Your Self-Confident Baby

Synopsis
The subtitle explains it perfectly: "How to encourage your child's natural abilities - from the very beginning"

My thoughts
I heard about this book from a friend who read it for a parenting class and described it as "liberating." I'd also recommend it - but with reservations.

Gerber was a founding director of Resources for Infant Educarers (not a typo), which I was not familiar with. Her philosophy emphasizes letting your baby do things his or her way. I do agree that kids are over-supervised and overstimulated. I needed to read this book because it helped me realize that I didn't need to be in my baby's face all the time. It's more than okay to put him on the floor with his toys. He needs to explore the world on his own. My job is to make sure he's safe, not to direct his every move. I'm intrigued by Gerber's insistence that even very small babies are capable of more than we give them credit for and do not need to be "babied."

Gerber favors simple toys and I agree with her. Her toy box is much more streamlined than mine is, but I've stayed away from things with batteries. I like colorful rattles that make fun noises and are interesting to look at and textured toys that my son can explore by grabbing and putting in his mouth.

I appreciate that Gerber explains the motives behind her recommendations and outlines what results you are likely to see not just immediately but years in the future. Because of this, it's a good book to read at any time during early childhood, not just infancy.

However, I do think kids need more limits than Gerber suggests. For example, she says you should ask your child's permission to do things like diapering and changing clothes. I think certain things are non-negotiable and it's okay to tell children what you expect and then expect them to do it. In short, only ask your child to do something if you are prepared for a negative answer; otherwise, tell them. I also had to laugh when I got to the part where she said that she doesn't approve of patting babies on the back to burp them because patting is a form of hitting. And unfortunately, her message is undermined by poor writing.

Bottom line
There are some extremely good points in this book and I've taken away some valuable tips. However, it is a smidge too hands-off for me.

Fine print
Your Self-Confident Baby, by Magda Gerber and and Allison Johnson
Genre: parenting
Photo from Goodreads
I borrowed this book from the library