Oxygen/Getty Images, Abanti Chowdhury/BI
My first exposure to gentle parenting ended in projectile vomiting.
It was 2007, the summer after my junior year of college, and a new babysitting client was walking me through the dinner and bedtime routines for her two young children. As we ascended the staircase to an expansive second floor, the younger of the pair — a placid 16-month-old propped on his mother's hip — locked my gaze and jabbed his index finger into the side of his other hand.
"That's baby sign language for 'more,'" his mother explained, acknowledging that her toddler hadn't mastered the proper mechanics. I should oblige him anyway, she told me. Babies know what they need even if they can't yet articulate those needs through speech, she said. It was important to honor their choices.