false 407854 1 How we raise our children differs greatly from society to society, with many cultures responding differently to such questions as how a parent should respond to a crying child, how often a baby should be nursed, and at what age a child should learn to sleep alone. Ethnopediatrics--the study of parents, children, and child rearing across cultures--is the subject of anthropologist Meredith F. Small's thorough and fascinating book <I>Our Babies, Ourselves</I>. <p> Small asserts that our ideas about how to raise our kids are as much a result of our culture as our biology, and that, in fact, many of the values we place on child-rearing practices are based in culture rather than biology. Small writes, "Every act by parents, every goal that molds that act, has a foundation in what is appropriate for that particular culture. In this sense, no parenting style is 'right' and no style is 'wrong.' It is appropriate or inappropriate only according to the culture." <I>Our Babies, Ourselves</I> is a wonderful read for anyone interested in the social sciences, and will be especially meaningful to those swept up in the wild adventure of parenting. <I>--Ericka Lutz</I> 397161 4 5 1999 Our Babies, Ourselves: How Biology and Culture Shape the Way We Parent total:269|5:126|4:97|3:42|2:4|1:0| 269 1152 394 89 3 3 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Nov 15 13:11:50 -0800 2007 Thu Nov 15 13:21:27 -0800 2007
HOWEVER, a small word of warning, if I had read this when I was going through dealing with 10 months of colic and extreme fussiness, I would have felt more than discouraged. I would have felt like a complete failure, a...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Mar 22 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 24 08:50:58 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 24 08:56:49 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Feb 26 10:56:56 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 26 11:03:17 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Nov 11 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Mon Jan 19 20:12:35 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 19 20:12:35 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jul 09 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Sun May 03 21:22:11 -0700 2009 Sun May 03 21:22:11 -0700 2009 the way we choose to parent. The author surmises that human babies
are biologically evolved to send signals (crying, smiling, rooting)
based upon hundreds of years of evolution within a hunting &
gathering cult...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Oct 12 11:21:51 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 12 11:29:49 -0700 2009
The author uses evidence-based research on multiple cultures to come up with some "universals" for parenting infants. She presents compelling evid...more...]]> 3 1 false false Tue Oct 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 02 11:03:44 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 31 19:25:39 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Sep 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 21 11:12:47 -0700 2008 Fri Sep 19 07:59:28 -0700 2008 1 more...]]> 4 1 false false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 04 17:22:55 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 08 08:49:14 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jun 26 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri May 09 19:14:43 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 29 13:11:07 -0700 2008
That being said, I really found this book enlightening. Small, an anthropologist at Cornell University, outlines research do...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Aug 07 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Mar 27 08:50:28 -0700 2008 Sun Sep 07 17:37:59 -0700 2008
The sub-title gives the gist of this book's s...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Mar 18 19:31:22 -0700 2008 Tue May 13 06:56:43 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 1999 Mon Jan 14 07:15:53 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 14 07:30:02 -0800 2008
What I'm obviously trying to ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Aug 27 18:47:55 -0700 2007 Mon Aug 27 18:55:24 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Nov 24 08:06:32 -0800 2008 Mon Nov 24 08:22:10 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Jun 20 09:54:00 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 12 16:12:54 -0700 2008
An interesting cross-cultural answer to questions about breast feeding, where babies sleep, and...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jan 18 10:30:42 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 25 16:48:26 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Jul 15 20:10:16 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 20 17:18:35 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Oct 13 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Oct 21 13:27:58 -0700 2008 Tue Oct 21 13:36:08 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Oct 01 20:57:35 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 01 21:02:06 -0700 2009 more...]]>