Coolest new book!

I've been reading "Our Babies, Ourselves" by Merideth Small, and it's so darn cool! The beginning got off to a slow start (it is an academic book) but the last few chapters I've read (about sleeping, eating, and crying) have been so interesting. Like all of the books I love, this one is based on research and scientific thought, not on being a "guru baby whisperer" and making millions on the best-seller list.

Highlights:

• Babies in countries where they are worn or held for the majority of the day and night have as many crying instances, but their episodes are much much shorter
• Babies who are put on a "schedule" nursing get more "foremilk" and less "hindmilk". Foremilk is the leftover from the prior feeding, and much of the fat content has been reabsorbed into the mother's body. When the baby isn't allowed to feed long enough, the foremilk gets left behind and the baby receives low-caloric content milk the next time, creating a vicious cycle of hungry underfed baby and a mom who think she can't produce enough. [caveat - this is a general statement - many nursing issues go deeper than this one scientific fact].
• Temperament - which in America is considered inborn, is not quite as obviously inborn as we tend to think. Parenting style and perception has a lot to do with whether a baby is called "easy" or "difficult". One study showed that "difficult" babies did not cry any more often than babies who were not labeled as such in other cultures!

OK, that's all off the top of my head. But you should read this book! And then you should tell me what you thought of it.