Fairly early on in my pregnancy I read Pamela Druckerman's book "Bringing Up Bebe", which is about her experience as an American starting a family in Paris. It's a really interesting look at the French style of parenting and there were several things I found particularly appealing; however Druckerman is a journalist not a doctor or an accredited expert, so I was reluctant to go purely on her findings.
Fortunately she is very good at providing solid and credible sources, which includes Dr Michel Cohen who wrote a parenting guide called "The New Basics". I bought that book last night and started reading the relevant chapters whilst my daughter was fussing about being put to bed. There are a couple of pieces of advice that are mirroring pretty much exactly what my instincts are; in particular feeding Eva when she demands to be fed instead of forcing her onto a schedule, and not waking her up to feed her at night.
It makes me feel more confident in trusting my instincts, and that is immensely comforting at this point. I don't necessarily want a little Parisien running around the house (perish the thought! I am British after all!), but I would like the calmness that both Druckerman and Cohen describe. Keep your fingers crossed.
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