Today I did a class with 8 couples. As always, someone anxiously 
asked a question about 'routines' - this is the word the UK uses 
where US would say 'schedule', I think.

The question always goes something like this, 'so when you talk about 
feeding often, and responding to the baby's cues, and so on, are you 
saying we can't have any sort of a routine?'

I started to respond, as I usually do, by talking about the baby's 
needs and how they change, and what a baby needs as a newborn changes 
as he gets older, and if routines are something the parents prefer to 
have then of course they can work towards one blah blah blah.

One of the mothers then said, 'I'm a reception teacher [this means 
children aged four, just starting full-time school] and we see a lot 
of children who aren't yet really happy with the school routine, and 
we have to just be patient and flexible...we don't make them do 
things by the clock, but we try and meet their needs and their stage 
of development....by the time they're five or six, they're usually 
fine.'

This made so much sense to the class,  and I was able to say how much 
more is this the case with a four day old, four week old, four month 
old....care is *developmentally appropriate* and rushing a 
baby/toddler/child into something they are simply not ready for is 
recognisably not good.

Next time, I'm going to ask if anyone is a reception teacher :)

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc, tutor, UK
-- 
http://www.heatherwelford.co.uk

http://heatherwelford.posterous.com

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