>
>Heather writes:
>
>But  speaking generally, we know that consistent care-giving by one or
>two  people is the physiological, psychological and emotional norm for human 
>infants.
>
>
>~~ Do we know this?


Yes - we can be pretty sure of this.  The work done in the past 20 
years or so on neurological, cerebral and biochemical development is 
consistent with this picture. Just on the cerebral side, infant 
brains are not able to cope with a succession of or variety of 
caregivers - that's our biology, and while we can still survive if we 
'fight' it, and the effects of it can be mitigated if other good 
things compensate for it, then or later, it just isn't the 'right' 
way for homo sapiens!

>Maybe others with background in working in developing 
>countries, and people with backgrounds in ancient civilizations can 
>comment on 
>whether this is a more recent scenario.
>
>Peace,
>Judy




But....I am not talking about scenarios or when they happened....the 
physiological, psychological and emotional norm has not been the 
*cultural* or *social* norm at all (or even many) points in history. 
Far from it.  There are many examples of  child-rearing in the past 
which have not followed the physiological, psychological and 
emotional norm....to the detriment of those societies' well-being.

Many ancient (and more modern) civilisations separated mothers and 
babies for social and cultural reasons, and shared their care among 
many people.  At the extreme,  infants and small children were 
institutionalised in many different ways - baby farms (19th century 
Europe),  'orphanages' for unwanted children (20th and 21st century 
Eastern Europe),  military schools (Ancient Sparta), wet nursed by by 
slaves (Ancient Egypt),  sent to nunneries as infants (girls in 
Merovingian Europe).

That's just a handful of examples from the top of my head.

You can find more about this in  Parenting for a Peaceful World by Robin Grille
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Parenting-Peaceful-World-Robin-Grille/dp/1903275547/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237652155&sr=8-1.

Grille takes the work of psycho-historians, anthropologists and 
archeologists and describes how child-rearing practices have 
reflected, and in their turn, shaped , society and culture.

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc, tutor, UK

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome