Courses for discipline, eating, sleep training…they don’t really exist in France, says Bertolami. “I’ve never been marketed anything like that in France,” she says. Instead, it’s an adult world and French kids are just living in it. “It has a lot to do with the school situation,” she suggests. “At age 3, they’re in a kindergarten setting that would be what you’d expect for a 5- or 6-year old in the United States,” she explains. “They’re feeding themselves, pouring their own water—my own daughter took the metro at age three on a field trip. They’re pushed faster to gain independence and children just learn to adapt.”
