the first few months, French parents usually feed babies on demand. After that, they take a few things for granted: • The baby should eat at more or less the same times each day. • A few big feeds are better than lots of small ones. • The baby should adjust to the family’s regular eating rhythm.

even good mothers aren’t at the constant service of their children, and that there’s no reason to feel bad about that.

“Let’s just feel guilty and go on living,”

and the tools to improve.

Another reason for pausing is that babies wake up between their sleep cycles, which last about two hours. It’s normal for them to cry a bit when they’re first learning to connect these cycles. If a parent automatically interprets this cry as a demand for food or a sign of distress and rushes in to soothe the baby, the baby will have a hard time

in French there are four magic words: s’il vous plaît (please), merci (thank you), bonjour (hello), and au revoir (good-bye).

firm frame, surrounding a lot of freedom.

letting a child constantly interrupt because she’s bursting with a sense of her own importance.

French believe that kids feel confident when they’re able to do things for themselves, and do those things well.