This is a fascinating take on this topic. Thank you, Mary. My impression was that mothers are indeed quite split into two camps as you outline but I’m not sure it’s along class lines. I knew plenty of middle/upper-class mothers who were very into strict routines, and I think Gina follows the upper-class nanny method. I also really think the differences between the two styles are exaggerated. It seemed clear to me from what I observed that all babies at 3 months have about 3 naps, at six months they have 2 naps, then from about 14 months one nap, and they drop it between age 2 and 3. The same for routine as for go-with-the-flow babies/parents. Whether they sleep through the night seems entirely to do with temperament. I think there is far more divergence (from UK style) on the continent, where families like to keep children up quite late at night and encourage them to keep napping for much longer. British mothers of all classes seem keen for their kids to stop daytime naps much earlier.
Keith Merrick
2 years ago
Terrific article. I only came to it via the same author’s article today at Unherd on the culture wars. I see this was published back in January last year. Why have so few people commented on it? Strange.
This is a fascinating take on this topic. Thank you, Mary. My impression was that mothers are indeed quite split into two camps as you outline but I’m not sure it’s along class lines. I knew plenty of middle/upper-class mothers who were very into strict routines, and I think Gina follows the upper-class nanny method. I also really think the differences between the two styles are exaggerated. It seemed clear to me from what I observed that all babies at 3 months have about 3 naps, at six months they have 2 naps, then from about 14 months one nap, and they drop it between age 2 and 3. The same for routine as for go-with-the-flow babies/parents. Whether they sleep through the night seems entirely to do with temperament. I think there is far more divergence (from UK style) on the continent, where families like to keep children up quite late at night and encourage them to keep napping for much longer. British mothers of all classes seem keen for their kids to stop daytime naps much earlier.
Terrific article. I only came to it via the same author’s article today at Unherd on the culture wars. I see this was published back in January last year. Why have so few people commented on it? Strange.