As I reach the age where some of my friends are starting to have kids in a Western country, one thing I've noticed is that they all seem to have different ideas about raising kids, between diets, sleeping habits, baby bjorns, what language(s) to read to them in, how to get them to walk/talk, etc. I wouldn't call any of them weird (although I honestly don't have much of a baseline understanding), but I have a hard time figuring out how exactly you can generalize a Western way of raising kids.
The unusual ways Western parents raise children
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Re: The unusual ways Western parents raise children
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hitting a child is abuse and it's not effective.
Hitting is abuse only if it's frequent and the child becomes fearful of it, but this is not nearly as sexy as hijacking the word "abuse" self-righteously.
Please don't have children if you think any violence against children is acceptable.
Re: The unusual ways Western parents raise children
#23Re: The unusual ways Western parents raise children
#24>A 2016 review that looked at research on children sharing not just a room but a bed with one or more of their parents found a high prevalence in many Asian countries:
Let me guess: there is a high correlation between sharing your room and poverty levels?
Re: The unusual ways Western parents raise children
#25Another great example of Betteridge's law.
Nothing culturally Western will ever be considered weird by people in the West, by definition.
Re: The unusual ways Western parents raise children
#26We put the crib close to our bed, much easier for mom. Dad got ear plugs.
It's funny, human mothers have a unique trait through which they can identify the cries of their particular child, even at a playground where a lot of kids are making noise. Somehow, mothers are able to cut through all the din and identify the voice of their young child, at the exclusion of all others. Nature does so much to bring mothers closer to their young, yet fathers do not possess this "talent." In fact, we se…
I can hear my daughter just fine on a crowded playground. It's all about spending a decent amount of time with your own children.
Re: The unusual ways Western parents raise children
#27Your kid doesn’t need their own room. In fact, neither do you. Everyone could live so much more carbon efficiently if we accepted communal living. Like dorm rooms. People all around the world rent small apartments with their extended families, and sometimes even other families. The only reason people in the west believe they need a single family home is because they’re entitled and have a weird focus on individualism…
Or, they like having sex? I'm not having sex with my kid sleeping in the same room. And I'm not particularly interested in having to manage my sex life around my kids sleep schedule.
I don't know why you think adults wanting a space they can do whatever they want without their kids witnessing the activity means they have a "weird focus on individualism".
Re: The unusual ways Western parents raise children
#28As I reach the age where some of my friends are starting to have kids in a Western country, one thing I've noticed is that they all seem to have different ideas about raising kids, between diets, sleeping habits, baby bjorns, what language(s) to read to them in, how to get them to walk/talk, etc. I wouldn't call any of them weird (although I honestly don't have much of a baseline understanding), but I have a hard tim…
What your doctor / nationalised health care system is recommending sounds like a good approach
Re: The unusual ways Western parents raise children
#29Of all the "weird" things we do as parents in euro/anglo nations, sleeping arrangements seems nowhere near the top.
IMO, the top "offender" is over-scheduling kid's activities. So many kids in my area have their days booked solid with sports, academic tutoring, music lessons. Approaching zero free time to enjoy being a kid.
Edit - and this isn't really a western thing, "Tiger Mom" and similar probably pre-dates this behavior in the US.
Re: The unusual ways Western parents raise children
#30>A 2016 review that looked at research on children sharing not just a room but a bed with one or more of their parents found a high prevalence in many Asian countries: Let me guess: there is a high correlation between sharing your room and poverty levels?
>there is a high correlation between sharing your room and poverty levels?
might be one variable. Another could be "average size of a typical home in sqm" and "population density of city where family resides"