Preface
Margaret Rustin
Introduction
CHAPTER 1 – Parenthood
Becoming a parent
Motherhood
Reactions to birth
Fatherhood
Mrs B’s first baby
CHAPTER 2 – The new baby’s point of view
Uniqueness of your new-born baby
The baby’s world
The baby’s need to feel held
Expressing his needs
How mother becomes a person for him
Breastfeeding
Comforters
Mrs R’s relationship with her baby
CHAPTER 3 – Coming up to six months
Discovering the world and himself
Discovering his parents
The ability to be separate
Curiosity and jealousy
Greediness
Mrs J’s relationship with Olivia (6 months)
Alan’s emotional development (4 months)
CHAPTER 4 – Weaning
Starting to wean
Taking it slowly
Mrs L – reluctance to wean
CHAPTER 5 – The toddler stage
Teaching obedience
Prohibitions
Allowing him to do things for himself
Toilet training
Feelings about the products of his body
Sleeping troubles
Marion’s nightmares
Prolonged sleeping troubles
Jimmy – a poor sleeper and over-eater
CHAPTER 6 – Encouraging growth
Letting the child become himself
Setting limits
Strictness and spoiling
Margaretta – spoiled by too much attention
Punishment
Fears and conscience
CHAPTER 7 – Brothers and sisters
Preparing your child for the arrival of a new baby
Brian – whose mother is pregnant
What to do with your small child when you are confined?
Managing more than one small child
Melinda – playing at being grown up
Bob and his younger sister
Jenny, who won’t stand up for herself
When to say “no”
CHAPTER 8 – The young child’s education
Parental instruction
Sex education
Nursery school
Starting primary school
Peter starts primary school
CHAPTER 9 – Various questions
The threesome relationship
Sexuality in the young child
James – whose parents divorced
Explaining death
Willie – worries about death
Father Christmas – for example
Play and stories: their relation to the inner and outer world
CHAPTER 10 – Further thoughts about marriage and becoming a parent
Difficulty in believing that you really are a mother
Irrational anxieties about the baby before and after birth
Is the baby all right? Is he the right one, is he my baby?
Adopting a baby
Preparing for adoption
Is he any less your child because he is adopted?
Leaving your infant in the care of others
Learning to live with tragedy
