Book Review: Bringing Up Bebe

The library has seriously become my best friend.

This week I've been reading Bringing Up Bebe.

There is  so much wonderful wisdom I've learned from this book and the French.

The story chronicles the journey of an American mother in France.

Here is the book bulleted to what I deem important (it really is a wonderful read)

1. The Pause: During the night babies will wake during REM sleep. Its called sommeil agite. It were the parents observe their child. It really means that they are training themselves to understand the babies cues. 

2: Sleeping through her nights: As early as two months, French babies are sleeping through the night. This is incredible! I'm too scared to try this yet. I don't mind the sleepless nights, it's what I signed up for. :)

3. Mealtime: I love this! French parents require their children to eat with them at meal times and also eat the same food that they are consuming. Yes...including foie gras! Discussing this with Steven, we definitely want to have a sit down dinner every night

4.Wait: know as 'attend' (ah-tand)- During the night, when baby wakes, you are to "wait: much like #1 before feeding.

There are a few other great things in this book. She discusses the daycare system and how it is much more detailed than America's. I would agree. In France, they schedule out the meal plans and cannot have any of the same fruits or veggies prepared the same in a week or two. For example if they had cauliflower soup on Monday, they won't be able to repeat for a few weeks. This encourages different tastes. I really enjoyed learning about the food in this book and how it is introduced. 

If you child doesn't like kale, keep introducing it in different ways (baked, steamed, sauteed,etc.) If that still doesn't work then you can incorporate it pureed in a soup or smoothie. 

I like the personal element towards the end of the book that discusses her road of infertility and then parenting twins and a daughter. I enjoyed her comparisons of French culture vs. American.

Another thing that was interesting was how American parents will narrate their child's play. For instance, "Great job going down the slide, Bobby." "Now we are going to walk up the step and walk across the bridge." She discusses how competitive Americans are. Always buying educational games and books to make sure that our children are at the top of the performance chart. However, French parents are not concerned about when a child is to crawl, walk, or talk. I like the idea of this, but I know that I am fully capable of comparing my child or my parenting tactics to other parents. I just can't help it...well I can, but its hard, give me a break (a Kit-Kat bar might help :)

Definitely recommend this book!! Very well written and enjoyable.