When our children were babies, our instinct told us to take them in our arms and comfort when they cried. But nevertheless many parents succumb to the advice of family, friends, neighbors and co-workers.
'If you take it out of the stroller, you will spoil it,' 'do you still breastfeed it with eight months?', 'You don't realize it but you're kidding.' In the short time that has elapsed since our grandmothers raised, and until today, many parents they have unlearned the basic principles of healthy and respectful parenting, forgetting that all the members of a family are in the 'same boat' and that babies and toddlers don't want to bother, they just need us.
But now a group of multidisciplinary researchers from the University of Notre Dame (Indiana) have 'shaken' the beliefs of modern mothers and fathers by stating that our practices for children prevent the healthy development of their brain and emotions. Darcia Narváez is a psychology professor at Notre Dame, and specializes in children's moral development. She is convinced that our society has adopted as normal (although not natural) some misguided practices such as the use of formula milks, the fact of ignoring the little ones who cry or are restless, and the separation since the babies are few months old, of the parents at night.
This researcher says that the lifestyles of young Americans have worsened, if we compare them with those who were 50 years old. The United States has shown a downward trend in healthy baby care practices (something that, let's not forget, also occurs in European countries), and this has repercussions on the adolescent and adult life of babies. children
Studies show that the response to the baby's needs influences the development of consciousness, that contact with the parents' body influences the control of stress and empathy, and that free play in nature influences abilities social.
It may be that as a result of modern parenting practices, or by the sum of several factors, in the United States there has been an increase in cases of anxiety and depression (also in children), as well as an increase in violent and criminal behavior. Empathy is the axis of moral behavior, and yet it is a value that is lost in today's societies.
Early deficits can recover because the right side of the brain (which in addition to creativity regulates empathy) continues to grow throughout life. Although this study becomes a call for attention to fathers, mothers, caregivers and relatives of babies and young children.
There is a note in the aforementioned University article that encourages us to look back and consider the possibility of learning from those who preceded us (specifically hunter / gatherer societies), since when we realize that healthy adulthood is the product of a childhood with attachment, we may decide to change our practices.
Images | tatoruso, furiousmadgeorge Via | La Razón Digital More information | University of Notre Dame On Peques and More | Supernanny uses methods based on the control of behaviors, where affectivity plays a very scarce role. In 'Reflections on respectful parenting', the issues that most concern parents of young children have been compiled, When children grow up, do we underestimate parenting?
