PA
An author is claiming that the natural bond between a baby and mum is being ruined by pushy parenting.
In a new book 'Too Much, Too Soon?' Sylvie Hétu argues that health workers and nursery teachers try to interfere too much in babies' lives, and that modern infants and children have 'schedules that are as important as those of adults'.
The author says pushy mums and dads are obliterating the natural parental bond by sending their children off to endless baby yoga, swimming, music and dance lessons.
She writes: "It is quite common that babies have a class every day. Baby music, baby yoga, baby gym, baby singing, baby salsa, baby language, baby Einstein. Baby sings and baby swim classes are very common nowadays."
She states that babies need the 'calm presence' of their mums and dads, and human touch to thrive - not a gruelling timetable of activities:
'Babies respond well to human voices, human faces and human touch, and they will naturally open themselves to the world... Babies need the calm presence of their parents, the day-to-day house sounds, and human being around them. That is the stimulation they need. They also need to be protected from too much stimulation.'
Mrs Hétu, who is a qualified Steiner School teacher - stressed the importance of singing lullabies to children and talking to them, saying that we are now in the midst of a new generation of parents who do not 'routinely and intuitively sing to their babies'.
"Singing used to be as natural as talking, and now it has become something that nobody wants to do because it is not 'cool' to do so, because we were told we don't have a good voice, or simply because we have always listened to music and songs instead of producing them ourselves."
Do you agree with the author? Are some mums pushing their babies too much with classes and activities? Or do you think early social interaction is good for children?
Read our article here on some of the more bonkers baby classes.