Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting

The secret behind France's astonishingly well-behaved children. When American journalist Pamela Druckerman has a baby in Paris she doesn't aspire to become a "French parent." French parenting isn't a known thing like French fashion or French cheese. Even French parents themselves insist they aren't doing anything special.Yet the French children Druckerman knows sleep through the night at two or three months old while those of her American friends take a year or more. French kids eat well-rounded meals that are more likely to include braised leeks than chicken nuggets. And while her American friends spend their visits resolving spats between their kids her French friends sip coffee while the kids play.Motherhood itself is a whole different experience in France. There's no role model as there is in America for the harried new mom with no life of her own. French mothers assume that even good parents aren't at the constant service of their children and that there's no need to feel guilty