The core concept of this book is that infants are born with an innate instinct, and thus need, to be held by their primary caretaker, typically their moth...more Jean Liedloff's The Continuum Concept was written in the 1970s, and it must be read with this in mind. Although many of her conclusions are far-reaching and in line with the speculative psychology of the time, her basic observations are fascinating and, to my understanding, have been borne out by much of the attachment parenting research since.

The core concept of this book is that infants are born with an innate instinct, and thus need, to be held by their primary caretaker, typically their mother, until such time that they began to move and explore the world of their own volition. However, this is not a child-centric model in which the infant is focused upon and doted on for the entire first year of their life. Rather, Liedloff suggests that the caretaker should go about her day as usual -- working, or running errands, or socializing with others -- while keeping her baby in a secure, in-arms position. In such a way, a child learns about the world and about proper speech and behavior while feeling adequately stimulated, in a way that a child in a crib or swing doesn't.

Liedloff's conclusions come primarily from her observations of the Yequana natives in South America, who do just this -- carry their children around while they cook and fish and row and get rained on. And unlike "civilized" children (as Liedloff refers to those in the U.S. and other developed nations), these babies rarely cry or squirm or flail around. It is considered normal that a mother tend to whatever needs a child expresses, but also normal that she be able to go about her daily business with child in arms (or in a sling) without being much disrupted.

The book, being almost 40 years old, is not without its problems. There is clearly a kind of idolatry of the native, holding them up as a model of purity while still referring to them as uncivilized and somewhat odd and mysterious. And the entire chapter "Deprivation of Essential Experiences" blames everything from drug addiction to homosexuality on the fact that "civilized" children don't spend the required amount of time "in arms" during their infancy. Yet even if Liedloff's far-reaching conclusions are suspect, her core concept is compelling enough and logical enough to form a backbone for further research into different aspects of attachment parenting.(less)

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Aug 17, 2011 Jennifer rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, library-loan

I'm not entirely sure what to make of this book. I read it because I hear it mentioned (and critiqued) so often that it was time I addressed the icon direct. I've only managed to get hold of the original 1975 edition rather than the newer edition with updates which would have been interesting.

The basic premise seems to be screwed-up (or at least 'not at ease with herself') privileged woman goes exploring in the Amazon and feels at home with the Yequana tribe who seem to have things sussed. Out o...more I'm not entirely sure what to make of this book. I read it because I hear it mentioned (and critiqued) so often that it was time I addressed the icon direct. I've only managed to get hold of the original 1975 edition rather than the newer edition with updates which would have been interesting.

The basic premise seems to be screwed-up (or at least 'not at ease with herself') privileged woman goes exploring in the Amazon and feels at home with the Yequana tribe who seem to have things sussed. Out of her observations grows a theory of child rearing and of possible routes to healing adult ills. The irony is that early on she refers to the puzzlement these tribespeople would have over the idea of people rearing their children according to a book - and yet this is precisely what has happened with this book.

To start with the book had a kind of dreamy, vague feel to it that reminded me of French philosophy (elsewhere I have seen it suggested that Liedloff is following in the Rousseau tradition of believing in the Noble Savage) . In other places, where she lumps homosexuality with criminality and addiction and suggests causes and cures, it now seems very dated. It has overall a kind of naive, in the sense of innocent, feel to it - it is after all just a childless social anthropologist (?) who wasn't happy in Western society musing on what she observes in the Amazonian jungle, and I don't personally think that makes it invalid, nor is there much reason to get defensive about areas in which one's own parenting practices have not been in line with her suggestions (although people certainly do!). The exception to this is where she writes about the Western approach to danger where she more than implies that we effectively 'tell' our children to go and drown in the swimming pool because we put a fence round it, and that most (she does say most) childhood burns are unconsciously willed by parents under stress (but then she is also referring to the opinions of certain A&E medics)

I find it deeply creepy that parents 'do' the Continuum Concept, just as I find it creepy when people talk about themselves as Attachment Parents (or indeed when they 'do' completely other types of named child-rearing) It seems so inauthentic. It's also not really any kind of scholarly social anthropology text - Liedloff seems to have given little thought to the largely strictly gender defined roles for example and I found myself wondering why they relied on her for medical advice. But it was an interesting, almost quaint, read.(less)

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Feb 14, 2008 Brooklyn rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: preganant women or anyone planning to have kids.

The writing style is a little arrogant, but the concepts in this book are so important for all new moms to read and consider.

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Jan 02, 2011 Kristi rated it 4 of 5 stars

When keeping in mind that the author is neither a parent or an anthropologist, this book gives an incredibly different, and much needed point of view on baby-rearing. A must-read by any parent, whether you agree 100% or not, everyone with an intent to raise a child should give this book a read in order to see another perspective. The insights in this book are invaluable when forging your own parental style, one that frees the mother to pursue her own needs while at the same time giving the baby...more

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Jan 04, 2013 Rebekah rated it 2 of 5 stars

Some of this was nice and in line with my own thinking. Some of it was unthoughtful and offensive. I'm sure when it first came out it probably helped many new parents trust their instincts and find a "natural" way to raise children. However, since then much work and study in the area of childrearing has been done and today there are many books (basically anything on attachment theory OR attachment parenting(same name, slightly different perspectives)) that cover the same ground as "The Continuum...more

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Dec 23, 2011 Trace rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-booklist, parenting

Absolutely fascinating read...the kind of book that forces you to think about how the concepts mesh with your own beliefs. I found that I had to jumble very few of the puzzle pieces in my brain to make many of the beliefs introduced in this book, fit. I even found connections to a couple of my beliefs that were sort of fragmented (I knew that I believed a particular idea, but didn't know how it linked up with these other philosophies). So that's always an exciting moment when you can make a link...more

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Sep 28, 2010 Stacy rated it 3 of 5 stars

3 stars seems a low rating for this book, but I can't say I REALLY liked it although I definitely liked the book. I wish that her more far-fetched theories had been edited out and that her more profitable ones were elaborated on. There is a mix of somewhat-rubbish along with bursts of dazzling insight.
A very important read for parents. Not so much a purely scientific look at human development but an honest expression of an experience the author had that makes a good point, allowing us to step o...more

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Oct 17, 2010 Liz rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: baby-care-book

Holy crap, this book could cause serious depression. There is absolutely no way to completely recreate what the author describes as the best way to help a baby turn into a happy adult. So read with a grain of salt. I really liked some of the methods (for lack of a better word) the author observed in South America. But it took a good week or two to get over the horror of some bits of her book. When you come to the sections that say words like "agony" or "skin crawling despair" and whatnot, you'll...more

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Mar 15, 2011 Elizabeth rated it 5 of 5 stars

It may not be 100% accurate from a psychological perspective or an anthropological one... but boy did this book really make me think and alter my view of reality. Changed a lot of how I thought about my childhood, and changed a lot about how I wanted to parent my children. It even has a lot to say about how we live in general (in the modern world) and why so many of us are unhappy without even realizing why that might be... a life altering book for those searching for a different way to engage w...more

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Mar 05, 2013 Theresa rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book was interesting to read and fun to see where the Sears' got a lot of their instincts verified which helped them tune the world into Attachment Parenting. The only thing that was really dated and obviously wrong were her comments about homosexual men becoming gay because how they were raised. Considering that Homosexuality was recently taken out of the DSMV IV (it was no longer considered a 'mental disorder') before she wrote the book I can make some allowances. Looking at it from 2013...more

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title link	preview: The Continuum Concept: In Search Of Happiness Lost
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The Continuum Concept: In Search Of Happiness Lost (Classics in Child Development)

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