Heather’s Comments (group member since Apr 14, 2012)

Heather’s comments from the Bringing Up Bebe Discussion group.

Oh Laura, I love your last question! And as a new parent I find myself doing and saying things and my son is only 8 months old! An example would be my father bought my son a little soft football for him to roll around and my response was "no, no. He's going to be a baseball player." At only 8 months I've determined which sport he will play and he may not want to play sports at all!

Yes, Diana you have the freedom to choose how to bring up your children, but as a new mother myself and a professional (BS in Early Childhood Education) Bringing Up Baby is the best parenting book I've read.

In my professional opinion, the French, as seen in Druckerman's book, have the developmental aspect of children down pat and parents in many other countries, including America, should take that away from the book.

Examples include:
Letting children learn to self-soothe at an early age
Setting limits, but having freedom within (my favorite example was the bedtime routine. You need to be in your bedroom, but you can do whatever you want in there)
Limiting extra-curricular activities to one a semester
Having the "you just have to taste it" rule and not catering to what the child wants to eat
Letting children play on their own and not intervening (something that is very hard for almost all the parents of my students)

That's just a few from the top of my head. My favorite line in the book was: "While some American toddlers are getting Mandarin tutors and pre-literacy training, French kids are-by design-toddling around by themselves."

I completely agree with you Laura. We equate choice with freedom. You see it all the time with weight loss too. So many choices, so many programs...and they usually leave you feeling confused, overwhelmed, and exhausted.