How Eskimos keep their babies warm by Mei-Ling Hopgood

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Published in 2012 this is not a new book, but it is one that recently appeared on a reading list for a baby wearing course and the name caught my attention.

As a mother of three active children, factual coursework books are hard going by the time I sit down in the evening and are more likely to send me to sleep swimming in a dream of statistics and facts.

But Mei-Ling’s book on parenting wisdom from around the world was different, she takes aspects of parenting in different cultures and looks at incorporating them into her own modern lifestyle with a light-hearted touch.

Each chapter looks at a different topic and culture including how Kenyans live without pushchairs and how the Chinese potty train early. She looks at the positive and negatives of the these customs drawing from child experts, anthropologists and parents.

“Baby wearing is no longer some warm, fuzzy trend by granola-munching parents. More and more mothers and fathers are choosing to wear slings.”

Hopgood examines the act of carrying a baby not just from a practical level but she also looks as babies as active participants in the act of carry and the stimulation carrying has on their motor neurone skills.

The chapter on potty training is fascinating even providing recipe for a gentle cleanser to use when cleaning babies bum.  She draws the readers attention to the fact that babies have started potty training later since the introduction of disposable nappies.  Potty training is getting later and later as it benefits the disposable companies.

This is a refreshingly easy, intelligent read that is both entertaining and informative.

This novel is readily available in libraries, once I return it, and on Amazon and all bookshops.