How to damage your kid 101

Salon is one of the online magazine sites I like to paw through every once in awhile for light reading. I was messing around tonight reading about different parenting strategies and experiences (potty training just around the corner!) and came across an article about Babywise, a terrible and sadistic method of torturing newborns. I can’t believe I hadn’t heard of it before… maybe because no one I know would do something like this to their kid?

And so my rant: is it so difficult for parents to realize that the needs of babies don’t follow a system of convenience for us? That the role of a parent is to provide the comfort and care a newborn needs? That a crying newborn, left uncomforted, is learning fear, isolation, and insecurity?

Kudos to parents who understand that part of being a loving parent is being flexible to your child’s needs. I’m sick to death of American-style parenting that revolves around the selfish needs and schedules of over-indulged adults.