andrea’s Reviews > The Baby Bond: The New Science Behind What's Really Important When Caring for Your Baby > Status Update

i can only take a bit of this at a time, even though it is getting much better. chapter 4 was the best - about co-sleeping basically. chapter 5 is about IQ, which i'm less interested in.

awww and true!: "Parents notice that baby finds a way to keep at least one foot in contact with at least one adult at all times during the night—revealing the child’s constant innate need for security throughout the night and his constant awareness of his parents’ presence."

yes: "Breastfeeding is meant to be much more than just feeding—it is a time for nursing, a time to provide comfort and nurturing. This time is allotted for studying and memorizing each other’s faces, for speaking or singing to the baby, and for developing nonverbal communications. "

"Apparently, infants are able to develop confidence in themselves and their environment when they are able to obtain what they need through their communication attempts. By contrast, delayed response creates a sense of helplessness." -- makes absolute sense to me.

"In fact, one study found that responsive treat- ment led to 2 minutes of crying during the first 3 hours of life, compared to over 18 times that amount in infants treated by the culturally accepted hospital routine.10 Thus, it is reasonable to conclude that the “normal” new- born American infant is crying from sudden abandonment. "

getting good. i agree with the conclusion of chapter 3: "The incredible, extensive, innate human system of hormonal rewards for consistent, close, and loving physical and social contact between parent and infant, and the just as incredible consequences, combined with the psychological research findings about attachment, provide overwhelming evidence for nature’s intended plan for infant care, at least for me."

"However, chronic exposure to negative stress causes chronic elevations of cortisol, instead of surges that have a positive effect. Chronically elevated cortisol in infants and the hormonal and functional adjustments that go along with it are shown to be associated with permanent brain changes that lead to elevated responses to stress throughout life, such as higher blood pres- sure and heart rate."

starting up again. determined not to have any bips (books in progress). well, at least on goodreads. in real life, there's many but i've happily forgotten most of them (except for robison crusoe. *shakes fist* that's a 20-some year old bip. sigh.)

this is exactly the kind of problem i'm having with this book: "Much higher levels of oxytocin are found in a mother after a vaginal delivery than after an elective C-section." i think this is probably true, but why is the word "elective" in there? is it different from emergency c-sections? or c-sections that were planned due to some medical condition (and so not really elected by the mother)? frustrating.

refreshing to see: "Thus, every family will practice parenting in its own unique way—and even differently with each child. "