Dear Parent: Caring for Infants with Respect

Internationally renowned infant specialist Magda Gerber, M.D., the founder of RIE, offers a healthy new approach to infant care based on a profound respect for each baby's individual needs and abilities. Gerber's philosophy, known as "Educating, " evolved from the works of distinguished pediatrician Emmi Pikler, who realized half a century ago that babies are not "helpless bundles, " but true human beings with individual skills and personalities. Magda Gerber Uses this core idea as the basis of her theory that a baby's motor skills and coping skills are best learned from his/her own inner resources. The baby's other skills, such as social, emotional and language skills, are best learned with a parent's help. Dear Parent helps parents learn the difference between the two so they know when and how to help their developing infants and when to let babies learn for themselves.