The differnces in bring up Kids
On my ride up to the factory I took this picture and it got me thinking about the different styles of bringing up children here in Vietnam or South East Asia V’s the West.
When we have our babies it is all about how quickly they sleep through the night, we allow them to scream and scream when we try the “controlled crying” approach to get them to sleep.
I should know as my youngest who at nearly 5 still doesn’t sleep through the night, I have tried everything , every book, every drug, start charts even sleep counselling to try to get a night’s sleep.
But all she wants is to be close to me or us, so now I have a spare bed in the room and when she gets up she gets into that bed and we all get a night’s sleep.
Mum’s here in South East Asia would not even think of allowing their baby to sleep on their own and will co-sleep with them, feed on demand and have them strapped to them at all times.
Here there doesn’t seem to be that pressure to make your child independent, I remember feeling a failure when I couldn’t get Mia to sleep all night, like I was doing something wrong.
The children here seem to be calmer, I see them playing on the side of the road (now this is the Hanoi Highway) and they seem to have road sense from a very young age, I would be scared to death about my toddler running into the road, but for some reason they don’t.
I am not saying that the way they do things here is the best way, but it is interesting how we are all very different in our approach to bringing up children.
We will do anything to get our babies to sleep; buy the latest gismo’s to get the perfect environment so they will sleep soundly.. Here there is no such thing and babies/children sleep anywhere.
I know how shocking it looks that the baby doesn't have a helmet on.. this is a daily sight for me and you soon forget how shocked you felt when you 1st saw it.. My friend just posted a comment about how "every cell in her body of her screamed" when she saw the photo.
Remember 30 years ago in the UK we didn't wear seatbelts in cars..they will get there, hopefully.
I know it is very shocking. Somehow they think wearing a helmet will not allow the children’s brains to develop. It has only been law for a few years for adults to wear helmets. There are charities to try and raise the awareness for safety.
Hi, just stumbled on your web site from reddit. It is not something I would typically read, but I loved your spin on it. Thanx for making a piece worth reading!
When I looked at that picture every cell in my body screamed out! Then I read your post and I see your point entirely. My only real issue with that picture is that they have helmets on and the baby doesn’t.
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