borumi's review against another edition
4.0
미국에 사는 친구에게 출산선물을 보내려고 했을 때 안그래도 쇼핑싫어하는 나는 고민에 빠졌다.
안그래도 미국에서 애엄마들이 다들 너나나나 직구하고 구매대행하고 비싼 수입관세 신경안쓰고 사들이는 판에
내가 미국에 뭘 보내리..하다가 요즘 attachment parenting이 유행한다고 해서 얼씨구나 하고 포대기를 보냈다.
근데 과연 내가 attachment parenting에 대해 얼마나 알고 있을까
물론 나는 전형적인 동양 엄마처럼 (물론 요즘은 좀 서양 육아방식을 많이 따라하려는 추세도 있지만)
co-sleeping에 포대기 처네 아기띠 등으로 수시로 업고 다녔다..
하지만 정말 그게 좋은지 아님 그냥 동양적인 것을 따라하려는 유행인지 확신이 안 섰다.
이 두 책을 보고 그 의심은 다소 잠재웠지만 여전히 다른 문제들로 찜찜한 기분이 남아있다.
Continuum concept는 남미의 인디언들과 지내며 그들의 육아 및 전체적 삶의 방식이
우리 인류가 생긴 환경과 이에 따라 빚어진 본능과 얼마나 continuous한 흐름을 이루고
대조적으로 현대화된 문명과 얼마나 다른지 그리고 그것이 아기 뿐만 아니라 나아가서 어른들 그리고 사회 전체적으로 어떤 영향을 미치는지 심리학적 및 사회학적 입장에서 바라본다. 워낙 70년대 책이어서 조금 부족하고 outdated된 부분도 없지 않고 또한 작가의 좀 산만하고 뜬구름 잡는 듯한 문체가 신경에 거슬렸지만 특히 뒤쪽으로 가서는 어느정도 읽을 가치가 있는 듯하다.
Our Babies Ourselves는 현대사회의 소아과학 및 양육방식이 단지 '치료'를 제시하는데 그치지 않고
부모와 그 사회의 ethno (culture) 문화가 아이들의 양육방식 그리고 나아가서 아이들의 well-being에 어떤 영향을 미치는지 pediatrics (소아과학) 연구한 ethnopediatrics를 다루는데 앞의 continuum concept보다 더 실질적인 단서를 더 구체적이고 체계적으로 정리했으며 Continuum concept보다 실질적이고 좀더 확장된 사회 전체의 approach를 촉구한다.
하지만 attachment parenting이 좋은 건 알지만.. 갈수록 산업화되고 핵가족화 및 단절되가는 우리 사회 속에서 첫 1년동안 아기와 딱 붙어서 2년동안 모유수유하고 직장에 아기를 데려갈 수 있거나 직장을 쉬거나 그만둘 수 있는 엄마들이 얼마나 있을까? 그리고 그 아기의 단계를 지나서도 교육이나 사회 자체가 경쟁과 소통단절 개인주의 도시의 isolation등 우리가 evolve했던 사회와는 갈수록 멀어져가는 와중에 나의 아기를 품속에 꼭 껴안고 있으면서도 미래에 대한 불안을 완전히 진정시키기는 힘든 것 같다.
친정엄마가 항상 말하듯이 '넌 아는 게 병이야'..^^;;;;라고..
_dunno_'s review against another edition
4.0
Definitely the most scientific of all parenting books I've read so far. A lot of great info on parenting practices around the globe (well, mainly about 5 cultures, 3 traditional, 2 modern - Japan and USA), with special focus on babies. New moms or moms to be might find the chapters about sleep, crying and (breast) feeding pretty useful.
amslersf's review against another edition
3.0
I was not too excited about reading baby manuals, so this book fit the bill. It is anthropological and evolutionary look at how we raise our babies. I loved the refreshing notion that Mayan mothers would probable report the average white american mother to child protective services for stashing their baby away in cage to cry it out in some far away corner of their large suburban house, rather than bringing your baby right into bed with you.
wojciech's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this book. I have a weak spot for anthropology and evolutionary "sciences" though. In any case I found it absolutely fascinating to read about different infant care practices across cultures and in history. That includes the punchline of how different (unnatural?) some of the typical modern Western parental behaviours are, like sleeping separately, feeding on schedule or allowing babies to cry.
The discussion probably lacked the wider societal perspective on how this affects some of the decisions made by parents (especially working mothers), but an interesting perspective nonetheless.
The discussion probably lacked the wider societal perspective on how this affects some of the decisions made by parents (especially working mothers), but an interesting perspective nonetheless.
robinfowl's review against another edition
2.0
I really struggled with a rating for this book. Parts of it are very interesting. All of it references research, though it's not always clear to me that the research is being presented fairly/neutrally.
The book itself is absolutely ideological. In some sections, she does a very good job of pointing out how we shouldn't judge other cultures for some parenting choices, but she's very judgmental of what she sees as common Western parenting choices (some of which are dated and I think pretty uncommon now, less than 10 years after the book was written).
The book itself is absolutely ideological. In some sections, she does a very good job of pointing out how we shouldn't judge other cultures for some parenting choices, but she's very judgmental of what she sees as common Western parenting choices (some of which are dated and I think pretty uncommon now, less than 10 years after the book was written).
jillkt13's review against another edition
4.0
I read this for an anthropology class at my university. Although I'm many many years away from parenting, I consider reading it a paradigm-shifting moment. I have so many ideas now about how I want to raise my children. And although I try not to be a proselytizing student of anthropology, I cringe whenever I see babies crying alone in their strollers, neglected by their caregivers and the world around them. I have to resist the urge to shove this book in the parents' faces. Please parents and future-parents of the world, put down your [b:What to Expect When You're Expecting|174703|What to Expect When You're Expecting|Heidi Murkoff|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1298458822s/174703.jpg|257399] and read [b:Our Babies, Ourselves: How Biology and Culture Shape the Way We Parent|407854|Our Babies, Ourselves How Biology and Culture Shape the Way We Parent|Meredith Small|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320470493s/407854.jpg|397161] instead.
dei2dei's review against another edition
3.0
A useful read for any parent going overseas, or anyone curious about cultures and childrearing. While it doesn't go into pages of detail about every culture, and hand-picks a few to cover certain topics, Small's book addresses the way babies are cared for and Western expectations compared to global treatment. Colic appears to be a Western thing, for example. She also explains how certain behaviours (such as interval feeding) can be more detrimental to the child than expected (as relates to a percentage of fat found in breastmilk, comparing foremilk to hindmilk). I ended up skipping over large chunks because I'm not a parent and don't have a baby and was reading this for the cultural perspective rather than anything as takeaways for childrearing, but it's definitely worth a grab from the library.
jessicarwidmer's review against another edition
4.0
I loved this book. Maybe it's the biology nerd in me, but I find the arguments for co-sleeping and attachment parenting much more convincing when approached from an evolutionary standpoint. I'm also a big fan of cultural relativism and dissecting societal beliefs, so this book was perfect for me. The only reason I didn't give it a five star rating is because the style was a little dry and she repeated quite a bit of information from chapter to chapter. She also is very biased about certain issues. A very interesting read and a nice change of pace from most parenting books.
miriamshira's review against another edition
4.0
Very interesting, although it took some time to get through. The opening part about evolution and biology was the slowest going, and I was excited when I reached the part of the book about sleeping, crying, and eating. While the premise of the book is that there's no one right way to parent, it certainly seems that the author is advocating for a particular approach to parenting based on scientific evidence and crosscultural studies. Parts of it were convincing to me, as an almost-mama who feels attracted to a parenting approach that might be called "attachment parenting light," but other parts were less convincing.