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Summary: Great anthropological look at parenting
Review: As a student of social anthropology and a mom, I was excited to read a book that delves into how modern societys idea of proper parenting has deviated so far from how we evolved to parent. Not so much a parenting handbook, as justification for following your instincts and parenting from the heart, not a guide book!
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Summary: Best book on babies I've read
Review: This is the book I wish I had read BEFORE my son was born. So many "baby experts" write books based on opinions rather than facts, which can make it difficult to decide what is "right" for your baby. Should you let them cry it out in a crib to sleep, or let them sleep with you? Should you breastfeed on demand, or is it better to schedule their feedings? Are you scarring them emotionally if you don't respond to their every whimper, or will it spoil them to pick them up? So many questions that new parents have, and so many conflicting opinions to wade through.Ms. Small has written a book that gives real answers to these questions, by showing what babies are: physiologically, emotionally and culturally. She backs up everything she says with real science, although her book is not in the least a dry dissertation. I found her information to be inspiring and reassuring. I especially liked that she didn't glamorize nor vilify, the child rearing practices of any one people, choosing instead to show how each and every culture makes compromises based on environmental and cultural pressures. This is the most important book for every parent to read. I can't praise it enough.
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Summary: Wonderful!
Review: This is a GREAT book that reminds readers that western parenting practices aren't always in sync with our biology. Small brilliantly argues why raising your child the way we were designed--with baby in tow, sleeping with mum and dad, and being fed on demand--will not only make your baby happier and healthier, but will also make your job as a parent less stressful.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I was eager to read this book to get an objective view of different child rearing styles around the world. Although the book does include some interesting descriptions of how children are raised in other parts of the world, it is not objective. The author is clearly a supporter of attachment parenting and that bias is obvious throughout the book.
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Summary: Our Babies, Ourselves
Review: What an excellent book. Professor Small explains how biology affects human infant behavior, and how our society may ignore important signals from our babies.
Recommended reading. I couldn't put this book down.
Diane, pediatric nurse practitioner
Rating: 
Summary: great idea, poorly executed
Review: I was very interested in how babies are parented in other cultures, and she has great examples of this from around the globe. However, after saying that all cultures are different, and there is no "correct" way to parent, she clearly advocates a certain way to parent (e.g., breastfeeding, co sleeping, babywearing, etc.). Fine, I agree, and I do this myself, but I don't think it fits with her earlier premise. She is also very repetitive. I would have liked more examples from other countries instead. The book is also poorly edited. At one point, she states that colic is only one end of "normal" crying behavior, and then 4 pages later, states that this view of colic is false (she tends to make broad true/false statements such as this, which are often a matter of opinion). I think that "ethnopediatrics" could be a profoundly important field, and that this book unfortunately does not do it justice.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: Validation of my parenting style! All mothers have the intuition that tells them what is right for their children but we have so much societal pressure to detach from our children that it's sometimes hard to do what is right, or at least to admit it to those mainstream friends and family. This is one of my all-time favorite parenting books! Should be required reading for EVERY pregnant woman!
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Summary: A must for anyone working with families.
Review: A am a social worker and a mother of two. I have read similar books , but I found this book to more convincing in its research and reasoning than the other books I have read (Three In a Bed, The Continuum Concept). I admit that I am biased towards an attachment parenting style in the raising of my own children, but I think this book should be read by all health care professionals and educators who work with families regardless of their own biases. I wish I had read this book years ago.
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Summary: An extremely helpful & wonderful book
Review: Reading this book turns out to be quite a meaningful experience. The book chronicles many rich studies about child-rearing practices from all around the world. Fascinating information about babies' sleeping, eating, and crying patterns that you can't help but take to heart. Though Dr. Small is careful to assure us that there are no right nor wrong cultures of parenting, I walked away with a new perspective on how I personally want to parent that was deeply influenced by finding out about non-Western practices. Extremely well written and engaging. A book so good that I want to write Dr. Small and thank her for work.
Rating:
Summary: Unique -- Small actually gives evidence for her conclusions
Review: Although it is isn't a "How to" book, "Our Babies, Ourselves" is by far the best book I've read on baby rearing. Meredith Small presents different cultures' techniques for raising children, then analyzes them using an anthropological perspective. Small examines how these cultures differ in such areas as nursing, where babies sleep, carrying babies, and how quickly to respond to a baby's cries. Small names specific studies as evidence. She uses research evidence, as well as her experience, to draw conclusions on benefits and drawbacks to these various approaches. She is not "objective" as one reviewer states -- she has her opinions, but she informs the reader what evidence and reasoning she bases her conclusions on. The main message I get from the "How To" baby books I've read is "You should raise your child the way we say because we're smarter than you." Whether it's "What to Expect the First Year," the Sears books (which I agree with much of) or others (not to mention "Babywise"), the most evidence these authors give is "(unnamed and unexplained) studies say we're right." Small presents the evidence in favor of quick response when baby is hungry, crying, or has another need. She also favors co-sleeping and slings for carrying babies, based on the research she presents. You can disagree with her conclusions (though I agree with most), but at least she is open with her evidence. Besides further opening my eyes to other cultures and other ways to raise babies, this book was most beneficial to me in emphasizing that evolution determines how the human race developed and why babies have the needs they do. People pushing in the 1950's and 60's for bottle feeding, putting babies face down to sleep, letting babies cry it out, putting babies in separate rooms to sleep, etc., not only did it without scientific evidence, they also were going against babies' biological needs, determined by millions of years of evolution. Now I think of evolution and what reasons babies have for a particular behavior when deciding how to deal with an issue.
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